Brews and Books: A Cozy MM Small Town Coffee Shop Tale with a Dark Fantasy Twist by DG Valentine

Author:DG Valentine [Valentine, DG]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Roswell Publishing
Published: 2024-01-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

I wake up alone and in my own bed. Sunlight is beginning to tickle the window and, before I'm even fully awake, I realise that I'm late opening the shop.

Throwing myself out of bed, I drag on some clothes and toss a clean apron over my head before diving down the stairs. My phone, which I'd left on the counter, has several missed calls and messages on it. All are asking if I'm okay and if the shop's opening.

A handful of people are waiting at the door, day breaking on their weary faces. I turn the broom the right round, open the door and apologise profusely.

“Everything okay, Dave?” Mr Peel asks.

“Yeah. Yeah.” I try and calm my flustered self down. “I forgot to set my alarm and obviously needed the sleep. But come on in. It'll take me a couple of minutes to get the machines started but you'll have your coffee in no time.”

And, true to my word, within fifteen minutes I've cleared the small line all while apologising for the lack of baked goods. They're still in the freezer, waiting for me to put them together and get them in the oven. I'll do them when Tess arrives.

I'm going to have to keep my mouth shut around her. She cares and she has a big heart. But if she finds out that I've been fooling around with Kael already... I really don't want to be in the firing line of whatever she has to say to me. She really is the Mom that I need around here, constantly reminding me to look after myself and to not put myself in positions while I'll get injured either physically or emotionally. She knows how long it is since I was last in a relationship and I can already hear her words about jumping head first into something new.

Once the flow of people has abated, I take a moment to make myself a coffee and try to clear my head. Something's not right. I distinctly remember falling asleep on the beanbags in the comic shop with the thought at the back of my mind that, come morning, my back would be fucked. And then I wake up alone in my own bed to no alarm and a string of phone calls asking if I'm okay.

There's a couple of other things, too, such as that night when there was something lurking in my apartment and yesterday when that strange smoke made it into my room. And Kael, as adorable and sweet as he is... He seems to have an unwillingness to leave the shop. That could be down to social anxiety and the fact that the locals have yet to really warm to him. He's probably getting food delivered. I mean, we're not that far removed that groceries can't be delivered. And I've seen his phone so I know that he has contact with the outside world.

Maybe it's the strange night that's playing with me. Maybe it's the waking up suddenly

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