Chapter 10

When I reached Roasted,I almost didn’t go in. ShopGuy24 was the one thing in my life going well. What if this meeting ruined everything?

I’d become convinced he might be Austin—with very little evidence other than a few coincidences—and if I walked in there and he was someone entirely different, was I going to be disappointed?

Then again, if I walked in there, and he was Austin, wouldn’t he just reject me? Austin wasn’t my biggest fan right now.

I should have waited longer. Been surer of the outcome. As a businessman, I took risks, but calculated ones, not emotional.

I adjusted the copy of Pride and Prejudice under my arm and wiped my sweaty palms over my jeans.

I should leave. Right now.

“Excuse me,” a voice said over my shoulder.

I shuffled aside as a couple went into the shop. The scent of coffee and chocolate billowed out, reminding me of my visits to Muddy Waters. Of seeing Austin there.

I had to know who ShopGuy really was. It was too late to turn back. The curiosity would torment me if I did.

Before the door swung shut, I caught the handle and walked inside. A quick glance around the coffee shop revealed a sprinkling of people at the glass-and-chrome tables. No packages of bisexual cookies.

Maybe ShopGuy wouldn’t even show. Wouldn’t that be fitting after my mini panic attack?

I went to the front counter where a cute redhead was taking off his apron, clearly finished with his shift for the day. His name tag read Zach. The name pinged something in the back of my mind, but I wasn’t sure why.

“Hi.” He flashed a wide friendly smile, and that, combined with his freckles, was adorable. “I’m on my way out, but I’ll grab your order real quick.”

“Thanks. I’ll take a raspberry mocha.”

“Good choice.” Zach gave the order to another employee who was working the espresso machine. “It should be ready in a minute. Name?”

“Chase Fox.”

“Chase—” Zach stopped suddenly, eyes widening. “Chase Fox?”

“Uh, yes…”

“As in, opening a big entertainment store right across from my friend’s record store, Chase Fox?”

“You know Austin.”

“Yeah.”

That’s when it came back to me. Austin had stood in front of Rosita, joking that her coffee was better than Zach’s. This Zach. It had to be. And ShopGuy24 had chosen this coffee shop of all the coffee shops for us to meet.

The coincidences just kept piling up, impossible to ignore.

“Zach, listen, I like Austin. A lot.” I held eye contact, wanting to show him I had nothing to hide. That this was my truth. I lifted my copy of Pride and Prejudice. “I’m here to meet someone tonight, and truth be told, I’m hoping it’s him.”

Zach glanced at the book under my arm, brow creasing with confusion. “Why would you…”

“I’m meeting an online friend,” I said. “A good one. Tell me, does Austin like bisexual Oreos?”

The answer was written all over Zach’s face. But he didn’t have to say anything. Behind me, Austin spoke.

“Oh, hell no. Tell me that’s not a copy of Pride and Prejudice.”

Zach’s employee slid a coffee cup across the counter as if Austin wasn’t glaring at me with the hatred of a thousand suns. That look was hot as fuck, and I knew instantly that we’d burn together if he let us.

I grinned. “ShopGuy, I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”

He shook his head. “No, this can’t be happening.”

“Can I buy you a coffee to go with those cookies?”

He thrust the package at me. “Not a chance, Fox.”

Austin stormed off, and shit, I hadn’t even paid for the coffee. I searched my pockets for a ten dollar bill and tossed it out on the counter. Then I darted after him.

“Wait, Austin!”

He didn’t wait.

I had to sprint, but I caught up to him halfway down the block outside. The wind was bitingly cold, but my lungs were on fire. I needed more exercise, clearly.

I clutched his coat sleeve. “Can we…” I gasped for air. “Talk about this.” Gasp. “Please?”

Austin pulled away, but he stayed put. “There’s nothing to talk about, Chase. This was just one of those cosmic jokes. Bad karma, I guess. I don’t know why I deserve this?”

“Okay, ouch.”

His face tightened. “I’m not trying to insult you, but come on, we’re enemies.”

“I keep telling you I don’t want to be your enemy.” I stepped forward, crowding him back against the side of the brick building. “I like you. I always have.”

He scoffed. “You like a fantasy man you met online. Not me.”

“Wrong. I hoped it was you.”

His green eyes widened and his pale skin flushed a delicious rosy pink. Such a pretty, pretty man. I raised a hand to cup his jaw. I half expected him to shove me away, but he didn’t.

His breath quickened, and that gave me the courage to push.

“I know you like Wash972,” I murmured into his ear. “Remember how good it was when you imagined my mouth on your cock? Just think how much better it would be in person.”

“Fucking hell.” He shifted between me and the wall, and oh yeah, Austin remembered, all right.

I put one hand on his chest and slowly, slowly, slid it down his stomach. All the way to the cock that was growing hard in his jeans. I gave him time to stop me, but he didn’t.

When our eyes met, he looked conflicted.

“This is a terrible idea.”

“Maybe, but aren’t you curious?” I cupped his dick through his pants, and he gasped. “I know you like Wash972. So don’t be with the business rival across the street. Be with the person you came here to meet.”

He bit his bottom lip, and it looked so delicious I had to fight the urge to take his mouth without permission.

He gave me the tiniest of nods.

“Yeah?”

“One night only,” he said. “With Wash972. Just to see if it can be as good as I imagined.”

“Fuck yeah.”

I swooped in, catching his mouth in a fiery kiss, no longer holding back. Pride and Prejudice fell to the ground, and the damn bisexual Oreos were crushed between our chests.

Austin tensed, and for a moment, I wondered if he’d change his mind.

Then he threaded his fingers into my hair, opened his mouth, and met my tongue with a filthy groan.

Sweet, sweet surrender.

His body melted into mine, hot even with all the winter layers of coat between us. I wedged a leg between his, grasping his hips to rock his rigid cock against my thigh, greedily drinking down every desperate sound he made.

He tore his mouth away. “Wait, stop.”

I froze, heart tumbling. I didn’t know how I’d bear a rejection now.

“Let’s go back to my place. It’s too cold and too public out here.”

I glanced around, suddenly aware that we were on a public sidewalk. Not even a fucking alley. Damn, but this man had me spun up.

I breathed out a laugh. “Yeah, good thinking. You blew all my brain circuits.”

Austin ducked his head as he grinned. Bashful was an adorable look on him. “I guess we have that effect on each other. But uh…I do want to take this somewhere more private. If you do?”

“You don’t even have to ask, Austin. I want to get you naked and re-enact our sexting session in vivid detail.”

He shuddered. “Yeah, let’s go.”

I laughed as he started speed-walking down the sidewalk. But then, I was right there with him, urgency burning as the taste of him lingered on my lips.

Damn, I was glad I’d gone into that coffee shop despite my doubts. It would be a shame to have missed all of this.

ShopGuy24 really is Austin.

What were the odds?