Free Hurt Like HELL (new adult contemporary romance) by London Casey

single thought.  A thought that came to me with a voice... my voice... my voice from ten years earlier.  That thirteen year old voice.  The high pitched voice, laced with a touch of innocence and youth, a voice that had the world to dream about.
    The thought came again.
    Help me.
    I grabbed the glass and screamed, then felt a cold blast of air, and just like that, Brett was gone.
    I let the coffee pot go and turned around to find Brett on his ass, his face bewildered, his lip bleeding.  I spun around once, scanning the entire café, wondering what the hell happened.
    “Brett...”
    “You don’t push me,” he growled.
    He fought back to his feet and came at me.  He made it two steps before he hunched over and let out a deep bellow.  His mouth was open and he cried out in pain.  He took those two steps back, plus two more, and fell again. 
    I stared in amazement. 
    I hadn’t pushed Brett.
    I hadn’t hit him to make his lip bleed.
    Brett pointed at me, his lip in a snarl.  He pointed at me.  “You’re a tease.  A fucking tease, Tessa.  All this time, looking and telling people you want me...”
    “I never said a thing,” I openly lied.
    Sure, I thought Brett was cute - okay, sexy - but did that mean I wanted him to come into Thorns Café and force himself upon me?  No.
    “Get out of here,” I said.
    I made my hands into fists. 
    Brett stumbled to his feet again.  He didn’t come near me this time.  Instead, he stared beyond me.  I watched him hesitate, unsure what to do next.  I could tell he wanted to come at me again, try one last time, but he didn’t.  Rather, he charged to the unlocked door.  At that door, he looked back at me, shaking his head. The blood on his lip had started to dry.
    “You know,” he said, “tell your boyfriend next time to fight like a man.  Instead of sucker punching me.”
    Then he was gone, and I was left completely confused.

~2~
     
    Brett disappeared into the morning and in the couple seconds I took to stand still, absorbing the environment around me, one of my regulars came walking in.
    Mr. Henderson, a local attorney, wore a sharp suit, his hair still wet with gel, smelling like a corporate office.  He took the sunglasses off his face and smiled at me.  He had rattlesnake eyes but promised a heart of gold.
    “Tessa, are you okay?  You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
    That snapped me out of my trance.  I hurried around the counter and started to pour Mr. Henderson his morning drink.  A large coffee, black.  I couldn’t imagine drinking coffee like that, but to each their own. 
    I looked around the café, wondering what Brett was talking about.  I didn’t have a boyfriend, so what did he see?  I thought about him letting me go.  Had I thrown an elbow and not realized it?  My mind had been so focused on grabbing the coffeepot, it was possible. 
    But unlikely.
    “Here you go,” I said as I placed the cup to the counter.
    My hand visibly shook and Mr. Henderson grabbed my hand.
    “You’re freezing,” he said.  “Are you sure you’re okay?”
    I nodded.  “Rough morning.”
    “Are you sick?”
    “No.  Was up late with a friend, talking.  Didn’t get much sleep.  Whoops.”
    I smiled and tried to shake everything off the best I could.
    “Late nights,” Mr. Henderson said, “I know those.”
    He took his cup and lifted it to me.  He smiled and threw a ten dollar bill on the counter.  As he left, I thought about telling him he forgot his change.  He wouldn’t take the change, he never did.  My first tip of the morning was over five dollars.
    Good start to the workday.
    Or not.
    The rest of morning came and went with the normal hustle and bustle.  It was busy enough that I didn’t have much time to think about Brett.  I wasn’t sure what to do about that.  I could try to talk to Jeff or Jerry, Thorn’s owners, but I’m not sure how far that would go.  I’d get harassed as to why I let someone in the café before