Just One Kiss: A Black Alcove Novel (The Black Alcove Series Book 1) (6 page)

“Thank god he didn’t give us homework on the
first day. I suck at writing,” Logan shares with me as we walk to
my car.

“Then why did you take this class?” I ask,
trying not to laugh. What kind of person doesn’t like to write?

“I needed one more elective and Sara told me
you’d be enrolled in this one. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have a
least one class where I know someone.”

“Aww, Logan…you think we’re friends?” I joke
as we reach my car.

“Ha, funny, Kels,” he says walking backward
with a smile “See you at the meeting.”

“Wait…do you need a ride?” Logan lives in
the building next to Sara and I. It’s close to the college, so he
usually walks, but I am hoping today is different. I need an extra
pair of hands when I pick up coffee for Sara, Ethan, and I.

“Nope, got plans,” he shouts before turning
around and heading downtown toward his apartment.

I’ll be fine without him. I’m a bartender
for crying out loud—I know how to successfully carry three drinks
at once. Piece of cake.

Ethan

I needed to do a few things before meeting
up with Logan, and my last stop is close enough to the diner I can
walk. We’ll probably visit only for an hour or less before the BA
meeting starts and I need to think about what I’m going to say if
he asks why I’m back in town. The simple “helping out the family”
might work, but I haven’t been back in a while and Sara and Logan
aren’t strangers. He more than likely knows our families have been
feuding for years. It never came up with us, but that doesn’t mean
he doesn’t know.

I stop at the corner and wait for the little
walk man to show up on the light. I’m going to be early to the
diner, but I don’t mind. A few minutes of silence alone never hurt
anyone. It’ll give me just enough time to get Kelsey and that tiny
outfit she was wearing this morning off my mind before Logan shows
up.

I’d hoped by the time I’d signed up for a
gym membership and went grocery shopping, she would be off my mind.
It was going good until I passed an aisle with a pair of ear plugs
hanging on the end. Then all I thought about was last night.

Maybe if I stopped trying to avoid her, I
won’t be so interested when I do run into her. Who cares if after
one day I find myself smiling when she’s around? Good situation or
not, she’s just a girl and one I should start thinking of as my
employee.

Laughter from behind catches my attention
and I look over my shoulder. A group of girls are coming out of
another coffee shop, and it’s obvious something is really funny to
them. They continue to laugh as they round the corner. Their
laughter grows quiet and just before the door to the coffee shop
closes completely, I hear the sound of a very familiar voice.

I feel like I’m spying, but I want to make
sure I’m not going crazy. It’s bad enough I can’t stop thinking of
her, but now I’m hearing her, too. This isn’t good. I take a step
toward the coffee shop then freeze when the door flies open and
Kelsey steps out holding three coffees in a triangle shape between
her hands. She is looking down with a smile and shaking her
head.

It’s clear she hasn’t noticed me. I try to
move out of her way, but I’m not fast enough. I swear it is like I
watch the whole thing in slow motion: My foot is still in the way,
and as I pull it back, Kelsey’s leg catches it. She spins around
fast, trying to regain balance. It’s not going well and as she
starts to fall back. I reach out to grab her and pull on her arm
too hard; she practically flies at me.

Normally, I would be accepting of situations
that bring her body close to mine, but right now all I can think
about is the coffees still in her hands, their tops now missing
from her gripping them so tight. Like a spring, I jump back.
Unfortunately, I don’t let go of her arms. All cups of coffee are
in the air, headed right toward me.

Shit.

“Hot! Ahhh that was hot!” I shout as I do
some stupid hot-coffee dance. I’m leaning forward, tugging on the
front of my shirt repeatedly, like that will cool me down. After
what feels like hours but is most likely seconds, my shirt is cool
enough that I let go of it and look up at Kelsey. Only she isn’t
there. She’s gone.

Kelsey

Crap.

Double crap.

Sara’s going to kill me. If
she doesn’t do it physically, she’ll do it with her eyes. She’s the
best at speaking with her eyes.
It must
run in their family.
She isn’t going to
have anything nice to say about this, even if all of it was
unintentional. She should be playing nice. Not only because Ethan
is her cousin, but also because he is going to be my temporary
boss. And what have I done? Nothing but terrorize the poor
guy.

I push open the door that
leads into the bar and poke my head inside, looking left and then
right. What if Ethan already called her and told her what I’ve done
to him? Maybe she will think it’s funny and we can laugh about it.
I take a step inside.
The coast is
clear.
She’s probably in the office,
outlining the necessary points of this meeting. I’ll have a few
minutes to pull myself together before she comes out.

I love the feeling of being at the bar
before we open. Like I have secret no one knows. When it’s quiet
enough, I can hear the music playing and understand the words. I
can actually see the posters of bands who have played here in the
past and the neon signs displayed on the walls. Most of the time,
I’m so caught up in serving drinks and trying to keep everyone
happy, I forget about the small details.

Scratches and chips are visible across the
bar top as I run my hand along the surface, heading to stuff my
purse in one of the cubbies behind it. It’s an “I’m worn and loved”
look, the markings of a very popular bar. I hope Sara’s parents
don’t ever try to replace it.

“Day one and he’s going to
be late!” Sara slams the office door behind her. I jump and cringe
at the same time.
Guilty
. She stomps her way to the
counter, throws herself onto a stool, and buries her face in her
elbow as she leans onto the bar. “You’re here before he is. Maybe I
should have left you in charge after all.”

Her head snaps up.

“Wait,” she looks around, then at her watch,
the clock behind the bar, and finally on me. “Something’s wrong.
What happened?”

I show up early and she panics. Shouldn’t
the boss be happy about that? I shrug then turn the water on. I
should get a head start on the side work. Distracting myself is a
good idea.

Sara hops off her seat, and
I can hear the sound of her black flats slapping against the hard
floor as she makes her way behind the bar. She looks nice today. I
like her purple top, and the black shorts are cute too.
Wait, those are my black shorts!

“Why are you here early, Kelsey?” A smile
creeps up slowly on her lips and she begins tapping her foot. Her
eyes give me a once-over. “And you’re wearing a dress…why?”

I focus on mixing the right amount of soap
into the water.

“No reason. I was bored sitting at the house
so I got ready, went to class, and came here.”

“Mmm hmm. So it has nothing to do with my
cousin?”

“No, it has—”

“Well, I’ll be damned, Kelsey Brian showed
up to work before me. Now I’ve seen it all.” Logan struts into the
bar like he owns the place and lets out a low whistle. “To what do
we owe the pleasure?”

I roll my eyes, but Sara just stands there
with a silly smile on her face. Logan has one of those
personalities that you can’t help but love. Just the tone of his
voice and his own smile can improve a girl’s mood in less than a
second. Not to mention his shaggy, dark blonde hair, blue eyes, and
athletic build. He would be a catch in more ways than one. I think
Sara is finally figuring it out.

“It’s not what, it’s who,” Sara coos. Warmth
creeps up my neck and into my cheeks. Logan’s eyes go wide.

“Dude, are you serious? Someone has finally
cracked the ‘I hate boys’ phase we thought would last forever.”

“It’s not a phase,” I interrupt. “I just
find it hard to trust someone now.”

Sara’s face lights up as she slowly nods her
head up and down. “And stop calling us dudes.” She laughs, pointing
at Logan.

“Wait a minute…does this have anything to do
with Ethan?” Logan suggests, folding his arms in front of him.

“Oh, I bet it does,” Sarah says.

Logan reaches his arm over
the counter, his palm flat, and Sara gives him a high five.
It’s like I’m not even here.
How does Logan know about Ethan anyway? I just found out
yesterday.

“He called me this morning, wanted to get
together but something came up, said he needed a rain check.” Logan
shares this piece of information as he joins us behind the bar. I
continue with my side work and listen to them at the same time.

“Yeah, well, it better be for something good
because he said he was going to be late.”

He probably went to change his shirt, but
I’d be okay with him not changing his shirt and just forgetting
about it altogether.

“Hello? Earth to Kelsey!”

I look up from—wait. Was I just staring at
the sink water this whole time?

“What’s your deal?” Sara asks.

“She knows something,” Logan answers.

They both study me with their full
attention. I crack under the pressure. It only took two seconds,
but it’s always hard to keep things from Sara. Then you add Logan,
and there’s no hope. They make a strong team.

“Alright, so I may have seen Ethan once or
twice since yesterday.” That sounds good enough. I turn with the
intention of filling the sink at the other end of the bar, but Sara
grabs my arm. I keep my eyes pinned to the floor.

“And…?”

“And…I might know why he’s late?”

“Is that a question?”

My face wrinkles up. I want
to avoid this whole conversation.
Treat it
just like a Band-Aid, Kelsey
.
One quick pull and it’s over.

“I may have kicked him in the face, given
him black eyes, hit him with my car door, and burned him with
coffee right before I got here.” I shrug. “Hence no coffee.”

Phew.
I can breathe now. I pull my gaze off the floor to look at
Sara.

Scratch that.

Based on the look on Sara’s face, I might
not be breathing much longer.

Ethan

“You did what?”

I clear my throat as I walk inside. I don’t
want to eavesdrop on whatever I interrupted. Kelsey, Logan, and
Sara are the only ones here, and all three pairs of eyes focus on
me. Kelsey looks like she’s about to cry. Sara’s eyes practically
bug out of her face, and her mouth falls open as she takes a sharp
breath. Logan just raises his eyebrows and lets out a whistle,
scratches the back of his neck, and walks away. Maybe I should have
driven home to get a new shirt instead of buying a new one in town
so I could be on time.

“Oh my god!” Sara shouts as she rushes to
me. She gushes over me and examines all the viable bruises. It’s
like having my mom here all over again. When she finishes, her
worried eyes meet mine and they quickly turn cold. She whips her
head around so fast I swear she snapped something.

“This is all because of you?” she asks
Kelsey. Her tone is sharp.

Kelsey is standing behind the bar, frozen.
She nods slowly. Even when she’s sad, she’s beautiful. I want to
hold her and tell her not to worry because it’s not her fault. Most
of it was just really bad timing on my end. I notice a glimmer in
her eyes and my body flinches. I move to take a step toward her,
but my cousin cuts me off.

“In there…now!” Sara shouts
at Kelsey, pointing in the direction of her office. Wow. So
she
can
act like a
boss, even though now is not the time, considering this isn’t work
related. I reach out to stop her.

“Sara, it’s not what you think. Wrong place,
wrong time is all,” I say.

“Yeah, three times?” She huffs. “I don’t
think so.”

I watch as Kelsey follows her with her head
hanging low. The front door opens and a guy and two girls walk in,
wearing black shirts that are sporting the BA’s initials across the
front. One of the women is the redhead from yesterday. Their
conversation comes to a stop when they notice me. None of them say
anything as they step around me and disappear down the hallway to
the left that leads to the bathrooms and break room.

They don’t know me. Sara never introduced us
yesterday, and the bar is closed. Someone should have questioned
why I was standing here. Do they just let anyone walk in before
they open?

“So,” Logan’s voice brings me back to
reality and reminding me he’s probably the reason they didn’t stop
me. “You already ran into Kelsey, huh?” He grabs the towel hanging
over his shoulder and dries his hands. I let out something that
sounds like a laugh, a sarcastic one.

“Yeah, looks that way.” I point to my face
and move to stand across from him. He tosses the towel on the
counter and then squats down. One by one he begins placing bottles
of whiskey on the bar top.

“Kelsey was trying to give us a quick
rundown before you came in,” Logan says; it sounds muffled since I
can’t see him.

He stands, putting his palms flat out to
either side of him, leans forward, and nods in the direction of
Kelsey’s office. My head follows his gaze. “I have to tell you,
man, I think Sara was faking the whole being mad thing.”

“You think?”

“Yep. I’ve worked with those two long enough
to know when they are faking it.” He chuckles. “So tell me…did she
really kick you in the face? You look like shit.”