Page 49 of A Barista's Guide to Love & Larceny
Everyone around the table sipped and slurped and smacked their lips in concert.
“Any descriptions of the taste jump to mind?”
“Bitter,” Kass said to Dani.
“You’re every barista’s worst nightmare right now, you know that?” He made a sad puppy dog face, and she laughed. The event host announced the coffee was nippy and acidic.
“This might seem counterintuitive to anyone who practices coffee magic,” he said, and Dani perked up to listen, “but the spell we chose for this one is actually a sedative. Don’t worry,” he added as a murmur went around the table, “it’s not a sleep spell, and this sample shouldn’t make you drowsy, just calm. You may open your first bottle whenever you’re ready. We encourage you to sip your coffee once the spell has taken effect and see if it makes a difference. It might not, which is perfectly normal.”
Dani and Kass reached for their bottles, pausing to look at each other with their hands on the corks.
“Is it weird that I’m nervous?” Kass asked.
“I’ll go first,” Dani said, and popped the cork. The sparkling essence snaked out and wrapped around her neck several times before dissipating. Almost immediately a film fell over her, softening the world around her and weighing her bones down in their sockets. She giggled, but it felt like she giggled in slow motion. “I definitely feel something,” she said.
Emboldened, Kass opened his, the crease in his forehead smoothing as the spell took hold. “That’s pretty chill,” he said, then giggled, too. “Okay, I’m trying the coffee.”
Dani wanted to try the coffee again, too, but it seemed like it took forever to even pick it up. The effects of the spell were already wearing off when the mug finally touched her lips. The coffee tasted exactly like it had before. “I don’t know if that worked the way it was supposed to,” she said.
“The coffee didn’t make a difference for me, either,” Kass said. The barista was already moving on to the second mug, a dark Sumatran blend with notes of cherry and an accompanying spell for alertness, which Dani opened before they were even told, eager to counteract the effects of the last one. Immediately her surroundings came into focus so sharply she thought their edges might cut her. She glanced over at Kass, and everything about him seemed more intense—the contrast of his hair against his skin, his handsomeness.
“Hey,” she said. “This one’s not so bad.” She took a sip of her coffee and a burst of energy tingled her synapses, like a little wake-up call.
“I don’t feel anything,” he said, disheartened.
“You’re a mage,” she pointed out. “Maybe you have a higher tolerance?”
“Maybe,” he said. “I don’t know.”
The next two spells were for creativity and clairvoyance. Dani hesitated at the last one, and Kass noticed.
“Are you afraid you’re going to see into everyone’s souls?” he asked.
“Um,” she said. “In a manner of speaking.”
“Go on, then. I don’t have anything to hide.”
It’s not you I’m worried about, Dani thought, but she opened the bottle anyway.
“Well?” Kass prompted.
“I don’t feel any different. What about you?”
“Nope,” he said. “I still really like you, Dani.” He held her gaze, as if daring her to second-guess him, but he didn’t know she didn’t need to.
“I really like you, Lukas Gianakos.”
“No fair,” he said with a grin. “I don’t knowyourfull name.”
She opened her mouth to tell him when the barista raised his voice. “Since it’s almost ten, we’ll wrap up here, but are there any questions before we officially end?”
“Wait, what?” Dani said. “Is it really almost ten?”
Kass looked at his watch. “Two of, yeah.Oh. Shit. You have to be somewhere, don’t you?”
She was already gathering her things, trying not to seem like she was in too much of a rush. “It’s all good. They won’t kill me if I’m a little late.” She was just saying that to make him feel better, though—Katyamightkill her.
“I’m sorry,” Kass said, grabbing her coat for her and accompanying her to the door. “This is my fault. Can I help? Can I take you somewhere?”
