"Can I have one iced caramel macchiato, please?" I leaned closer to the open driver's side window over Cody's lap, "oh, and a vanilla muffin."
"You're the most unhealthy person I know," he huffed out, earning a small slap from me against his chest.
"A vanilla muffin... Will that be all?"
"Make that two vanilla muffins," Cody swiftly added before starting his car again.
"Alright. Drive on up."
I returned to sit properly on the passenger's seat as he began driving toward the window.
I sat quietly, observing him as he paid and chatted with the barista quickly, before receiving our order and handing them all to me.
"Here's your coffee," I handed him his simple black coffee once he began driving towards Uni.
"Thanks," he brought it up to his lips to take a small sip, eyes focused on the road ahead.
I gathered myself and diverted my gaze from him. I placed his muffin into an empty cup holder, beside one which he'd placed his coffee down in, before sipping my iced macchiato.
"How are you not fat when you drink shit like that daily?" He teased, and I rolled my eyes with a gentle laugh.
"Not daily. Only when I stay over at yours. See what a bad influence you are?" I replied sassily, breaking a piece of my muffin and stuffing it into my mouth.
Cody glanced at me from the corner of his eyes discreetly, "you're the bad influence here, Sof. When have you ever seen me eating a muffin?"
"My birthday... second grade..." I began reminiscently, and he chuckled.
"You're so funny," he nudged me gently, tone laced with pure sarcasm. My smile widened and heart skipped a quick beat, feeling warm all over.
"You know Steph's throwing a small party this Friday at ours," I began after a moment, while he plugged in the aux cord and pressed shuffle on his playlist; which he had also abled me to edit and add songs to, through my Spotify account.
"Yeah, Jordan was telling me about it yesterday," Cody replied, now focused again on the road.
The sun was just rising, and I wondered why any lectures could be held this early. It really couldn't be good for the mental healths of young adults.
"Are you coming?" I asked him, trying not to let it show in my voice how much I really did want for him to be there.
"Depends," he shrugged absentmindedly.
"On what?" I wondered with a confused smile forming across my lips, "have you suddenly found a life?"
He shook his head at me with a laugh, "depends on if I have a date Friday night."
My heart halted for a moment, his words almost causing me to choke on my macchiato. What a way to die that would be, definitely a first-world problem...
"A date?" I cleared my throat, "with who?"
I tried to keep my tone as calm and friendly as possible, not wanting to come off as bothered in the least, even when I was.
Cody was kind, funny and devilishly good looking, which meant he really didn't have trouble at all when it came to relations with the opposite sex. Whenever he dated somebody, or had a girlfriend, I forced myself to keep my mouth shut as I just had to live with it.
We had been friends for as long as I can remember. Our friendship was so strong and such an important pillar in my own wellbeing, I couldn't risk it by having told him a few years ago about how I'd started to have feelings towards him, or even now when I was hopelessly falling for him.
It always killed me when he introduced other girls to me, asked me for advice on what gifts to get them or what kind of dates to take them on, and told me about how 'amazing' they were, and what not. It was torture, but I put up with it because I cared for him, and never said a word.
"Kate. You know Kate," he spoke casually, "the hot blonde who goes to my gym."
"Oh, right. Her," I replied with a small nod, the task of not showing how bothered and uncomfortable I felt becoming harder and harder.
I tried to remind myself that I was together with Anton, but it only made myself feel more pathetic and bad. I should feel with him the way I felt toward Cody, but as much as I expected it to happen sooner or later, it never seemed to.
"What the fuck is he wearing? He looks like a—" Cody had just parked by our University.
Unable to keep sane for one more second in a closed space with him, I opened the passenger's side door and got out with my iced macchiato and half eaten muffin, my bag hanging off my shoulder recklessly.
"Hey!" I put on a wide smile as Anton neared me from the sidewalk.
"Good morning," he stepped up to me and kissed me. My smile softened, and I kissed him back gently.
A throat being cleared by us made me pull back. Cody was eyeing us with raised brows. He sipped his coffee and locked his car with the simple press of a button.
"Morning, Cody," Anton offered a polite nod and smile to an unamused Cody.
Instead of saying something rude or crude, he sighed and, with a discreet roll of his eyes, walked past us and towards the main university building.
"I'll see you at lunch, Sofia!" He called, and I realised I had been left gazing at him walking away almost longingly.
I cleared my throat and shook it off, gathering my attention and focusing it all on a sweetly smiling Anton.
"You slept over at his?" He asked as I fished for my cigarettes somewhere in my bag, "let me take that for you..."
He took my muffin and grinned at my expression after he'd broken off a small piece and then eaten it. I let it be and, instead of smacking some sense in to him, I took out two cigarettes and my lighter.
I handed the other cigarette to Anton, and placed mine between my lips. I lit both of us up, before replying to him.
"I did," I met his mesmerising blue eyes.
"Did something happen, or...?"
My brows furrowed, "what? What do you mean?"
His brows raised almost knowingly in return as he blew out smoke to the side of me, "you look tired, you seem agitated..."
"I'm tired, yeah," I managed out a small laugh, "and agitated because of it... I started crying at 3 AM, don't ask me why, I blame the spirits."
"The spirits?"
I shrugged, feeling the nicotine from my cigarette properly kicking in after my second inhale, "three in the morning is when the evil spirits of hell are set free..."
"How do you even sleep at night?" Anton shook his head at me with a small look, amused and confused by my beliefs.
"Mostly well, thank you," I simply grinned, and he chuckled.
"So, nothing else happened, because of which you're now tired, if you catch my drift...?" he then furthered carefully, and my brows furrowed again.
"I'm not getting what you mean, honey," I shook my head, dismissing the whole subject as I had a good idea as to what he was getting at.
"It's just, I—"
"Shit, we're going to be late, let's go!" I was quick to drop my cigarette and step on it with my shoe, before looping my arm around my boyfriend's and tugging him along with me towards the Sciences building.
"Are you free this Friday?" I asked him with a mouth full of vanilla muffin.
He smiled lightly and shook his head regretfully, "no. I'm going to visit my grandmother. Why?"
"Oh, okay. Tell her I said hi," I still had my arm wrapped around his as we now more casually made our way to our beginning lectures, "Steph's just hosting a small get-together at ours, no biggie..."
"I'll have to come another time," he replied after a moment, something clearly bothering him.
I had a good idea of what it was, but didn't want to bring it up. My clear feelings towards Cody were something I didn't want to start discussing with my boyfriend.
Cupid had fucked up big time.