Smoke

CHAPTER 9

"You...w-what...how?" I stutter and my eyes grow wide in disbelief at the man standing in front of me.

He gives a sheepish smile and runs his hand over the back of his neck. "I may have sort of asked Charlie what business he ran...in a totally casual...non-prying conversation." He lets out a low chuckle, trying to maintain his innocent look plastered to his face.

"You know - I think this is what the authorities call stalking Mr. King," I tease. If I'm being honest, I'm actually kind of excited to see him. As much as I may hate to admit it. He lights a fire inside of me that I didn't even know existed when he is around. 

He turns his head from side to side in an exaggerated motion looking around the shop and then looks back to me with a suggestive expression. "I don't see you calling the cops Miss Bennett," a sly smile playing on his lips. 

Damn you Avery!

I roll my eyes, "Of course he told you. He looked too happy in class for his own good when I was forced to give our professor my name."

He tilts his head in confusion. He was clearly not informed on that piece of information by his friend. "You two have class together? He told me he heard your friend screaming it at the party on Friday."

I really want to test him but I am debating on if I want to know what his reaction will be. I am so used to guys exploding in a jealous rage when they find s**t out that they don't like.

I choose to give it a go. Better to find out now than later, right?  "Oh really? Was that before or after we danced? I only know of the instance in Professor King's Creative Writing class when he about got me into trouble."

I see flashes of mixed emotions form in his eyes, and watch his fists clench and unclench a few times. He shifts on his feet, clearly uncomfortable before he settles with a, "Well fuck..." He runs both of his hands through his hair, clearly thrown off by the series of new events I have enlightened him on.

Concluding that I should probably try to save Avery from Dawson's wrath, I blurt out, "In Avery's defense, he told me he wasn't trying to end up missing by flirting with me, once he figured out who I was."

He crosses his arms and nods, processing, "So...you're in my brother's class...with Avery?" He searches my face confused, as though he's looking for answers that he apparently cannot find. "Do you mind me asking how old you are?"

"That I am...and I'm 25 if you must know. Took a break from school to...experience life." In attempt to side-step further elaboration of my life, I instead ask, "What about you? You look a little young to be a business owner of...oh what was it again...11 gyms in New York? And to answer your next question - yes, I googled."

He chuckles at my confessions, "Experience life huh? Part of me feels like you have experienced more than most." His eyes reflect understanding, as if he can see right through me, diving into my memories that I have worked so diligently to conceal. I instinctively take a step back before he continues, which he notices. "And I am 27. You make it sound so impressive, but really it's family money. So it's not exactly something to be boastful about."

"But you are thriving the business all on your own, so yes, that is something to be proud of," I say, drawing out a genuinely gratified smile from him; almost as if he truly needed to hear some reassurance...even if only from a stranger.

I hear the bell ring at the front of the store, urging my eyes to divert away from Dawson. When I see Charlie walk back into the shop from his break I give him a bright 'welcome back' smile. "Hey sweetie, you can go ahead and take your break-" he pauses when he sees Dawson. "Hey man, what're you doing here?"

Dawson walks over and gives Charlie one of those weird half bro-hugs and says, "I came to check the place out and also to see if I could take Miss Bennett here, out for a late lunch." He glances my way only to see what I'm sure is a bewildered expression.

"Please! This girl knocked out two days' worth of work in three hours. I don't know what the hell we're supposed to do for the rest of the night now." Charlie looks to me, "Take an hour, so I can mess some stuff up while you're gone." He beams mischievously before heading to the office to clock back in.

Dawson turns his body back to face me, shrugging with an exuberant smile; resembling a little kid who just got away with something.

I let out a loud sigh, knowing that he isn't going to take 'no' for an answer. I remove my apron and grab my book, stuffing it into my purse; not completely fitting in there to zip it up properly, thus causing the spine to peek out of the top.

"Just coffee...and you're buying." I spin back around and point at him with an 'I'm not messing around' face.

"I'll take whatever I can get," flashing me an award winning smile.

We make our way over to the café side of the shop. We both settle on the same thing, ordering two large black coffees, and head out the door.

We walk in silence for what seems like hours but in reality, it was probably only 5 minutes. The silence is f*****g deafening as my discomfort grows, so I choose to be the first to break the silence. "So how old are your brothers? Were you guys close growing up?"

He lets out a deep, relieved breath and says, "Oh thank God! The silence was killing me and I can't lie, you're a little intimidating to talk to...no offense." A crooked smile plays on his lips while he looks at me out of the corners of his eyes. "But to answer your questions: Kol is 22. We've always been thick as thieves for as far back as I can remember. He and Avery have actually been best friends since elementary school so I spent most of my time with those two, pretty much my entire life. Theo is 33...and we...well we're just complicated."

I let out a low hum before digging a little more, "And your buddies from the bar...are they all just gym rats like you and that's how you met?"

He turns to me and gasps theatrically, placing a hand over his heart as if he were hurt by my smartass remark. "Actually miss smarty pants...most of them I met serving in the Army." He sticks his tongue out at me playfully, nudging my shoulder with his as we continued on our stroll.

I giggle prior to continuing my mini interrogation, "Army huh? How long were you in?"

He stares ahead for a few seconds, clicking his tongue on the roof of his mouth, thinking about his response. "Technically I still am, but I joined right out of high school. I'm currently on medical leave from my last deployment."

Growing up around family who served in the military, I learned not to ask questions about their deployments. It is one of those unspoken rules and a line that I do not cross. I found out the hard way when I was a kid, and I asked my cousin if he had ever killed anyone - which triggered a side of him that I never want to see again...or from anyone else for that matter. So, I choose to stay quiet instead of pressing further.

He took my silence as an opportunity to ask me a question instead. "So where are you from? Every once in a while I hear hints of different accents? You move around a lot?"

"Well aren't you observant," I respond. A little stunned that he picked up on something so small. I decide to throw him a bone and let him in on a personal detail about me considering he's answering all of my questions openly. "I'm originally from Pennsylvania, but moved to Southern Indiana when I was young for a brief period. Then once my parents' divorce was finalized and my mom met my step-dad...well my dad...he adopted me, we then moved up to Indy and I lived there up until now. I've always loved it here on the east coast though. That's why I applied to schools out here. I just needed a fresh start." I purposefully leave out the gory detail of my past, aiming to avoid any more prodding questions.

"That makes so much sense. You have a mixture of Midwest, Southern and the East Coast in your tone. I was starting to think you were f*****g with me," he chuckles, rubbing the back of his head.

"Maybe I just like f*****g with you. You'll never know," I wink at him and bite back a giggle.

He raises a teasing eyebrow at me and nods appreciatively at my witty statement. I can see his wheels turning in is head; clearly having a loaded question floating around in there; which was evident from his growing smirk. "So Miss Bennett - I have a proposition for you."