“Have a nice day,” the barista behind the counter said to Dominick as she handed him a large cup of coffee.

It was not his favorite coffee shop, but Dominick didn’t want to risk seeing Harmony after their horrible date together. She’d never noticed him before, and he’d always wanted her to. Now, he’d do anything to become invisible again.

And while Lakeland had no shortage of coffee shops, Dominick hated driving the extra five minutes to go somewhere else. Unfortunately, he had a huge paper due the following week and needed all the energy he could get.

Conrad had tagged along this morning for some reason, and the two stood waiting for the guy behind the counter to finish making his drink. The pleasant aroma of roasted coffee beans filled the air.

“You are so boring, Nicky,” Conrad announced seemingly out of nowhere.

Dominick’s head jerked up. “Don’t call me that. And why am I boring?”

“Your plain cup of coffee.” Conrad pointed to the extra-large cup in Dominick’s hands.

He chuckled. “It’s better than your triple-shot, frozen white-mocha whatever.”

Conrad ignored him. “Why do you need that much coffee anyway? I think that’s like, three days’ worth of caffeine.”

“Oh yeah? Are you the food pyramid police now?” Dominick asked with a wide smile on his face. “I think you have pizza at least five nights a week.”

The guy behind the counter called out Conrad’s name, and he grabbed his fancy drink. “I’m just saying, it’s almost eight. It seems a little late to be loading up like that.”

Dominick rose his brows. “A lot of college students drink coffee much later than this. It’s not that strange.”

“It is for you. You’re all ‘early to bed, early to rise. I keep a regular schedule, and I think that will make me wise.’”

The two walked out of the shop and got into Dominick’s car. “That’s not how Ben Franklin’s saying goes. You know that, right?”

“Like it matters. You’ve been acting strange lately. I want to know what’s going on with you. Don’t you dare say it’s that coffee shop chick.”

“Harmony.”

Conrad shook his head. “Exactly.”

Had Conrad noticed that he hadn’t been able to sleep in days? Dominick had been replaying the date over and over again in his head. He was exhausted from lack of sleep and never had he felt like he needed coffee more than this week.

Whenever Dominick thought about their date, he always came to the same conclusion. The two of them had fun somewhere in the middle of the date. It was the beginning and end that had been a mess.

He sighed. “I can’t explain it. There was a slight connection.”

Even with his eyes on the road, Dominick could see the incredulous look on Conrad’s face.

“Relationships have been built upon less,” he added hoping to build his case.

“But those people had to see each other a second time,” Conrad argued. “You’re currently going to coffee shops in the opposite direction of where she works. You’re too afraid to call her. I think it’s time to admit this is never going to happen.”

“That’s probably for the best,” he said, even though he wasn’t completely convinced by his own words. “I’ve got to focus on my grades, and not get distracted. I plan to put all this energy into my economics paper that’s due next week. Nothing like some good ol’ research to get me back on track.”

Conrad reached over and ruffled his hair. Dominick really hated it when he did that. It made him feel like such a little kid, and it made him swerve slightly in the lane. He got a quick honk from the driver behind him and felt a flush creep up his cheeks.

“That’s the Dominick we all know and love. All school, no play. I think this means I can play Death Count 2 and not have to worry about you.”

Dominick pulled into one of the school’s many parking lots. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

Conrad shook his head. “Sweet. Thanks for the ride. I’ll catch you later.” He hopped out of the car, and walked toward their dorm.

Dominick didn’t get out right away. He thought about what Conrad had said. Of course he wanted to call Harmony, but what if she didn’t want to talk to him? And despite the awkward Harmony situation now limiting his coffee shop options, he didn’t want to leave Florida Southern. The only way he could make sure that didn’t happen was to stay diligent in his studies.

It was time to let go of the far-fetched hope of things working out between Harmony and him.

He grabbed his phone, and pulled up the contact information for Harmony. Dominick had saved it in his phone from the date itinerary before their first date thinking it would be helpful to have if they had gotten separated on their date. He hadn’t needed it then, and he wasn’t doing himself any favors by keeping it saved in his phone. And yet, he hadn’t deleted it yet.

It was stupid.

If Harmony wanted to talk to him, she would have called him by now. He scrolled to the bottom of the contact page and clicked DELETE CONTACT.

He let out a long sigh. Now that was done, and he could get back to work. He grabbed his coffee, a couple old books from his professor, and started walking toward the library.

Dominick rubbed his temples before reaching out to grab his drink. He was disappointed to discover there was nothing left after he’d already lifted the cup to his lips. He’d finished the first draft of the paper in record time, surprised by how little space Harmony was taking in his mind.

Unless he counted that last stray thought—which he didn’t.

He glanced at the time in the top right on his screen. 12:38? When had it gotten so late? The library would be closing in less than half an hour. This would be a good time to pack up and head back to his room.

Dominick shut down his laptop and lifted his arms above his head, stretching unused muscles. As he did, he looked around the library. Most of the students who had been sharing the space were gone. It looked like it was just him and the librarian left.

He bet Conrad would still be up though, still playing his game. Dominick wondered, not for the first time, how he managed to pass his classes. He was a cliché the way he spent so much time gaming with guys he only knew online.

Dominick thought he should grab Conrad something to eat, just to make sure he actually consumed something somewhat healthy. There weren’t a ton of options this time of night, but he still hoped to get something other than pizza. He grabbed his phone to text Conrad, and was surprised to see his screen light up with several text messages from an unknown number. The latest one, and most prominent one, reading:

I should stop texting you. I probably look like a stalker. I promise I’m not.

The first thought that entered Dominick’s mind was, “Who is this stalker?” His breath caught in his chest at the mere thought of having someone message him so much in such a short time. He’d only been at the library for a few hours, and this mystery person messaged him… seventeen times?

Whoa.

He unlocked his phone and started scrolling through the messages.

Hey. I got your number from Morgan. I hope that’s okay.

No. That was definitely not okay. Did Morgan sell their information? Or worse, did she give his actual match his information even after he said no? He couldn’t do this again.

I’d really like to talk to you. I hope you’ll hear me out.

I was a jerk, and I’d like another chance.

Dominick snorted to himself and shook his head. If this person was asking for another chance, it was another mix-up. Morgan was literally the worst business-owner he’d ever encountered. The mistakes just kept coming. This poor sucker must have thought he was someone else.

Out of curiously, he continued to read through the texts. Each one was short, and so while seventeen messages had seemed crazy at first, the more he read, the more he realized it was more like two messages broken into a million sentence fragments.

Once he was done reading through them all, his fingers danced across the screen to type a response.

Dominick: I’m sorry, you have the wrong number. Might want to double-check with Morgan.

Immediately a bubble popped up on the screen indicating the mystery person was typing.

This is Dominick, right?

Dominick: Yes.

This is Harmony.

He stared at the screen in shock. If she’d messaged him yesterday, there would have been no confusion. And yet, the unknown number was the least of his bewilderment. Harmony should be texting Pax, her perfect match, not the guy who ran out on her.

His phone buzzed. Harmony had sent him another text.

Harmony: Are you there?

Dominick: Yeah.

Harmony: Can you meet? Maybe for coffee?

He looked at the empty coffee cup and once again at the time. He’d already be missing out on so much sleep because of the coffee currently working its way out of his tired brain. The idea of meeting with Harmony again freaked him out. Not only that, how well would he be prepared for a conversation when he was running on empty.

He typed his reply.

Dominick: Tomorrow?

Harmony’s answer came right away.

Harmony: It’s a date.