Today was the day Sage Reyes would die.

That sentence would echo in her mind every time he did something extraordinarily annoying. In freshman year when he botched her science experiment results, forcing her to make a last-minute flimsy volcano for the fair. She lost, and all she could see was murder. In junior year, when he hid her gym shoes, and she had to run track in converse. She won but had callouses for days. She repaid him by slathering olive oil on his basketball shoes before a game. Not to mention, when he got her debate club shut down for harassment of other students. Solace proceeded to join his Model United Nations club and dethrone him as president.

It was safe to say, that there had been multiple occasions where Solace was ready to go to jail for manslaughter. But today, she meant it. Solace spent the last four hours daydreaming of all the possible ways she could cause him pain. She thought about kicking him out and refusing to help, but she told him she would help. She wasn't one to go back on her word.

So, when she got home, he would face his wrath.

But the universe decided to speed up the process when she found him sitting on the benches outside the large office tower.

The tip of his nose and ears were red as he tapped his foot in impatient beats. He rubbed his hands together, attempting to keep warm. How long has he been out here? Whatever, let him catch pneumonia. With a humph, she breezed past him and stalked down the stairs. She put in her headphones, tuning out the city traffic.

She glanced over her shoulder, expecting to see Sage following her, but he was no longer on the bench. Solace turned back around and yelped to see him walking beside her, a grin on his face. How was he so fast? His mouth was moving, but she didn't hear a single word as she increased the volume of her music and continued walking.

The huff of the engines and footsteps of pedestrians were washed away with the beat of the music, and the world had become a bit more bearable. Until Sage yanked out her headphones.

"I've been freezing my ass off for the last few hours waiting for you," he remarked as if he deserved some sort of trophy.

"You don't look nearly as cold for someone who was outside for hours," she accused with narrowed eyes.

"Okay, maybe it was only ten minutes," admitted Sage sheepishly, "but I was still waiting for you. That's got to count for something."

They passed the shop that sold the infamous green juice. The trees planted on the sidewalk were weighed down with snow, and she could see her breath as she exhaled. Everyone was bundled up in scarves and thick coats from the harsh wind and she longingly looked inside the warm stores, excited to get back to her heated apartment.

"And why were you waiting for me?" she questioned.

"I had a hunch that you were angry with me."

Solace gasped dramatically. "And what gave that away?"

He rolled his eyes. "I understand that I should've told you I'd be stopping by."

"Your analytical skills are marvelous," Solace remarked annoyedly. "And yeah, you should've. I don't appreciate you showing up at my workplace to plan a heist. It puts me in a tough position, and I don't like having to lie to everyone." She sidestepped a woman with a stroller, moving closer to Sage than she wanted. "Evelyn kept asking about our relationship, like how we met and if you're a good kisser."

That caught his attention. "I'm a fantastic kisser if you must know," Sage said smugly.

"Shut the fuck up, Reyes," she sighed, staring him dead in the eye. He muttered a quick apology. "I told her we met at a cheese festival and pretended to go water the fake plants before I could answer the other question."

"Why a cheese festival?"

"I don't know. I was staring at the nachos, and it was the first thing that came to mind."

Sage tilted his head to the side, shoving his hands into his pockets. "There were a million ways to go about it, and you said cheese festival? You couldn't have just said we met through a mutual friend or at a bar."

"We're 18."

"Okay, how about you were obsessed with me for years in high school, and I finally took pity on you?"

Solace gave him a bored look and motioned to put her headphone back in her ears. They were almost at the bus stop, and she would sit with a random stranger if she had to, so she could get as far away from him as she could. It sucked that they were living together, so space had become a thing of the past.

"Sorry, sorry," he quickly said, chuckling and grabbing her headphones again. "Look, let me buy you food as an apology for today."

Solace gave him a look. "Why would I willingly spend more time with you?

He shrugged. "Free food."

She considered it. "You make a good point."

The two of them passed a Santa Clause that wasn't the same one from the morning. His beard was white as the snow, and his cheeks a cherry red. He rang a bell in his gloved hand as Solace awkwardly smiled when they walked by him. A Starbucks was in front of the bus stop, and she reveled in the warmth of the shop once they stepped inside. The lights were dim, and the menu had the winter holiday specials with seasonal cups.

"What do you want?" Sage asked as he squinted his eyes to read the menu board.

"A grande chestnut praline latte," Solace replied, taking off her beanie and peering through the glass display. "Oh, and a butter croissant with a chocolate chip cookie. Warmed."

"Is the gingerbread latte any good?"

"Buy it and find out," she said unhelpfully. All that earned her was a glare and a few incomprehensible mutterings under his breath.

After Sage paid for the overpriced food and drinks, they grabbed a seat in the corner, waiting for their names to be called. They sat facing each other, neither of them saying a word. No signs of emotion were evident on his face except for the glimmer of amusement in his honeyed eyes. Solace begrudgingly had to admit that she both adored and despised his eyes. They reminded her of warm milk to vanquish the bitter sleepless nights or the golden sun rising across a wheat field. But they were the same eyes that looked down at her in triumphant when he won and the same eyes she wished to poke.

He didn't take those eyes off her as they flickered across her face like he was attempting to figure out her thoughts. When he couldn't to no avail, he sighed. "Is the painting almost done?"

Solace pushed her hair behind. "Maybe in a week."

Sage ran a hand down his tired face. She hadn't realized, but dark circles were evident under his eyes. "I need you to finish it as soon as you can. I have a deadline."

She didn't like being rushed, especially when it came to art. "Which is?"

"New Year's Eve at midnight."

Solace breathed out a small laugh. "Like Cinderella?"

His mouth quirked up. "But in this case, my boss is my fairy godmother and instead of making me a pretty dress and turning a pumpkin into a carriage, I would be forced to stay with the company."

"And be forced to do highly illegal and immoral things," she added.

"And that."

Solace's name was called, and Sage got up and grabbed the food. She excitedly took a sip of her drink, the tip of her tongue burning. "Did you figure out how you're getting inside the office?" she asked.

"Yeah, through the front door," Sage nodded, trying his own gingerbread latte, and scrunching his face in disgust. "This is spicy."

"That's it?" She thought it would be more exciting.

"Uh-huh."

"That's lame," she drawled, biting into her hot croissant. It was soft and buttery. "Why not scale the skyscraper? Or wear a prosthetic to disguise yourself as a janitor to sneak into the office?" Hm, I would make a great spy.

He pushed away his drink that he wasted six bucks on. "Too complicated. Besides, I'm not going to climb forty stories and risk falling to my death."

Solace leaned back in her seat, munching on her cookie. "That's too bad," she muttered.

Sage scowled, and his glare was as cold as the Boston winter weather. "Can I have a bite of your cookie?"

She turned her gaze down at the cookie and back at him. "This cookie?" she said, her mouth full of the delicious confection. He nodded, and she frowned. "Fine, but a small bite."

Sage reached for the cookie, but she swatted his hand away. He rolled his eyes as she brought the cookie to his mouth. She wasn't going to risk him eating it all as he did with her cake. His gaze was intense and never straying away from hers as he took a bite. Solace never realized how intimate feeding someone could be. But she was too distracted by her thoughts when he took a large mouthful.

"Sage," she exclaimed, pulling away her hand immediately. "I said small."

"The instructions were unclear. Size is subjective," he said, smirking unashamedly.

And for the second time that day, she said, "Shut the fuck up, Reyes."

***

Author's Note:

Hello everyone!

I feel like I'm low-key obsessed with Starbucks, since it's showed up in two of my books so far lol. Anyway, how was this chapter? Would you be annoyed if you were in Solace's position?

Have a great rest of the week

Until next time – m.k.t