A small grin would make its way onto Alex's lips as she mentioned coming to<i>him </i>instead of him coming to her. Was that her own admission of not being interested? Or did she have something else in mind? Admittedly, the idea of closing up shop for a few minutes and sending Fiona on a quick lunch while Kelsie and Alex had the whole place to themselves<i>did </i>sound appetizing. A few drinks here and there, and their clothes being strewn around the cafe would<i>certainly </i>lead to a great start to his week. Just the idea of the two alone caused another wave of warmth to course through his body. And with Kelsie asking why he thought she was craving some alone time, Alex took another sip of his drink, nearly emptying the remaining alcohol in the glass.<br/><br/>Listening intently to her story, he couldn't help but feel proud of Kelsie and how far she had come. After not hearing from her for years, Alex had always assumed the worst, and what didn't help was his lack of social media. Some of his fears were quelled whenever he did join several sites, but then he discovered Kelsie had been dating someone named Clayton. A knot of jealousy had been formed within his chest whenever he saw a photo of the two, either casually relaxing or on some kind of adventure. Was it the fact that he harbored some kind of feelings for her? Was he jealous of their relationship? Nevertheless, he did feel relief when the two had split, and her status was quickly turned from "In a relationship" to "Single".<br/><br/>With the news of her parents moving and her brother going into the police force, she had trailed off, enough for Alex to raise an eyebrow. Was she okay? Before he could reach out to her, she had begun to ask him about his history since the two had separated. Downing the rest of his old fashioned, Alex place the emptied glass onto the table next to Kelsie's glass before thinking on all that she had missed. Taking in a slow breath and leaning his back against the cushions that covered the booth, Alex began to speak.<br/><br/>"Well, I took over the cafe about five years ago. I wasn't going anywhere with my college degree so I came back to try my hand at helping out around the cafe, but dad had an accident and they couldn't afford to close it down. I was only supposed to take over for a few weeks, a few months at most, while dad recovered, but I was doing a good enough job that they felt comfortable retiring and letting me take over fully." The memory of his fathers accident had been clear in his mind, almost as if it had happened yesterday. Alex and his mother, Joanna, had been cleaning up the shop, with Joanna wiping down the tables and Alex sweeping the crumbs and other trash from the floor before they closed for the night. A loud<b>thud </b>coming from the kitchen had alerted them that something was wrong, and when they rushed over, they found his father, Peter, collapsed on the ground.<br/><br/>"He had collapsed from the heat in the kitchen, and broke his arm. Doctor ordered him to rest, but you know my dad. He almost never does. My mom had to physically hold him down to stop him from coming into work." Alex recalled, a small chortle coming from his lips. His dad has always been a hard worker, for better or worse, and that trait had made its way to Alex. As Alex recounted his past, the waitress came by, handing Alex and Kelsie another drink each, before disappearing back into the kitchen. Taking the glass and taking another gulp, leaving the glass half full, he set it down before continuing.<br/><br/>"Well, dad found out that he loved collecting stamps and coins more than running the cafe so they decided to transfer ownership. Probably for the best. I just bought a house over at the neighborhood we grew up in, and it's finally finished. It was that super old house that was kind of in the middle of where our homes were, remember? Had a falling out with my now ex-girlfriend. Probably for the best. She was always out looking for her night party and I needed time to recover from...well, whatever she wanted to do." Alex admitted. "And I had missed you." Alex admitted. The alcohol had slowly dropped a veil of fog over his mind, clouding any kind of logical thinking on his end, and instead, forced Alex to rely on his emotions, slightly.<br/><br/>Sapphire eyes would look over at Kelsie, the flame in his core again growing, and with the combined warmth of the flame and the alcohol surging throughout his body, certain desires would begin to prod around his mind. Holding them back, for now, Alex's eyes couldn't help but once again glance down at her body, and while he had a good idea of how she might look underneath her clothes, he had a feeling there was more than what he was seeing. But with Alex unsure of where to take the conversation after sharing his story, Alex had an idea that could benefit them both with some entertainment.<br/><br/>"Up for a game? Figured we could play some truth or dare and get some juicy details out of each other?" He suggested with a smirk. "Unless you're scared?" he teased.