Chapter 2
Dante
“What do you mean you’re all out?”
“I mean exactly what it sounds like. We are out of cookies. You ate them all.”
I shook my head. “That can’t be possible. I only had six.”
Sage rolled her eyes. “It’s totally possible when you also count the six you bought this morning. We only make two dozen a day.”
I leaned against the counter. “Then maybe you should think about upping that number.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t tell me how to do my job.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“I’m not telling you how to do your job, just giving you a suggestion.”
“Your suggestion blows.” Sage always gave me shit whenever I came into the café, and I had to admit that it was kind of fun to get her riled up.
“Where is Molly?”
“She’s going to give you the same answer I just did. Right now, all we have are the frozen dough pucks in the freezer.”
I smirked and could already taste the gooey goodness in my mouth. “Then fire up the oven and throw some pucks of deliciousness in there.” Problem solved. I could totally wait ten minutes if it meant that I was going to get fresh out of the oven cookies.
Sage rolled her eyes and walked away from the counter. “Molly,” she called. “I’m not dealing with this dumbass anymore. I can’t handle it.”
Molly walked out of the storage closet with a smile on her lips. “How many times have I told you that you can’t come at the end of the day expecting cookies?
“I guess one more time.”
She rolled her eyes. “I can give you some to bake at home if you want.”
“I can’t remember the last time I turned on my oven.” Cooking was not something I did. Ever.
“That’s the only way you are going to get any cookies today. We close in five minutes.”
I sighed and rubbed my stomach. “Bag up a dozen. I’ll see if my oven works.”
“The fact that you don’t even know if your oven works scares me. Do you actually eat out all of the time?” Sage asked.
I shook my head. “No. You don’t need an oven to make a peanut butter sandwich. Plus, I’m the king of microwaving shit.” It was amazing the things you could throw in the microwave, and they tasted halfway decent.
Molly visibly shivered. “I’m going to have to make you care packages of food. I’m seriously worried about your well-being.” She moved to the freezer and looked over at me. “You won’t burn down your house if you turn on the oven, will you?”
I shrugged and held up my hands. “Honestly, it’s probably a fifty/fifty chance. I’m willing to risk it, though.”
Sage grabbed a bag from under the counter and walked over to Molly. “If he burns down his house, there’s a chance he won’t be in tomorrow. I like those odds.” She held open the bag. “Fill it up,” she ordered.
Molly dropped a tray full of cookie pucks into the bag, and my stomach growled. This was going to be fucking amazing if I didn’t manage to burn them all. “They’re cheaper since I’m doing all of the work, right?”
Molly and Sage both turned toward me, their jaws dropped. “You’re an ass,” they said in unison.
I shrugged. “It doesn’t hurt to ask.” I was going to assume that the answer was no.
Sage put a knot at the end of the bag and slung it over her shoulder. “You give ninja hotties a bad name.”
“And you put a lot of pressure on us hotties. We can’t be amazing all of the time.”
She set the bag in front of me. “You’re just a ninja now. I’m taking away your hottie title. That’ll be twenty bucks.”
I grabbed the bag and sprinted to the front door. “You take away my hottie title, I’m taking the cookies. Charge it to the Powerhouse tab.”
“What?” Sage squawked. “That isn’t even a thing.”
“Then make it a thing,” I called. Karlton walked through the door as I opened it, and he beelined towards the front counter. Hopefully he could help distract Molly and Sage. The door swung shut behind me, and I jogged over to my car parked on the side of the building. I had told Kellan that I would be back after grabbing some goodies from the café, but with me stealing a dozen cookies, I had to make a quick getaway.
Sage was standing outside, flipping me the bird, while making a rather unladylike gesture of thrusting her hips, and telling me to suck it as I drove by the café.
I rolled down the window and hollered, “Classy!” I coasted out of the parking lot. Sage’s yelling faded as I rolled up the window and chuckled.
Getting her riled was one of the highlights of my day. She was so easy to piss off.
Ten minutes later, as I pulled into my apartment lot, my phone rang, and I instantly knew who was calling.
“I’ll pay her in the morning,” I said into the phone without looking at the caller ID.
“You’ll pay me because Sage about had a coronary when she stomped into Powerhouse five minutes ago,” Kellan replied.
“Huh, I’m surprised it took her that long to come bitch to you.”
“She called before she came over.”
I pulled into my spot and shifted the car into park. “I hope you didn’t pay her twenty bucks. She tried to tell me that was how much I owed her. Bullshit, man. Ain’t no way I’m paying that much for cookies.”
“If you wouldn’t be an ass to her, then she wouldn’t charge you an arm and a leg for cookies.”
“Dude, a week ago, she charged my debit card fifteen dollars for three cookies.” When I checked my account that night, I had to think back and count how many cookies I ate. Molly’s cookies were good, but they weren’t that good.
Kellan laughed. “You probably deserved it. She’s charging you for having to deal with you.”
“You’re supposed to be on my side with this shit, Kel. Not your girlfriend's side.”
“Molly warms my bed at night, not you.”
I pushed open my door and slid out of the car. “Damn power of the pussy, man. You and Tate are both goners.”
“Just make sure you pay me back tomorrow and try not to torment Sage so much anymore.”
I heaved out an annoyed breath. “I see I’m on my own with this. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to figure out how to turn on my oven and bake.”
“Hold up, hold up. You’re baking?”
“Ask Molly. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I shoved the phone in my pocket and reached into the car to grab the bag of cookies.
I could totally bake cookies. How hard could it possibly be?
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