Page 2 of Tiebreaker

My face is hot and I’m an inch away from grabbing at the ties to my apron even though I need this job, I need the money and—

“Hey, what’s a rockstar gotta do to get a coffee around here?”

A thick, rich voice interrupts our catfight showdown, and Mariah looks up with a hiss, ready to unleash an unholy stream of venom at the guy.

She halts dead in her tracks and, when I look up too, my heart gives a triplicate of beats in my chest before thudding to a sudden stop.

He is unfairly,illegallyhot.

Mariah’s mouth fish-guppys, opening and closing, and then she squeaks:

“Kai Brooks?!” Her throat closes on his last name, the air barely making it out from between her lips. He smirks, and lifts his sunglasses, shoving them back in his hair casually like nothing matters in the whole world, and he’s used to people reacting to him exactly like Mariah is right now.

He’s tall, with godly good looks, and Iknowthat face.It’s been staring down at me every time I take the subway, smoldering blue eyes with an ache in them that nothing seems to touch. Not even his multiple awards, or the basquillions of dollars he must have.

Speaking of money — he’s wearing a stupidly expensive leather jacket that would pay my rent for at least two months, black and rich and plush. I want to drag my fingers down over it and then bury my face in its weight to inhale the scent. I’m a scent-girl. I like new book-smell and fresh cut grass, sun pouring over lavender fields, and I’d murder for clean pillowcases every single night.

And Kai looks like… sex. Sex, style, and a bad reputation on legs.

“I just want a coffee,” he says, “no autographs—” And the way he says it, the morph in Mariah’s face as she goes from overwhelmed to crestfallen in a second, does… something to me.

Something deep inside.

“Excuse you?” I ask, not able to keep my mouth shut. Yeah, Mariah’s a bitch. A total bitch, and then some. But she’smybitch, and she looks like he just kicked her in the puppy.

Yeah, the puppy.

His hot gaze flicks from her over to me.

“Did you just… waltz in here and call yourself a rockstar, and then tell us no autographs?” I draw myself up and now heads are absolutely looking at us. Half-lidded eyes and shocked mouths hidden behind laptops are open, turned toward me.

“I—”

“You know what,dude, we get a lot of people in here, a lot of really famous people, and they’re mostly class acts. Maybe you should take a lesson from them,” I say, in my element, on a roll—

“Olivia,” Mariah hisses, like I’m somehow doing something wrong.

“What? Are you going to let him talk to you like you’re nothing?” I ask her, and her eye twitches when I look at her. No. No way. Not this guy. Not after the day, month,lifeI’ve had.

He looks shocked, like he’s never been spoken to in his existence like this.

Well, too fucking bad, bro.

“Is this a thing you do? Announced yourself and then act all offended when people want autographs? Talk about mixed messages.” I glare at him. His mouth is open, and his pupils are narrowed, like I’m a big hairy biker and I just slapped his ass with full-grip.

Good. He deserves it.

“Medium coffee,” he mutters. “Cream. And… and two sugars.”

“Please,” I hiss at him.

“Excuse me,” he says, eyebrows hiking up, and I walk over to the coffee pot.

“You’renotexcused.”

“Coffee’s on the house,” Mariah pipes up quickly, grabbing the cup out of my hand so fast that it nearly spills all over me. “And I’m sososorry, Mr. Brooks, for—”

I roll my eyes, and catch Kai Brooks the Rockstar staring at me. A weird, unexpected smile is forming on his lips.

---