Iced Coffee and Flirtation

"Earth to Isla."

Something sharp bit into the end of my nose, and my eyes snapped open to find Tara sitting in front of me, her eyes dancing as she laughed at me. "Did I fall asleep?"

"One minute you were talking, the next snoring."

"I do not snore."

"No one ever thinks they snore."

I cleaned the sleep from the corner of my eye and tried to focus on the words in my textbook. Squinting and blinking helped, but a low pounding throbbed in the back of my head. "Well, I know I don't."

Tara rolled her eyes before taking a deep drink from her latte. We were sitting at the Steaming Sailor, one of two coffee shops on the island, the second being Latte Love, but Tara had made it clear that only tourists drank at the latter. As I sipped on my iced coffee, I couldn't fault her taste. This was far better than any other coffee shop I'd ever visited, and I made a point of locating a shop everywhere I went.

"Have you slept at all this week? You look like crap."

"That's so kind of you."

"For real. I've got purses smaller than the bags under yer eyes."

I leaned away from her, trying to appear highly offended, but I'd seen the mirror this morning. I knew what she was looking at, and it wasn't pretty. It didn't make sense. I came home from school exhausted. I'd fall into bed, unable to hold my eyes open only to be lie there with a my mind buzzing like an exposed wire. I'd only be able to sleep after swimming in the pool, and it was such a deep sleep I barely remembered closing my eyes before they opened.

"It's just an adjustment period," I explained. "I'm going to sleep all weekend."

"Mmmhmm, I'm more concerned about you being able to stay awake long enough to make it to the party tonight."

I wrinkled my nose, still not entirely thrilled about the party. Especially, since I would be accompanied by Kieran, and I'd done my best to put distance between us since Niko's comments on Tuesday. "Maybe I should just skip it. I've still got a lot of unpacking to do."

"Oh no," Tara exclaimed, "you are not getting out of this. I have been waiting all week to see you in something other than a school uniform. You will not take this away from me."

"If your entire goal is to see me in real clothes, I'm happy to oblige. It doesn't have to be at a party."

Tara slammed her math book shut. "You know it's not just that. This is yer home now, and you should get to know everyone."

"The town I grew up in was smaller than this place, and I didn't know everyone. What's wrong with having a small circle?"

She shook her head, her braids clicking against her chin, the beads on the end the same yellow as her uniform. I'd never seen someone with such a knack for color coordination, but it suited her. As sharp tongued as she could be, Tara was a piece of sunshine on this often times dismal Island.

"Ach, I'm going for a refill, and yer getting one too. Extra shots. No arguments."

The pain in my head pulsed. "Maybe make it two extra shots."

My friend nodded solemnly, a slight crinkle forming between her eyes, but she didn't say anything else as she bounced to the front holding our cups. I took advantage of her absence, returning to the notes for our math test in front of me. Tara might be good for my spirits, but she wasn't good for my grades.

A jingle sounded from the front door, and a small group of students entered. They were in the year below us, and I only recognized them because we shared P.E. together. They grabbed a table in the back, but one of the boys in the group bypassed the line for drinks and walked over to our table.

"Hey," he said, dropping into Tara's seat.

"Hello," I replied, a polite, if confused, smile on my lips. It wasn't that his attention was unwanted. A week ago, he was just the type of boy that would've sent me into a dreamy eyed trance. Muscles barely constrained by a too tight, white t-shirt, ripped denim covering legs that weren't neglected at the gym, and piercing blue eyes I imagined our children inheriting. Even better- he wasn't perfect. Sandy brown hair that was a little too straight and a little longer than I cared for hung to his chin, and his nose had been broken, maybe more than once.

But that was a week ago. Before a tall, hazel eyed boy who spoke like a thunderstorm and smelled like the sea had raised the bar impossibly high.

"Yer the new girl, Isla Halloran?"

"In the flesh."

"I'm Ewan."

"Like McGregor?"

"But far better looking."

"Modest too."

"Honest."

"Well, Ewan the Honest, what can I do for you today?"

He dragged my notes to his side of the table. A low whistle escaped from his well-formed lips, and when he looked up, I couldn't help but notice the splash of freckles across one cheek and not the other.

"This makes me think I might opt out next year. That's some complicated stuff."

"Yeah," I said, pulling it back to me and closing the book. It was clear I wouldn't be getting any more studying done. Tara would be back within moments, and Ewan was interested in small talk. "I'm more of an lit and writing girl. Math requires more effort than I care to admit. But, you shouldn't opt out. Don't you want to go to university? Maybe leave the Island, at least for a few years."

"Yer interesting."

"You're evasive."

A theatrical sigh. "I'll probably just take over the family business. We own the local supermarket."

"Ok," I pushed, "but you could still go to college. Study business? I'm sure it would be an asset to running the store."

"What for? I don't need to know marketing because we don't have any real competition, and I've known how to do the books since I was a wee lad."

"Well..." I paused, searching for the right words. I'd never met so many people who believed there was nowhere else to go but their little spot in the world, and that was saying something: I'm from a little town in Mississippi where ninety percent of the population is kin because no one ever leaves. It was ironic really. I'd always dreamed of coming here, and now I was trying to talk everyone into leaving.

"Well," he mocked, winking to soften the sting.

"What if I opened a store? How would you compete against me?"

He had started to rise from his chair, but he stopped and gave me a sly smile. "You'd have a hard time convincing anyone around here to deviate from the norm." He grabbed my hand and pressed a kiss to it. Tiny wings fluttered in my stomach. "But if you'd like to run it side by side one day, I'm open for negotiations. I'd hate to deny a beautiful young woman's dream."

"What did he want?" Tara asked, returning with our drinks just as he departed.

"Hey Tara," he said.

"Ewan." She sniffed. "He's a bad seed. Be careful around him."

"Really?" I drew the liquid gold up through the straw, the brew hitting my tongue in an explosion of silky vanilla and espresso. Heaven. "He was charming."

"He's a player."

"Says the girl whose brother flirts with anything in a skirt."

The door jingled again, but I didn't look up. I was too busy watching to see if Tara was insulted by my statement. A week wasn't quite long enough to know someone well enough to insult their family members. But she shrugged.

"Al is harmless, though. Let one of those girls give any indication that they're interested in something long term, and he'll be at the door with chocolate and roses. And his eyes will never look at another girl."

"Maybe that's all he needs too. The right girl."

A shadow fell over the table. I didn't have to look up to know who it was. His scent surrounded me in a fog, confusing and exciting me.

"Who needs the right girl?" Kieran asked over the sound of a chair scraping across the cafe's scarred wooden floors. His long legs stretched across the space beneath the table, his knee brushing against mine as he shifted to fit more comfortably. Not that anyone would ever look at him and think him uncomfortable. He had a way of lounging in every seat, looking chill and relaxed, the only sign he was anything but that the alertness in his eyes.

Tara slid her finger around the top of her cup, mischievousness bending her cupid's bow into a sinister knot. "Ewan McDuff. Seems to think he's found her too, from the way he was flirting with Isla just now. Kissed her hand."

I kicked at her, but Kieran's leg was in the way. The movement only served to bring our bodies together again. He narrowed his eyes, and the tension in his jaw pulled his skin tight, dissolving the dimple that had just been sitting in his cheek.

He closed his eyes, his thick lashes so long they brushed against his cheekbones. His chest rose and fell in a purposeful rhythm, and his lips twitched.

"Are you counting?" I demanded.

"Yes. Ewan McDuff is trouble. You should stay away."