Odd Woman Out (Book 4 of The Triad Series)

12. s*x, Lies, Sleepy Eyes

She was woken up by the buzz of an alarm. Not one she had set for herself, but one that was coming from something plugged in with the sole purpose rousing sleepy humans.

Emily didn’t own an alarm like that and used her phone to wake herself up in the mornings.

Her eyes didn’t have a chance to open before a gentle hand was stroking her side idly. “Turn it off,” a deep voice grunted. “I’m having Tuck open up shop with the new girl—Vanessa?”

A sleepy, feminine yawn broke the silence behind Emily, and her eyelids opened just enough to see Leo’s stubbly jaw inches from her forehead.

“Veronica,” Sofia corrected. “But Tuck just calls her Vee. I think he’s got a low-level crush on her already or he wouldn’t be giving her cutesy nicknames after only a week on the job.”

She sounded like she was smiling, and it was hard not to imitate that when she thought of Tucker’s geeky attempts at flirtation. He was almost as bad as Emily herself when he was nervous enough.

“I think someone’s awake,” Leo said with a low chuckle.

“Damn, I was thinking I could get more sleep,” Emily murmured before her mouth opened with jaw-cracking yawn. “What time is it?”

“4 AM, our usual time to get up. I gave Tuck the extra set of keys to the shop, so unless he can’t run things for several hours, you are welcome to go back to sleep.” He pressed his lips to her forehead before she relaxed back into the mattress.

“4 AM?” she groaned. “How do you do that every day? I complain when I have to get up at 6 just to get to work on time at 8.”

Granted, she always made sure she was early—at least by fifteen minutes to a half hour. The buses in San Francisco were less reliable than she’d hoped when moving to the big city. Leaving an extra thirty minutes early was something a lot of residents did to make sure they weren’t late.

“Can I ask you a question before you drift off to sleep again?” Leo asked.

“Hmm, sure.” She didn’t open her eyes.

“How do you feel about…about everything last night? Good? Horrible? Still dubious?”

She didn’t need to think long, and she could feel Sofia’s body stiffen in response to his question. “I feel good. Better than I thought I would, actually. It wasn’t hard, just different. I liked it.”

The mounting tension in the air broke at her words, but she wasn’t done.

“I’m just scared. My ex-boyfriend was a real asshole to f**k my best friend behind my back. He got her pregnant while he was with me,” she muttered. “Every time I think about him, I forget that he has a kid from her, and it makes me lose faith in relationships.” She paused. “We were together for a couple of years, and you’d think that where we were going was something real. I thought he loved me, and I know I loved him at the time, but… Do you ever sometimes wonder if you’re enough for a person? Like they aren’t just settling because it’s gotten familiar?”

Leo’s lips flattened as the questions piled up behind his eyes and floated away. “I think that people despise change, just like they dislike things or people that are different.”

“When people looked at us together, when Leo and I were with Grace, it was like we had a target on our backs,” Sofia spoke softly. “No one was pointing guns or knives at us, but we always felt somewhat out of place anywhere we went. That was mostly in the beginning.”

“It got better with time, but I don’t think Grace was fond of going out,” Leo told her. “She said the stares we got when we went out on group dates were distracting. I just figured if you love someone enough, you don’t care who’s staring or judging. You’re just happy enough to be with them.”

“She never wanted to go out with us—not even to eat or go out dancing when we wanted to. She was a bit of a homebody, and I think it made her depressed.”

“I—” Emily drew in a deep breath as she fought for the words she needed. “I don’t think I could do that. When I was with Dean, I wanted to be seen with him, be on his arm. He was the same, I thought, but dates became infrequent, more of a special occasion type thing. A birthday or anniversary of sorts instead of just going out and having fun because we felt like it. He made it seem like a chore, and I just resolved myself to the fact he was just happy watching TV or eating dinner with me at home. I figured, nothing good ever lasts, does it? I got used to the idea that this was what we were, people who got takeout and ate at home instead of Ubering to a nice restaurant and drinking in the sounds around us before walking on the beach afterwards.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way.” His voice was soft. “Sofia and I love going out, dancing or hitting a bar with friends. Meeting new ones on occasion. We usually stay around the area because it’s good for business and we like the feel of nightlife in The Mission, but we sometimes venture outside our home turf and explore.”

“We’re always up for something different, if you couldn’t already tell.” Emily’s resulting smile echoed the grin in Sofia’s voice, and her hand reached back to rifle through the woman’s messy bedhead.

“Different,” she murmured. “Different is good sometimes, if it’s the right kind for you.”

“Is this the right kind, Em?”

No pause, not even one to take a breath.

“Yes, I think it is.”

***

They slept for a couple more hours when their bodies refused to lie in bed any longer.

Some habits were good, borne of what had to happen, and your internal body clock was one of those.

The lazed around for a few minutes before Sofia offered Emily some clothing and a fresh toothbrush, and Emily was in the bathroom washing herself alone and using some of Sofia’s coconut-scented bodywash and conditioner to loosen the tangles from sleeping. When she rinsed off, she saw that Leo was on the other side of the curtain at the sink, scrubbing his teeth and watching her through the mirror. She dried herself slowly as she heard Sofia in the other room, rummaging through some drawers.

“Em! I have some stuff laid out for you on the bed when you’re ready!”

Leo smiled around his toothbrush, winking at her before spitting out the froth and rinsing his mouth out. “Me next,” he told her before stripping out of his underwear and giving Emily a very nice view of his ass.

Not bad, she thought. Not bad at all.

She could have told that from the many times she’d been presented with it as a customer, though.

She averted her eyes after that, wrapping a towel around her head and abdomen before stepping onto the bathroom rug and switching places with Leo.

Everything felt right, set in its place, and she quickly donned some yoga pants and a t-shirt after slipping on her bra from last night. No panties, and she had no clue where they’d gone to, either.

She wondered if she could slip past Tucker into the café and not be see coming in from the back where only employees were allowed. She was aching for a cup of coffee.

She needn’t have worried, because Sofia was already perking some in the kitchen after Emily came out with her hair brushed—thanks to an extra one she had lying around unused—and braided in a long plait down her back. It flipped over her left shoulder where the end dripped onto the light blue fabric of her t-shirt.

Sofia glanced behind her, smiling at Emily. “You would think that I’d make use of the fact I own half a coffee shop, but I always make my own in the mornings. One cup a day, I promised myself when opening up this place. I figured if I drank more than that, I’d become addicted and have a complete meltdown if I ever got pregnant and was forced to abstain.”

“You do want kids then?” Emily asked. She didn’t know why it shocked her so much, but it seemed so…domestic after what they’d done the night before.

“Oh yeah, sure.” She pulled out three mugs from a cabinet that hung over the empty dishrack. “I’m only 29, and I swore to myself I’d become a responsible adult and start thinking about the future no sooner than thirty. With a few exceptions, of course.” She winked as she pulled out an array of milks and creamers. “We have hazelnut, skim milk, and 2 percent. What’s your poison?”

“Hazelnut.” Emily sounded sure. “Not as good as vanilla, but I’d not kick it out of bed either.”

“Hazelnut it is.”

As Sofia conjured up the right ratio of creamer to coffee, Emily sat down at the small breakfast bar. “What made you want to open up a coffee shop anyway?”

“Oh, well after my dad passed after I graduated college, he left me a small inheritance that was split between me and my older brother. Jack lives in Washington, and he decided he’d use his for a college fund for his kids. He has two little ones and works in banking or lending or something like that. I wanted something different. I met Leo, who is a caffeine addict from way back, a few years later and we decided to open our own place. The previous owners were behind on taxes, so we bought it from the city for the amount of taxes and liens owed. Honestly, it was a steal at that price. The rest of the cash is tucked away, though it’s not much. You can’t imagine how much industrial brewers and espresso makers cost.” She shook her head, her mouth a grimace as she thought back to paying for all the lovely little machines downstairs. “It took a while for business to pick up, what with all the damn big names around here, but we do well now. At first, it was hard even to make ends meet without a little money set aside from my inheritance. The real thing that brought in clientele was the reasonable prices and cozy atmosphere. I know we’re not Starbucks, but I think our drinks are just as good, and way kinder on the pocketbook. It’s expensive enough to live in the city these days. What made you want to be a legal secretary? Family?”

“My grandfather, to be specific,” Emily stated. “He was a lawyer, and my mother was a CPA for his firm for years after she graduated from college. My da—” She swallowed the word, almost having spoken it in plural. Not a safe topic of conversation over breakfast. It already gave her pins and needles and a raw, dry feeling in the back of her throat. “My father was in business, but my grandfather always warned that law was messy. He gave full kudos to his personal secretaries on keeping things tidy, even his business was mostly family law and litigation. I wanted to be like his secretaries. He had one I really admired named Joyce for over fifteen years before he retired. He lives in North Carolina now, with his new wife. My grandmother passed before I was even born.”

“Cancer?” Sofia looked up, a small frown curving her lips.

“Yes, but it took her fast. It really exploded, Grandpa said. She was on heavy pain medications most of the time, and when she died, he moved back to South Lake Tahoe where he’s grown up.”

“What about your parents? Do they still live there? Any brothers or sisters?”

A shred of doubt lingered at the back of her tongue, so she took a sip of her coffee to quell the urge to vomit words all over the room. “My parents are still there. I have two older brothers and two younger. No sisters.”

“Holy s**t? You part Mormon? Four brothers?”

Emily grinned despite herself. “Not on purpose. They are two sets of twins. Identical. My older brothers live in Hawaii, but Stef and Case are still living in Tahoe—my grandfather’s house actually. They bought it from him after a year of making rental payments. Something escrowed something or other. “She shook her head. “I didn’t pay much attention. My younger brothers may be asses, but I was glad to hear they were sticking around.”

“Any of them married? Have kids?”

God, things were getting trickier. “Yeah, my brothers in Hawaii are married and have kids, so we don’t get to see them much unless over facetime or skype. The come around the holidays with their two little ones.” There was no lie, and she was easily able to skirt past the rest of her anxiety by asking about what Leo thought of having children.

“Oh God, don’t get him started on that,” Sofia scoffed under her breath. “If it was up to him, I’d already be on baby number two or three. He acts the flirt, but you should see him when we got visit my brother in Washington. He hangs out with the kids more than he pays attention to Jack or me.”

Emily smiled, the last traces of wariness sloughing off like dead skin. “I think that’s sweet. He’ll be a really attentive father someday.”

“Damn straight I will be.” Leo sauntered into the room wearing jeans and a polo with no shoes. He clapped his hands together with a beaming grin. “You two talking about my favorite subject?”

“Yes,” Sofia cut out. “Chafed n*****s and swollen ankles always was a winner as far as topics of conversation go. Maybe we can add explosive baby diarrhea and spit-up to the list.”

He waved her words away. “Kids stuff. If you can’t play with the big boys, you don’t deserve to have little ones, am I right?”

Sofia merely rolled her eyes, but even Emily after knowing them intimately for such a short time could tell she enjoyed their easy, playful banter, and she loved being with them that much more for it.