The Café

"Order up!" My brother, Sam, called from the kitchen. I made my way over to pick up the plates and take them to the appropriate tables. "Table three?" I double checked. "Yep. You can get their phone numbers for me too while you're there!" Sam laughed while making eyes at the table of women who, judging by their attire, had come from a gym session. I rolled my eyes. Being one of the larger werewolves in our town didn't make wooing the girls difficult. He was tall with tanned skin and shaggy blonde hair that was tucked up into a baseball cap most of the time. Our Mum has been working hard on finding him his mate but Sam has been happy just 'playing the field'. Mum always hates him when he says that. She thinks the mate bond is sacred and something everyone should save themselves for. This was never an issue for me - having a brute for a big brother didn't exactly get me a line of guys waiting around the block! "Keep it in your pants please..." I smirked and carried the plates of brunch to table three. I overheard the women's conversation while putting their plates down. They weren't werewolves - I could smell that they were humans. They were definitely not immune to Sam's charm though, as they giggled when he winked towards them while I placed the plates in front of them. "Did you hear he's in town?" The blonde woman asked the other two excitedly once she regained her composure. "Who's in town?" The one with red leggings asked, earning an exasperated eyeroll from the other two. "Tom Price!" the third girl wearing the oversized jumper sighed. "Oh my god! Are you serious?! When did this happen?" The red leggings girl asked, as if it was the most important bit of information she had ever heard. Sam had already forgotten. "Last week... He is here for some down-time between concerts, or so I've heard. I'm on the 'following Tom Price' f******k page - I am on the hunt!" the blonde announced. I giggled internally at how naïve they were - literally sitting in a café owned by powerful werewolves in their weak human forms. All three girls continued chattering about how this was their opportunity to snag the star. I didn't understand the appeal; never in one place for too long, lusted over by millions and millions of women across the world, and he has quite the ladies-man reputation for himself. I returned to the coffee machine to catch up on some of the orders that had been added while I was serving the tables. "Honey?" my Mum called from behind me. "Can you work tomorrow? Ian is sick again." I groaned, I swear that guy is never here. "Yea OK." I replied, there was no point in lying and saying I was busy. They knew I wasn't. The perks of working at the family café. It was only temporary while I finished my studies. I was studying journalism at University - second year. Sam was working here while he completed his culinary degree as well. Despite being mind-numbing work, it was a job and I knew the boss's were understanding. I continued making the coffees and placed them all on a tray to take out to the tables. I headed out the front of the building and turned to push the door open with my hip so I didn't spill any coffee. The door swung open a lot faster than I had expected and I stumbled backwards out the door. I managed to save most of the coffee's before I bumped into the person who had opened the door. I tried to turn to move out of the way but tripped over the strangers foot and went flying. A hand reached around my waist and stopped me from landing on the concrete with a thud. I suddenly felt like I was burning up. My skin was on fire. What the hell was going on? The coffee's scattered everywhere, I internally congratulated myself for choosing the disposable cups instead of our regular ceramic mugs. I looked across the footpath to the waterfall of coffee spilling along the curb and down the drain. I groaned, I was going to have to re-make them all. I could feel beads of sweat dripping down my forehead. My back was tingling - had I hit it when I fell? I gasped when I had collected my thoughts and felt the strong hands still holding me up, "I am so sorry! I didn't see anyone on the other side of the door. I hope you didn't get burnt!". I went to stand up but the arm around my waist didn't let go. I felt the heat radiating from his hand. I looked up into a pair of deep, chocolate brown eyes. I had to blink a few times to recollect myself. They seemed to register that I was OK with standing up and I was quickly released. I straightened myself out, picking up my tray from the ground. I shook my head in an attempt to clear it. What was that? The guy seemed in a daze as well. He just stood there a bit dumbfounded for a few seconds longer than normal. "No worries babe. I'm here to help." the man replied to me suddenly. His voice is deep and smooth. Who the hell calls a random girl he met 'babe'? I scoff at myself, rolling my eyes. "Thanks again." I added, bending down to pick up the now empty and soggy paper cups that were beginning to roll down the street. "Do you need some help?" The man asked politely. "I'm ok thank you." I replied before standing up to head back inside. It wasn't until then that I really took notice of the man. He had dark, almost black hair that was pushed messily back, he was quite tall - probably two heads taller than me, and he had a gorgeous crooked smile. He looked vaguely familiar but I didn't know from where. He must have been a returning customer. I picked my jaw up from the floor, smiled and headed back inside to re-make all of those coffee orders. I felt uneasy, my stomach was churning and I couldn't think. Must be in shock. Even my wolf was blank - usually I can feel her emotions, but I'm getting nothing. The man chuckled and followed me in. He was about to say something before he was interrupted by the girls from table three. "OMG! It's him!" All three girls screamed, making everyone in the café turn to see the commotion. "Tom Price!!!" The blonde one gushed. It suddenly became clear why he looked so familiar. I turned to see his reaction. He smiled an awkward smile and I faintly detected a grimace across his face.