“He bought you an Elf on the Shelf?" Everly is staring at me like I've just announced we had a three-way with an elf.

"Yeah. Neither of us really knew what it was, but we looked it up and now he texts me pictures of the elf every morning," I say with a big stupid grin on my face.

"Pictures of the elf on his dick?" Everly asks hopefully.

"No! Pictures of the elf doing funny stuff around his house." Everly is speechless. "Never mind." I wave a hand.

"Holy shit. He's in love with you."

"No." I shake my head. "No, we're just having fun."

It's a week after Thanksgiving and the first I've seen Everly since before the holiday. We were slammed with customers this morning and now it's finally slowed down enough to catch up.

"Wait. Would that be a bad thing? If he loved me?" I ask. She seems kind of appalled.

Everly softens. "Well, no, it's not bad. It's just you're so young."

"I'm the same age as you," I point out.

"No, I know." Everly is treading lightly now, which is odd for Everly. "You just don't have a lot of experience with men," she says. "Are you ready to commit to something serious?"

"I don't know," I reply as I examine the ends of my hair. "This conversation is silly. We've been together less than two months."

"Do you think this conversation will be easier in a month when you're so far gone in love with him there's no turning back? Will you be happy being with a man who has to run off to the hospital at all hours of the day and night?"

"His hours aren't that bad, really. Most of his practice is scheduled appointments. Unless he's on call at the hospital."

"Yeah, most of his practice involves him looking at other women's pussies. Right now you're the hottest pussy he sees, but how will you feel when you're forty and you know he's seeing twenty-year-old pussy at work?"

"Everly, eww." Of course, now I'm thinking about it.

"And his family is awful," Everly continues. "Think about all that before you tell me you're just having fun."

"He sounds like such a catch when you phrase it that way," I reply sarcastically.

"You're the catch, Sophie. Don't sell yourself short."

"I'm the child of a teenage mother and I don’t even know who my father is."

"Your mother has nothing to do with you, Sophie. You made yourself who you are, not her. You're a smart, beautiful girl who will be graduating soon with honors. You're the most caring, responsible person I know."

"Okay, enough about me. Tell me about your weekend. Did you make any headway with Professor Camden?" I ask her as I pour myself a coffee.

"I…" Everly starts to say, but then stops. Shaking her head, she says, "I don't know what is going on anymore, Sophie."

"What do you mean?" It's so odd to see Everly anything less than confident. "You always know what's going on. You have a plan, remember? Six months till graduation, six months to make Finn Camden fall in love with you," I remind her.

"I know!" She throws her hands up in the air. "I know, I know, but I'm so confused."

"Is everything okay?" I'm concerned. Everly is off her game and that is rare.

"Yeah." She nods, as if to reassure herself. Then she looks past me to the counter. "Your stalker is here again."

I sigh. "Regular customers are not stalkers, Everly. We're a coffee shop. People come in, they get coffee." I walk past her to help the man waiting at the counter and place a big smile on my face, ready to help.

“Sophie.” The man says my name and pauses, and that split second is all I need to realize that something is not quite right. Why is this man referring to me by name? I know it’s pinned to the front of my apron, but customers rarely use it.

“Could you sit with me for a few minutes?” he asks, gesturing to the empty tables filling Grind Me.

What the heck? I glance sideways at Everly. She’s wearing a smug told-you-so expression on her face.

“Um,” I reply, unsure how to proceed. “I’m working, but thank you.” I give him my best professional smile.

“I can wait until your break,” he offers. “Or meet you after?”

Shit.

I try again. “The thing is, I have a boyfriend. So I don’t think I can meet you after my shift.” I try my professional smile again. I hope I’m getting it right.

The man smiles in response, but it’s not dejected, it’s amused. “I’m afraid I might be giving you the wrong impression. I wasn’t asking you out.”

Oh.

“Besides, I’m far too old for you.”

“A little young for her, actually,” Everly mutters and the man shoots her a look.

He pulls a wallet from the breast pocket of his coat and opens it, revealing a badge and an ID, which Everly promptly swipes out of his hand. “My name is Boyd Gallagher,” he says, still looking at me. He pauses, apparently expecting this to mean something to me.

I shift from foot to foot behind the counter. Am I in some kind of trouble?

“Feds aren’t really her fetish, but I know a girl at school who’d be so into you,” Everly pipes in, still reviewing the wallet in her hand.

“Everly!” The stranger and I reply at the same time and it breaks the tension a little. I smile as the man retrieves his wallet from Everly's hand and places it back into his pocket.

He sighs and runs a hand through his hair before moving his attention back to me. “Sophie, I’m your brother.”