It also made her almost chuckle when Stone took her into one of the coffee shops downtown and tried to convince her that it was perfectly normal to pay more than five dollars for a cup of coffee.
“Just look at the menu, Kory, and try to find something you’d like.”
Her voice was low and she talked out of the corner of her mouth, but she said, “How the fuck would I know what I like? I don’t even know what a latte is. In fact, seeing how it’s spelled, I probably would have pronounced it wrong if I hadn’t heard it before.”
He grinned. “Mind if I order for you?”
She forced herself not to roll her eyes. “Fine.”
He ordered two tall caramel macchiatos with whipped cream and then asked, “Wanna blueberry muffin or something?”
She scoffed and started laughing. “We already ate breakfast.”
“I did. You ate a piece of bacon.”
“I ate more than that.”
He handed the cashier a credit card. “That’s all.” Then he turned back to Kory. “I ate a lot more than you did. And I even had dessert.” He licked his lower lip before biting down, and it took her a second to realize he was teasing her…and bringing up the insanely wicked cunnilingus he’d performed on her earlier—in public, no less.
But Kory wasn’t the type to blush, and she certainly wasn’t the type to get rattled…although if anyone could do it, it would be Stone. She couldn’t help the half grin her lips formed. She thought of several things to say, but none of them were funny or clever, so she just kept her mouth shut. Stone wrapped his arm around her playfully and pulled her close.
She watched the barista make their drinks. It seemed like an awful lot of work for coffee, just as she’d said before, and the creations the barista ended up with looked very pretty…but then she covered them with opaque lids, so Kory couldn’t even appreciate what they looked like. Stone said, “Take a sip. I want to make sure you like it before we go.” She took a deep breath. She was going to feel like an asshole if she didn’t. And what about the poor girl who’d just made their drinks? That wouldn’t be very nice. But Kory relented, raising the paper cup to her lips. “Careful—it’s hot.” Stone was already taking a drink of his.
Kory tilted the cup and sipped, pulling just a little of the liquid into her mouth. She gave it a second and then couldn’t help but smile. Yeah, okay, so it was really good. Very sweet, lots of flavor, unlike any coffee she’d ever had before. Stone asked, “So what do you think?”
Her grin hadn’t wavered. “Hmm. It’s like sex in a cup.”
They started walking toward the door. “That good, huh?”
“Oh, my God, yeah.” She was trying to think of a clever punch line to jab him, but she wasn’t as quick witted as he was…that, and she was beginning to think she liked him even more than she had before.
“Then we better get you out to the truck fast. Don’t want you coming in public.”
Yeah…it was a good thing Kory didn’t get embarrassed easily, or she might have died.
Kory sat in class that morning, finding it all but impossible to concentrate. The caffeine and sugar in her drink helped her feel alert, but her mind was all over the guy who’d rocked her world that morning. It wasn’t just that he was sexy, because the night before, he’d proven himself to be sensitive as well. He was a keeper.
Except for that secret. What the fuck was his secret?
Before class, he’d taken her to her apartment. Kory had texted Tina earlier and told her she had a ride to class, so her roomie didn’t have to worry about her, but, she told her, she’d still like a ride home. Her friend texted her back, saying No prob. At the apartment, Stone came in with her and didn’t say a word about the tiny, unassuming space she shared with her friends, including not saying a thing about her tinier, slightly messy bedroom. It wasn’t like Stone’s place. She had black sheets on the bed and it was unmade. She had a dresser, a trunk, and a makeup table, all arranged around the bed, squeezed in that small room without blocking the doors to the closet. All that Kory was was crammed into that room. The furniture, the dishes, the everything else in that apartment belonged to her friends. Sure, she’d pitched in to buy some silverware at the thrift store, but that was about it. The décor of the rest of the place was not Kory.
Stone paused and looked at the wall where she had a couple of rock posters hanging up. The biggest one was a Killswitch Engage poster, but Stone focused on the Last Five Seconds one. Maybe it was because they were out of Colorado. She knew he was into the same music she was, so she didn’t say anything, especially because she had to worry about putting on clean clothes and getting her stuff together for classes.