Come On Over (7 page)

"And
that's exactly the kind of introduction I need," he says dryly, pointing
at Dominic with his pen, before he turns back to the rest of the table.
"Now, what can I get you guys?"

Everyone
places their order, and Isaac wanders off after writing them all down, leaving
Dominic's friends to give their first impressions.

"He's
cute," Jemma says, while Annie makes an indifferent noise.

"Not
really my type," she says. "Too…
clean
."

Dominic
stifles a laugh; she should see him on his days off.

"I
think he's sweet," Shanti pipes up at her end of the table. Everyone turns
to her, surprised, making her straighten in her seat a little, clearly
embarrassed. "I mean, he seems sweet. Like, you know… whatever."

Her
words trail off into a murmur as she looks down at the table and starts picking
at the edge of a coaster, her friends giving each other amused and rather
intrigued looks. From what Dominic has so far learned about Shanti, she's
generally rather quiet when it comes to stuff like this, not often expressing
interest or approval about people so directly. He can't help but wonder why Isaac
would be an exception.

They
all talk amongst themselves while they wait for their drinks, although Killian
is mostly silent, merely observing. Dominic ends up doing much the same, and
before long, it has become a matter of the two of them briefly and repeatedly
observing each other, in a way Dominic hopes is at least semi-discreet.

Killian's
eyes meet Dominic's for about a split second―the green of his cardigan
brings their color out perfectly―before skimming over his features and
what he can see of his body over the table, directly across from him. Then he
looks away, and Dominic does the same with him, over and over, finding that he
might be enjoying Killian's gaze a bit more than he should. It boosts his
confidence a little, especially when the guy keeps glancing back at him,
interest written on his face.

Eventually,
Dominic decides that it's too warm outside to keep his open, button-up sweater
on, prompting him take it off, and if he happens to do it a bit slower than
normal, that's entirely by coincidence. If he also proceeds to casually stretch
and show off his now
bare
arms which he knows are in
pretty good shape, it's by accident, and the way Killian absently chews his lip
as he watches it is by no means the outcome Dominic was hoping for. He does his
best not to smile a little smugly to himself, enjoying a bit of payback for
Killian's teasing show yesterday.

Isaac
returns a few minutes later, balancing a tray of various hot drinks, and as he
hands them out, Dominic catches a narrowed-eyed look in his direction. He
raises his eyebrows in a question, one that Isaac has no problem interpreting;
they learned to communicate through facial expressions years ago. He flicks
just the slightest glance at Killian, which Dominic returns with an equally
slight shrug, and his friend looks at him suspiciously. Dominic gets the
feeling that he would be doing an
I'm-watching-you
gesture with his fingers if it didn't defeat the purpose of their low-key
non-verbal communication, and Isaac nods at the group with a smile before
leaving. Dominic just barely catches the way Shanti glances after him, as he
goes.

Jemma's
definition of their little group as a gang somehow
makes sense to Dominic, as they sit together and talk in the warm afternoon
breeze, laughing and interacting in a way that makes him feel like he has known
these people forever. Thanks to the awning above the patio, they're shielded
from the hot sun, and the murmur of other patrons around them creates a rather
pleasant, laid-back atmosphere that is enough to put anyone at ease.

Said
atmosphere is eventually interrupted by the appearance of a stranger at their
table, a guy in his mid-twenties wearing an actual, honest-to-god snapback, and
the conversation dies out as it becomes clear he's there for a reason.

"Hey,
girl," he says to Jemma, putting a bit too much emphasis on the
gr
in
girl
for it to not sound ridiculous, and he regards her in a way that suggests
he'd want to eat her up then and there. It also suggests that he's certain
she's into that. "Where you been all my life?"

Dominic
raises his eyebrows, as does everyone else at the table, while Killian,
meanwhile, looks oddly calm across from him. If Dominic had to guess, he'd say
he actually looks expectant.

"Waiting
for you," Jemma says, not missing a beat, and expressing such dry,
scathing sarcasm that it's almost physically palpable. "And your
smooth-ass lines that make a lady all wet with excitement."

Annie
chokes on a surprised laugh in the middle of a sip and disguises it as a cough.
Dominic slaps her back with his hand helpfully.

"Don't
be like that," Snapback says, undeterred, still smiling and apparently
oblivious to his own
cringeworthy
performance. He
eyes Jemma up and down again, for good measure. "A fine girl like you is
too pretty to be mad."

Dominic
might actually throw up.

"Well,
gee," Jemma says. "There goes my life's ambition."

The
guy laughs, as though she just made a charming joke.

"Well,
it's your lucky day," he says. "'Cause I've got a thing for chocolate
and girls with―"

Jemma
holds up her finger, cutting him off, her patience clearly having run out.

"Okay,
before you even
think
of describing
me or my skin as
chocolate,
or
cocoa
, or
mocha,
or some shit," she says, "just keep in mind that I
am not above causing bodily harm, even to a skinny white dude such as
yourself."

She
gestures at him up and down, and the guy shrinks where he stands, while silence
falls over the table. All it takes is another pointed eyebrow raise from Jemma,
before he just nods awkwardly and presses his lips together, hunching his
shoulders slightly as he turns around and wanders off in defeat. Jemma sighs,
while Annie and Shanti do their best not to giggle too loudly.

"Damn,
girl," Shanti says, holding out her hand across the table for a fist bump,
which Jemma reciprocates with a smile. "That was harsh."

Jemma
shrugs.

"The
sooner they learn that comparing people to food isn't romantic," she says,
"the better off we'll all be."

Dominic
laughs under his breath, bringing his coffee mug up to his lips for another
sip, and he glances at Killian, across from him. What he sees makes him stop
dead; Killian is smiling. It's different from the little smirk he saw
yesterday, genuine, albeit amused and dry, and Dominic just stares at it for a
moment longer than is perhaps entirely appropriate. Thankfully, Killian is
looking over at Jemma at the moment, so he doesn't notice Dominic ogling
him―but
god
, that smile might
be one of the best things Dominic has ever seen.

"I
hear that," Annie says, snapping Dominic out of his thoughts. "I
mean, blatant
douchebaggery
aside, can you imagine if
a guy complimented me on my
mayonnaise,
creamy skin
?" She says it in a low, husky voice that's a perfect
parody of seductive, then shudders. "I don't know how you deal with
it."

There's
a murmur of agreement around the table as she sips her
chai
latte, only interrupted by the appearance of Isaac, who glances after the guy
who just left.

"He
didn't give you any trouble, did he?" he asks, some apprehension in his
voice.

"Nothing
we can't handle," Jemma says, and Isaac nods, relieved.

"Sorry
about it, though," he says, scratching at the back of his head in an
awkward gesture. "It's just Brody, he tends to hit on every girl who walks
in here. He thinks he's smooth."

The
girls all laugh in agreement, and Dominic smiles. Then his eyes fall on Shanti,
who's tilting her head a little bit as she watches their waiter, and his smile
widens.

"I
don't know, man," he says, drawing everyone's attention to himself.
"I feel like there should be some kind of compensation for the emotional
distress."

"Oh
yeah?" Isaac asks flatly, his entire demeanor changing to much more casual
as he talks to his friend. "Like what?"

"Like,
at least one hot beverage, or something," Dominic says lightly. Then he
pointedly leans over toward Shanti, straining to gaze into the cup in front of
her. "Hey, you look like you're running a bit low. Anything you'd
like?"

Everyone
turns to Shanti, who looks like she was just caught very much off-guard. She
opens her mouth and closes it, glancing up at Isaac, before looking back at
Dominic.

"Uh―"
she says, and Jemma comes to the rescue.

"She'll
have another cappuccino," she says, looking up at Isaac, who looks
thoroughly confused, and a little stunned. He gestures lamely at the cup in
Shanti's hands.

"But
she's not done, yet―" he stammers weakly.

"She
will be," Jemma assures him with a smile. Then Isaac looks over at Dominic
with the subtlest hint of murder in his eyes, before nodding.

"Right,"
he says, pulling himself together and turning to Shanti. "One cappuccino,
coming up."

He
leaves the table and is just barely out of earshot when Shanti turns to
Dominic.

"You're
an asshole," she says, triggering a string of laughter around the table.
Dominic nods his head with an expression of innocent, mock sympathy.

"I'm
a friend," he says, pointedly taking a sip of coffee, while Annie leans in
to say something to Shanti, who now looks mortified and giddy, all at once.
Meanwhile, Jemma takes what's left of her friend's cappuccino and deliberately
chugs it all down, and Dominic feels something nudge his leg. He turns to
Killian, who gives him a pointed look.

"Some
friend," he says in a low voice, keeping his eyes locked on Dominic's as
he lifts his tea cup to his mouth. There's something about his expression that
feels oddly inappropriate, almost like he is undressing Dominic in
public―which is kind of what Dominic is doing to him, granted, mentally
at least.

Isaac
soon returns with the drink and sets it down in front of Shanti, who smiles up
at him in a way that's sweeter and more timid than Dominic is so far used to
seeing from her.

"There
you go," Isaac says unnecessarily, with a small, self-conscious smile.
"I made it myself, so you know it's good."

Dominic
resists the urge to
facepalm
in second-hand embarrassment,
but Shanti doesn't seem to mind.

"I'm
sure it is," she says. "Thanks."

Isaac
just kind of stands there for a moment, his smile widening, until Dominic lets
out a cough that sounds too fake to be real. Not that anyone cares.

"Right,"
Isaac says, snapping out of it and gesturing in the general direction of the
counter inside. "I'll just be... You know, if you need me."

Shanti
nods, as does everyone else at the table, and Isaac takes off once again. Jemma
raises her eyebrows, stirring her drink.

"He's
like a puppy," she says, and Shanti shushes her, to no avail. "A
cute, scruffy puppy."

"Come
on, guys," Shanti says uselessly, and Jemma turns to Dominic.

"Isn't
he like a puppy?" she asks, and Dominic nods.

"He
is kind of a puppy," he says, eyes on Shanti. "You should see him in
large, open spaces. He goes nuts, it's kind of adorable."

"Whatever,"
Shanti mutters, taking a sip of her new cappuccino and failing in her attempt
at looking pissed. "I hate you all."

Dominic
loses track of how long they stay at the coffee shop, but that's not something
he minds. He's honestly having a pretty great time, and if nothing else, it
gives him ample opportunity to casually and discreetly flirt with Killian,
whose mind seems to be on a very similar track. They keep glancing and
teasing―up close, for once―until it reaches the point where Dominic
feels a rather overwhelming urge to just climb over the table and repeat
yesterday's encounter. Their present company is the only thing stopping him,
and judging by the look on Killian's face, that feeling is mutual.

Isaac
comes back to check on them a couple of times, Annie ordering another
chai
latte and Dominic asking for a refill on his coffee,
and Dominic can tell that Isaac is definitely a bit less put-together than
usual. His eyes keep lingering on Shanti a bit too often, as though hoping she
might order something too, giving him an excuse to talk to her. But no such
opportunity comes, and he shuffles off to get the others' drinks, only to later
stand by the counter and surreptitiously glance over at their table. No one
else seems to notice, but Dominic is certain everyone at the table at least
sees the way Shanti glances after Isaac when he leaves, and he makes a mental
note of doing something about that.

Eventually,
it's time to go, and they all pay for their drinks before heading for the exit.