I Approve

Just like the last time I was here, a wave of warmth and welcome punches me in the face, making my nose run just a little more as my face thaws. There's a couple sitting by the window, admiring the aesthetic of the cafe as they discuss what they want to do with their future's. One of the guys' voices carries over to Keita and I. One of them wants to be an author and have already written a few books already that they're looking forward to self-publishing.

Daniel is busy serving an elderly lady as we line up behind a group of teenagers. Keita seems to be in a mixture of awe and defensiveness as he gazes around the room and glares at Daniel every few seconds. Both of their dark skins are illuminated ravishingly with the cabin-like lighting, honestly, I didn't think Keita could possibly look any better but I guess I have been proven wrong. His muscles are somehow even more defined as well.

Daniel glances over at us while adding some marshmallows on top of a hot chocolate and smiles brightly, "Oh hey guys! Happy birthday, Alina!"

I smile widely and wave at him, "Hey!"

Keita nods at him and greets in a low voice, "What's up?"

"Nothing much man," He responds, after carefully handing the lady her drink. "You guys go take a seat and I'll bring you some stuff, on me."

I blink in surprise and glance between him and Keita, a grateful smile forming on my face, "Alright, thank you." As Keita and I turn to head to the fireplace with a few sofa chairs, Daniel shoots me a little wink, which I return flirtatiously.

"I saw that," Keita mumbles as we sit down on the sofa chairs in front of the fireplace.

I reach over and wave a hand in front of his face, speaking mystically, "You saw nothing. You became blind for a good three seconds. It's all in your mind."

He smacks my hand out of his face and I let out a holler of laughter, "Imma bout to make you blind for far more than three seconds if you do that again."

Hastily, I put my hand in front of his face and wave quickly. He attempts to grab my wrist but I swipe my hand back and smile mischievously at him. "You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!"

"Then I'll just throw you into a pool, don't even need to catch you," He mentions and I continue to smirk confidently.

"You'll need to catch me in order to throw me," I point out.

"I'll grab a water gun and spray you with it, easy," He sits back in his chair and crosses his arms victoriously.

"That could work," I raise an eyebrow. "But if I'm a gingerbread man then that would mean that I'll be a really small target, hence, difficult to hit."

He gasps, holding his hand to his chest, "You dare underestimate me?"

I make my face go straight and expression serious, "Yes."

"Alright then, once we're old enough how about I take you to a shooting range and we can see who's better," He takes off his coat and raises an eyebrow.

"Alright," I take mine off. "Let's make it a bet too while we're at it."

"How much?" He asks with great interest on his face.

I take a moment to think, "Since we'll both be over eighteen most likely, how about five hundred?"

"Wait, what is the legal age to fire a gun in Ontario?" Keita asks, searching for his phone in his coat pockets.

"Twelve," Daniel answers, setting down a tray of three drinks and some sweets in front of us.

"Wait, really?" Keita asks in shock.

"Yup, I just looked it up a minute ago," He smiles and takes a seat on the chair next to me.

"I'm guessing that you're on break?" I ask, glancing between him and the third drink.

"Yup, so I'll be joining you guys for a bit," He smiles, placing an arm on the armrest of my chair.

"How was school today?" I ask, remembering that it ended a few hours ago.

"Pretty good, Zack seems to have gotten another girl recently too," He mentions and I'm amazed with myself since I didn't feel a thing about that part.

"More like a new victim," Keita mumbles as he reaches for a freshly baked M&M cookie, breaking it into thirds for us. Damn he's actually behaving surprisingly well.

"What's she like?" I ask, hoping that it's not one of the freshmen.

"Well, she's a little shorter than you and her energy is extremely high," He explains, looking as though he's reeling his brain to even remember her. "She's friends with a few other girls that seem to be dating people that are over a year older than them."

"So there's a chance that she's a freshman," Keita speaks with a muffled voice, not even bothering to cover his mouth with the food still in it. Luckily nothing fell out.

"Most likely, yes," He nods, grabbing one of the mugs and taking a sip from it.

"What grade is Zack in again?" Keita asks, gazing at me with a furrowed brow.

I shrug, "Same as me I think, he was in one of my classes before."

"He's in eleventh, a year older," Daniel corrects me between sips. "He failed a few classes, so that's most likely why you two were in the same class."

"That's still bad, but at least it's not a freshman-senior relationship," Both Keita and Daniel nod as they reach for another sweet, Keita goes for a brownie and Daniel goes for one of the thirds of the cookie, handing it to me with a knee-shaking smile. His dark eyes are beautiful just in front of the fireplace, I feel like I could stare at them all day. I need to make him my boyfriend.

Keita nods towards Daniel's arms, "What's your workout routine?"

"Saturday and Sunday are for rest, cardio on Friday, and strength training for Monday to Thursday," Daniel answers, noticing Keita's far larger muscles. "You?"

"Rest for Sunday, cardio on Monday and half of Tuesday, strength training for the rest of Tuesday and rest of the week," He explains. "I also just go to the gym whenever I feel the drive to workout, or if I need to calm down." I feel a mixture of competition and respect forming between the two of them and I don't know if they're gonna break into a fist fight, hug, or become workout partners. "How long have you been working out?"

"About two years," Daniel nods towards his biceps. "You?"

"I've pretty much always been working out," He shrugs nonchalantly, taking a sip of his drink which I assume is a mocha. "Have you gone from twig to muscular, or fat to muscular?"

"Twig," He answers, both of them staring dead into each other's eyes.

There's a long moment of silence between the two of them. The crackling of the fire adds a more dramatic effect to their staredown. A few of the other customers and workers have even looked and pointed over to them, some laughing quietly, others confused, and the rest are scared. Though I know that nothing bad is going to happen. Keita won't break into a fight with someone he barely even knows, well if they haven't done anything wrong, and Daniel doesn't seem like the kind of guy to get into fights at all. If anything they're just messing around and having a staring contest.

The entrance door opens and closes, sending in a wave of freezing cold throughout the cafe, only to be promptly defeated by the comforting warmth. "How much do you bench?" Keita finally asks, still not breaking eye contact.

"Two hundred," Daniel answers, unwavering. "You?

"Two seventy," Keita responds, slowly reaching for his cup, his hand nowhere near it. I move the mug under his hand and he picks it up, "Thank you." He doesn't look away as he says that, and his tone remains serious. I snort from laughter, sitting back in the chair and hiding my face slightly with my hands, that way I can hide my embarrassing smile.

"Respect," Daniel mumbles, sitting back in his chair. He then nods over to me, "How much does she workout?"

Keita gestures to me, "She mainly focuses on running, bodyweight workouts, and playing sports like basketball."

"So safe to say she can outrun both of us," Daniel smirks, his face flustered slightly.

"Winter depends since she doesn't have a gym membership, but summer one hundred percent," Keita nods and they finally break eye contact. Daniel and I lock eyes, he seems even more interested in me now than before. I wish Knox was here, he and Daniel could probably talk about video games or streamers. Why am I thinking about him right now? After all, he and Daniel will have the chance to meet and talk together at some point in the future, so I'll just need to be patient. I'm especially loving how well Daniel and Keita are getting along.

The two of them continue to talk about a variety of subjects from working out, to school, to work and their goals. If I didn't know any better than I'd think that they both were going on a date right now and I was just an audience. The drink Daniel made for me tastes like a peppermint hot chocolate, with whipped cream and peppermint shavings on top. It's absolutely delicious, even better than any other peppermint hot chocolate that I've had before.

Then, a lady with long blond hair tied up in a ponytail walked over to us and stood above Keita, staring at Daniel and gesturing to her watch. Daniel glances down at his watch and leaps to his feet, "Oh I finish break soon." He then glances down at his drink and snacks and slides them over to me with a jaw-dropping gorgeous smile, "You can finish my drink and snacks."

In the corner of my eye, I notice Keita snatch the last cookie and shove it in his mouth whole, his cheeks forming a circle for a moment before he chomps down into it. I'm still in awe as I gaze into Daniel's eyes, "Th-thank you, ha-have fun."

He chuckles, "Thank you, enjoy the rest of your birthday."

He then slides his hand across my chair and heads back behind the counter to start serving people again. I can feel my face burn red as I stare at his half-full drink. I get to finish his drink.

Keita chuckles quietly as he gazes at my joyful face, "He's a good guy. I approve."