Chamaeleon by Autumn Reed & Julia Clarke

Author:Autumn Reed & Julia Clarke [Reed, Autumn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: BA
Published: 2016-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14: Haley

Tuesday, May 12th

“So, Brooke, what’s your story?”

Not grasping at first that Noah was speaking to me, I continued to scrub the counter before finally realizing my mistake and looking up. Get it together, Brooke, I told myself. Brooke, Brooke, Brooke.

“Sorry, what was that?” I asked as I casually leaned against the counter, trying to appear calm and confident.

“What’s your story, Miss Mysterious?”

I lifted an eyebrow. “Me, mysterious? Not likely.” And not exactly true, though that was never how I thought of myself. “There’s not much to tell. I recently moved here from the Reno area and now I’m a barista.”

Since I didn’t want to come up with another tale about my background, I had decided to stick with the one I previously used—wholly uninteresting girl from Nevada. Estranged parents. Homeschooled. Close enough to the truth that I didn’t feel too bad about lying.

“Nuh uh,” Noah scolded. “You’re not getting off that easy. There’s no way that a smart—and totally hot—girl like you doesn’t have more going on.”

I fought the blush threatening to creep up my neck. Objectively, I could admit that Noah was cute, though not really my type. He was a couple inches taller than me and skinny, with messy brown hair and a friendly-looking face. His style was what I was coming to recognize as fairly typical in Portland—skinny jeans with a cardigan or flannel shirt and boots, sometimes a beanie or glasses with thick plastic frames as accessories. A few tattoos were visible when he pushed up his sleeves, detracting from his otherwise boyish look.

As I studied him, I found myself wondering if it was even fair to say that I had a type, considering my feelings for six—well, five now—different guys. Was unbelievably good-looking and muscular my type? Annoyed at the turn of my thoughts, I pinched myself, like that might somehow deter me from thinking about . . . them.

“How do you know I’m smart?” I asked, hoping to distract Noah from his line of questioning.

“I’ve trained my share of new employees in the last couple of years, and you picked it all up faster than anyone I’ve ever seen, including experienced baristas. Not to mention how hard you work. If I’m not careful, you’ll steal my assistant manager position within a month.”

“Yeah, right,” I said, although I was pleased with his compliment.

“Boyfriend?” he asked, continuing his interrogation. Sighing at his persistence, I shook my head.

“Girlfriend, then,” he said hopefully. “Please, please say you have a girlfriend.”

Laughing softly, I said, “Sorry, but no.”

“Husband?” he asked with a horrified expression as he examined my hands like a wedding band might suddenly appear. I still wore my mom’s ring, but it remained on my right hand. “There has to be someone, because there is no way that you are single,” he said charmingly.

When I shrugged in response, Noah peered at my face as if he could see right through me. “Recent breakup,” he stated rather than questioned. “What I expected.”

No. Yes. Sort of. “How could

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