Cousins: An Alpha Bad Boy Romance(53)

"Well you know, it's the ambiance of the shop, plus I'm just trying to be better about getting out of the house and hanging with friends."

My aunt curves her lips in amusement. She knows bullshit when she hears it.

"If it works out," she says. "I'd love to meet him someday."

***

I FEEL A PECULIAR SORT OF energy as soon as we enter Java and I can't shake it. Maybe it's the sleep deprivation. I don't know. But whatever it is–is making me feel on edge and jumpy, and I'm making Sloan bear the brunt of it.

"This coffee is gross." I scrunch my face in an exaggerated manner from the bitter taste. "Why do we insist on spending good money on this crap?" I realize that I sound like Juliette right now.

Sloan smiles at me while waiting for the barista to finish making some sort of caramel espresso drink with tons of whipped cream on top. It's totally unfair how she can drink all that sugar and never gain a pound.

"Are you that freaking nervous hooker? It's just Jagger." She pinches my cheek. "Awww, you're so cute."

I smack her hand away.

"Honestly. What grown business owner names their coffee shop Java The Hut?" I ask annoyed.

"Calm the hell down Bitsy. Everybody loves Star Wars, and I think the name works. So do a million other college students in this city."

"They're not even old enough to know who Jabba The Hut from Star Wars was."

"And neither are we, but we know! Everyone's seen Star Wars." Sloan points towards the other side of the room. "Make sure to grab the club chairs over there by the window. I'll get up when Jagger arrives."

One of the things that drives me a little nuts about Sloan is that she is constantly injecting herself or her strong opinions into every area of my life. She makes it her mission to fix me as if I'm a perpetually broken gadget. I'm pretty sure this whole "Jagger likes Elizabeth" kick she's on is her way of getting me over Ethan quickly. I don't know what she's so worried about. The moment I realized that he was alive and well and purposely not contacting me was the moment I got over him. I may not be the smartest cookie in the cookie jar when it comes to men, but I'm not that pathetic.

I expected Sloan to drop me off at Java and go about her business, but what was I thinking? She's probably going to spy on me the entire time I'm talking to Jagger. Making this whole meet up a lot more awkward than it already is. Of course Jagger did send a group text. Maybe he is expecting to see both of us and have coffee in a group. Maybe it's better that she is here. I don't want to assume anything.

As per Sloan's instructions, I attempt to swiftly walk across the room (without spilling any coffee) and grab the three leather club chairs in the corner, as good seating in Java is hard to come by. For whatever reason beyond my understanding, the coffee is horrible, but Java is popular. Juliette was right. She probably does make better coffee at home. One redeeming quality about the place though is that it is quaint. It's a small neighborhood coffee house with beautiful bay windows and cozy seating (when you can find one). There are colorful oil and acrylic paintings by students from a neighborhood art school that cover much of the exposed brick walls. I love how the vibrant yellow, blue, and green colors from the paintings pop against the brick red backdrop. And then of course Java also bakes fresh daily. So it always smells like banana and zucchini bread–which I love.

As we sit and kill time talking about one of Sloan's ex-boyfriends and just how much of a Grade A jerk he is, the uneasy feeling is lingering like a weight on the back of my neck. I keep turning over questions in my head in an effort to identify the source. Is there something important I'm forgetting? My keys? My wallet?

Sloan snaps her fingers twice in front of me. "Bitsy are you listening to me?"

I jump to full attention. "Absolutely. Dillon is going to regret losing you." Blah. Blah. Blah.

"I stopped talking about him a few minutes ago," she says with a slight attitude and turned up lips. "I'm talking about the new territory I'm up for at my job."

"Oh really?"

"What's wrong with you for real?"

I look at my watch.

"He's not even late yet Bitsy. We're early."

"I'm just in a weird mood I guess, or maybe I'm more nervous about Jagger than I thought I'd be."

"Its just coffee. You're stressing for no reason. He already likes you."

As we move on chatting about how Sloan is going to ignore Dillon's calls, the recent police shootings on the news, and the latest celebrity gossip– I feel a pair of very familiar eyes staring at me with a fierce intensity. Sloan notices soon after.

"Oh boy." She says after bowing her eyes down.