Empty Promises (The Promises Series Book 3) by Elle Brooks Read Free Book Online Page B

trying to hold her shirt away from her skin. Barista Babe looked confused. It was like he couldn’t work out what just happened. He stood staring at Brie floundering about in a pool of coffee, like a kid who had just dove into the deep end of the pool before realizing he couldn’t swim.
    By this time, Blair was bending down to collect Brie from the floor. At the same time, the guy finally managed to work out that he could move. He turned to help her just as Blair lifted her, and the back of her head made an impressive crunch against his nose. They both cursed in unison as Casey and I watched in morbid fascination. They immediately clasped their respective hurts, and Barista Babe paced around in a tiny circle with his head tilted forward as the blood began to drip.. Blair was still rubbing the back of her head but rooted to the spot as she muttered a nervous apology, and Brie was still sitting in a puddle of coffee. The older man who works the till rounded the corner with a handful of tissue and thrust some at the coffee god while dropping the rest to the floor to soak up the mess.
    The whole event couldn’t have lasted more than two minutes, tops, but every time I think about it, I laugh my ass off. We left shortly after Brie returned from the restroom, where she’d attempted to dry her shirt under the hand blowers. She stopped at the counter on our way out to apologize to the Barista Babe, who was leaned against the back wall with two wads of tissue pushed up his nostrils to cap the flow of blood. His eyes were already starting to blacken and the “Don’t worry about it, accidents happen,” comment he threw at her didn’t really match the scowl on his face.
    Undeterred by disaster, Brie decided it was the perfect opportunity to ask him out. She mumbled something along the lines of, “Let me make it up to you. We can grab a drinks some time … my treat?” The guy’s eyebrows shot straight to his hairline in surprise and by the wince the look turned into, I could tell the movement hurt. There was a really awkward long silence as she waited for a reply. The poor guy must have been intimidated, as me, Blair and Casey stood behind Brie—all watching the interaction. Don’t judge me, I have kind of a sick fascination with watching awkward moments play out. They’re like car crashes that you know you shouldn’t look at, but you just can’t summon the strength to pull your gaze away.
    The guy shifted from foot to foot and then politely declined, saying he was flattered, but she wasn’t really his type. Brie being Brie, she drawls out in a sickly sweet voice that has the rest of us sniggering like the schoolgirls we are, “Sweetheart, I’m everyone’s type.” She says it so matter-of-fact, that if it were anyone else, it would have sounded completely conceited. Somehow she pulled it off without sounding like a douche.
    The guy looked her square in the eyes, seemingly ready to decline her for a second time, then smiled and shook his head. He let out another wince and what sounded like “fuck” under his breath before answering her again. Only it’s not what any of us were expecting. In fact, even Brie looked a little shocked. He told her to meet him at seven after his shift on Wednesday and then disappeared into the back room.
    Casey bumped shoulders with Brie and looked genuinely in awe. Blair leaned over to me and whispered, “Dude, am I missing something here? How did that just happen? We just totaled the store and, by the looks of it, broke his nose, and he still agreed to go on a date with her?”
    “Oh, my gosh, look at the state of me!” Brie shrieked as we exited The Grind. She’d pulled her cell out of her purse to check her reflection in the camera. “I look like I’ve been mud wrestling and lost!”
    “Hence, the reason why you now have a date Wednesday,” Case replied with a grin.
    I shook my head in confusion because, after all that she’d still seized the moment. She took a leap of faith