Page 35 of Made to Be

Apparently, my face had broken into a disturbing smile, one that had Cam obviously confused about how any part of this situation could make me happy.

“Well, since we’re already here, we can figure these cuffs out later,” I began. “We might get some weird looks but ‘wanna go grab some coffee?”

After crawling my way back out of the car with Cam’s assistance, I led us a few buildings down to the coffee shop on the corner.

It was probably the most modern building on the street with green awnings and minimalist tables andchairs situated beneath them. Large windows spanned the entire corner revealing the coffee bar and even more tables, booths, and sofas spaced within. As we entered, I was surprised to see how busy the place was for a weekday at almost noon.

Among the crowd, there weren’t many open spaces that I could notice. A few low tables had stacks of books and magazines for public use as well as board games like chess, Scrabble, Rummikub, and even one of my personal favorites, Trouble. The walls were decorated with vintage movie posters, coffee-related decorations, and more art consisting of cats.

A lot of cats.

There were photos of cats, cats in watercolor, cartoon cats, even pillows with embroidered cats on them were displayed on some of the sofas.

The shop’s name was “The Caffeinated Cat” so... I supposed that spoke for itself.

But the shop’s unique style was one of the main things that made me adore it so much. It was eclectic, just like my place. A mosh posh of this and that of whatever the owner thought looked cool until the entire shop looked like a thrifting junkie threw up all over the place.

Mingled with a minor kitty obsession.

The second thing about this shop that I loved was, of course, the coffee. But not just because it was delicious as fuck. The owner came up with the funnestnames for their drinks. They even did daily drinks with special names.

Every day.

And they never repeated a name.

Like, that took some serious effort. True commitment.

What was even better, today’s drink of the day was a movie reference. I was giddy I understood right away.

Mocha in Black, with a descriptor below reading, “Tastes like dirt, ground this morning.”

“Come on,” I urged Cam. Even though, I didn’t really have to tell him to follow me. We were chained together.

Wherever I goest he goest.

As we waited in line, I asked, “Anything sound good to you?”

He gazed up at the expansive chalkboard menu above our heads, studying it seriously.

“There are too many choices,” he admitted ruefully,

I chuckled, “Yeah, it can be overwhelming sometimes when you aren’t sure what you like. Most people that come to these types of places usually get their regular drinks. Nothing wrong with that, but I come here to try something new every time.”

He hummed thoughtfully, “I’ll get whatever you get.”

By the time we made it to the counter, the shop had thinned out a bit as most everyone took their orders to go. The man behind the counter smiled brightly at us as if the lunch rush hadn’t completely exhausted him and he truly loved his job.

I’d never seen him before, so he was clearly new. Probably in his late twenties like me. He was shorter by a few inches, slender, and honestly, really cute. I wasn’t thinking it because I was interested. Hell no, especially not with Cam at my side being all sorts of eye candy. But he was someone the past me would have totally hit on.

But for as long as I’d come here, the same woman had worked here, Emily. Or the handsome shop owner, Vince Blackrose.

“What happened to Emily?” I asked.

Seeing that I was obviously a regular, the man’s smile turned more genuine,

“She had to move. Family stuff.”

“Ah, well I hope she’s doing alright,” I told him. “We’ll have two daily specials, please. And two Sluts for Caramel Apple Muffins.”