Cupid's Incorporated {Completed}

Cupid's Incorporated - Chapter Sixteen

“Mia, it’s just coffee. It’s just coffee, Mia,” I chanted to myself, staring at myself in the rearview mirror.

I had been sitting in my car for the last ten minutes, parked outside the familiar café, The Coffee Shack, and trying to work up the nerves to go in and meet Ashton.

I had quickly changed into a pretty blue blouse and jeans, tying my hair into a side ponytail and adding a bit of makeup.

The day Mia Starr put on makeup for any one boy was the day you could officially say she had a crush.

Of course, I still struggled to believe that I, Mia Starr, who hadn't had a crush on a boy since kindergarten, had fallen in  love with an arrogant, narcissistic, player bad boy who wore leather jackets and rode motorcycles.

If a month ago you had've told me that, I would've laughed in your face and told you to go back to whatever mental asylum you came from.

Come to think of it, I was quite a pleasure back then, wasn't I?

“Suck it up, Mia,” I scolded myself in the mirror, breaking myself out of my reverie. “It’s just coffee. Get out of here.”

With that in mind, I opened the door of my familiar car and stepped onto the pavement, shutting the door behind me and welcoming the honey-gold sunlight that was currently beating down. I walked quickly into the air-conditioned Coffee Shack, thankful to get out of the humid air and into the cool, sleek cafe that I had spent many afternoons in.

Ashton was already waiting for me, seated in a booth and staring out at the water, just as I had found him last week. His head was propped in his hand, and he seemed to be in a daydream, so I quietly approached him.

Nerves fluttered in my stomach as I drew closer, and I clenched and unclenched my sweaty palms as I reached the table.

“Hey,” I said quietly. "Can I sit here?"

He turned around and threw me a heartwarming smile that made my knees weak. “Hey, Mia. Oh, and no, you can't sit here. I thought I'd sit here all alone after you called me up to have coffe,” he said sardonically, and I rolled my eyes at his attitude.

I sat down hesitantly, and laid my handbag over the back of the booth.

Immediately we were flagged by the waitress, and the teenager popped her bubblegum in a bored way. “What can I get you?” she asked tiredly, though I didn’t miss the way her eyes raked over Ashton hungrily. I rolled my eyes.

Both Ashton and I ordered the same things as we had when we last met here, and he turned to me with upraised eyebrows. “So, is there a particular reason you called me here?”

“Well… I…Um,” I answered, struggling to find the words through my nervousness and embarrassment. “I just thought that we could hang out. Who said our friendship had to stop after the business deal?”

He smiled and cocked an eyebrow. “Friendship? I didn't realize we had a friendship.”

A blush reddened my cheeks, and I had no idea what to say. Oh, God, did he not want to be friends? I was such an idiot! Why in the world would a guy like Ashton Williams want to be friends with a theater freak like me?

“I mean, I… um—” I stuttered.

He held up a hand, and his delicate pink lips cocked up into a smile. “Relax, Mia. I’m kidding.”

I leant forward and slapped him on the top of the arm. “Don’t do that, Ash!”

He smirked and held up a hand in surrender. “My bad.”