Café Between Us - An MM Romance

Jamie has been falling for his coworker for six months. Every morning at the Cozy Bean Café, he watches Alex arrive early to bake pastries, flour dusting his forearms, that easy smile transforming the whole space. Every shift they work together feels like a carefully choreographed dance. Shoulders brushing when they pass behind the counter. Hands grazing when they reach for the same thing. Alex's palm pressed briefly to the small of Jamie's back, just a courtesy to avoid collision. Jamie tells himself it doesn't mean anything. That Alex is just friendly. That wanting your charming, witty, devastatingly attractive coworker is a complication neither of them needs. Alex has been waiting for Jamie to notice him for six months. He takes extra shifts just to overlap with Jamie's schedule. He learns exactly how Jamie likes his coffee. He finds every excuse to stand close, to touch casually, to make Jamie smile. But every time Alex thinks they're getting somewhere, Jamie pulls back. Shuts down. Retreats behind careful walls that Alex doesn't know how to breach. They're both terrified. Both convinced the other doesn't feel the same way. Both watching their coworkers roll their eyes at the obvious tension neither will acknowledge. Then a misunderstanding over forgotten inventory becomes an argument about trust. Frustration boils over into accusations about avoidance and fear. Alex demands honesty Jamie can't give. Jamie freezes when asked a simple question: do you like how things are? Now they're working in careful silence, separated by two feet of café floor and six months of unspoken want. One of them has to be brave enough to say what they're both feeling. To risk rejection for the possibility of something real. Some coffees are simple. Some relationships require the courage to be complicated. Café Between Us is an intimate MM workplace romance about two baristas who discover that honesty is terrifying, vulnerability is brave, and sometimes the best things happen when you finally stop pretending you don't want them. Featuring slow burn tension, cozy coffee shop atmosphere, workplace proximity, mutual pining, emotional breakthrough, and a sweet HEA ending.