No Boys Beyond This Point

"Why are we doing this now? The Fair isn't until another two weeks." Daryl said, sitting a table in the Brewberry Café where they were having a meeting after closing.

"So we can start preparing." Punk said.

They were all spread out amongst a few tables. There was definitely a little bit of an awkward atmosphere in the air which Punk and AJ were hoping they could get rid of by the time the Fair came.

"Ok, let's get on with it because I'm hungry and tired." Becca nodded.

"Where's the old hag?" Lyla asked, "Isn't she a part of this little team?"

"Did you just call Linda an old hag?" Daryl asked unhappily and defensively.

"She is." Lyla shrugged.

"She's a 69-year-old woman." Daryl said, "Show some respect."

"Am I being lectured by an eighteen-year-old?" Lyla turned to AJ with confusion.

"Linda isn't coming tonight. She's just providing us with some baking, that's all." Punk inserted.

"We think it's best if we work the stall by each having our own sections to cover." AJ said, "There's going to be a lot of things to sell and the fact we're the only food and drink stall for the morning and afternoon, it means we're going to be super busy."

"We don't stay open at night?" Finn asked.

"No, the bar down the street takes over. It means we can go enjoy the rest of the night." Punk told him.

"And get drunk." Becca grinned.

"Anyway." AJ said loudly, "If you have any objections to this plan then speak up." She nodded, "Phil is going to work on the sandwiches along with Finn and Lyla." She looked at her work diary.

"What the hell do I know about sandwiches?" Lyla laughed a little.

"Phil will run through everything with you before the Fair. You're a fast learner." AJ nodded to her friend, "And you like a new challenge, right?"

"I do like a challenge." Lyla nodded.

"Finn and I will show you everything you need to know. There's not much to it." Punk assured her as Lyla just nodded.

"On cakes and pastries, it's going to be me and Becca." AJ nodded to Becca.

"Girl power." Becca nodded with determination.

"And covering drinks will be Daryl and Shiv." AJ said, looking over at Shiv nervously who folded her arms whilst Daryl said nothing.

"And you two came to these decisions based on what?" Daryl asked them.

"Based on what we think you're best at." Punk told him.

"And what about my chocolate fountain?" Daryl questioned seriously.

"You and Shiv will also be in charge of that." AJ nodded, "Obviously we'll help each other, but these are just to establish a system so that everything runs smoothly and we're not tripping up over each other."

"And if we object?" Shiv asked as they all looked at her.

"Then we'll listen and figure out a different plan." Punk nodded to her as Shiv glanced over at Daryl who she caught staring at her.

"Is everyone ok with the plan?" AJ asked.

"I accept." Becca nodded.

"I'm good." Finn shrugged.

"Me too." Lyla said.

AJ looked over at Shiv, waiting on her no doubt objecting, but all she said was, "I'm fine with it."

"I'm good." Daryl nodded.

"Great." AJ said with relief, "We've got two weeks to work on our menu to make sure we get it right. I wanted to show you all something, too." She said, wandering over to the counter and grabbing her bag.

"What's that?" Lyla asked as AJ pulled out the cake boxes which she'd already shown Punk, as well as the paper to wrap the sandwiches in.

"I got these made for us to serve the cakes in and to wrap the sandwiches." AJ said, "They've got both of the coffee shops names on them." She said, passing the boxes and paper around for everyone to look at.

"These are cute." Shiv smiled.

"Pretty dope." Finn nodded, "Where'd you get them?"

"I ordered them online." AJ said, "I know this is different and some of us aren't used to working together but… I think we'll do great." She said confidently.

"From your lips to God's ears." Lyla nodded.

"Is there anything else we need to go over? My mom is waiting for me to have dinner." Shiv said.

"No, I think that's it." AJ turned to Punk who nodded in agreement.

"Ok." Shiv nodded, standing up and putting her bag over her shoulder, "See you tomorrow." She said, leaving the coffee shop after they all said goodbye to her.

Punk turned to Daryl and noticed he was staring at Shiv the entire time until she'd disappeared out of the shop.

"I was thinking maybe you could come over to our shop one day before the Fair to go over the sandwiches." Punk turned his attention to Lyla.

"I don't know if we're that close yet." Lyla shook her head.

"Or I can come over here?" Punk asked.

"No boys behind the counter." Becca shook her head, "Look." She pointed over to the counter with the cash register sat. Punk looked over and noticed the sign hanging above to coffee machine behind the counter which read 'no boys beyond this point.' He'd never even noticed it until now.

"Isn't that sexist?" Daryl asked, "If we had a no girls allowed sign in our shop, we'd be dragged left and right by the woke police."

"It's not sexist. It's just a bit of fun." Becca rolled her eyes, "And if you want to know the story behind it, AJ purchased it from a nearby museum."

"Why?" Finn asked with confusion.

"It belonged to a soup kitchen run by women in the late 1800s, not far from here. They made the sign and had it hanging on the kitchen door." AJ said, "I… liked it." She shrugged.

"Ok, well if I can't come over here then you're welcome over to my shop." Punk told Lyla, trying to get back on track with the conversation, "Even if it's just for an hour to go over the different kinds of sandwiches we're gonna do."

"Ok." Lyla agreed.

"Alright, I think we can call it a night." AJ figured.

"That was actually more awkward than I thought it would be." AJ admitted, walking with Punk down the street to her apartment after leaving the coffee shop.

"It wasn't awkward. They're just not used to being in the same room together." Punk said, "I think it went well. Everybody knows what they're doing and seem happy with their stations."

"I think Shiv might give me the silent treatment for making her work with Daryl." AJ said, "Because before I told her that this would all be fine because he could be on one side of the stall, and she could be on the other. And now I'm asking her to work directly with him." She stressed, "This is all your influence." She turned to him as he laughed a little.

"You agreed with me that it would help them talk more." Punk said defensively as they continued to walk down the street.

"I know." AJ sighed.

"Stop stressing." Punk wrapped his arm around her as she leaned into him, "We'll all knock it out of the park. Just you wait and see."

"I hope you're right. I had awful visions of Shiv throwing the chocolate fountain at Daryl." She sighed as Punk just chuckled. Even though he hated to see her stress, he just loved to see how much she cared about things, how wound up she got about other people's feelings. She truly had the biggest heart.

"I think you're gonna be surprised at how well it all goes." Punk nodded confidently.

"I hope I am." AJ scoffed, continuing to walk down the street as they approached the one and only bar in the town.

AJ noticed there were a few men smoking outside. If she was by herself she would have crossed the road to avoid them but with Punk close beside her, she finally felt safe enough to stay on the same side of the road.

"What do you want for dinner when we go in?" Punk asked. It was becoming unspoken between them both about the fact they just went home with each other every night, whether it was his place or hers.

"Anything. I'm going to hop in the shower first. I feel disgusting." She sighed. It had been a long day.

"I'll cook something whilst you're showering then." He told her, kissing the side of her head at her temple as she smiled, both of them walking by the bar when she noticed one of the men outside was Luke.

"This is rich." Luke scoffed, clearly drunk, "You didn't think it was courtesy to tell me you weren't interested any more before moving onto someone else?" He sneered as Punk tightened his grip around AJ.

"Just keep walking." Punk told her quietly.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Luke yelled as they passed him. It took Punk every bit of strength not to grab the man by his neck and throw him to the ground. Making sure AJ felt safe was more important to him, though.

He continued to yell some other things they couldn't really understand as they managed to walk further on and turn the corner towards her apartment.

"You alright?" Punk asked her.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat.

"He's just a drunk asshole. Forget about him." He nodded to her as she forced a smile and nodded to him.

As soon as they got inside AJ's apartment, she headed for a shower whilst Punk cooked something up for them with whatever was in AJ's fridge. After half an hour, he decided to go check on her and tell her the food was ready.

"April." Punk said, knocking on the bathroom door inside her bedroom, "I got Kraft mac and cheese waiting for you." He said.

"Just a minute." She said, turning the shower off as Punk waited by the door.

"Everything alright?" He asked, "Can I come in?"

"Yeah." AJ said as he opened up the bathroom door to see her standing with a towel wrapped around her, looking into the mirror as she applied some face cream.

"Don't let that guy get to you." Punk said. He knew her well enough to know she was no doubt still thinking about Luke and his heckling.

"Maybe I should have dropped him a text to tell him I wasn't interested. I just thought he had figured it out for himself." AJ admitted, looking at him in the mirror as he stood behind her.

"He probably did. He's just being an asshole and trying to get a reaction." Punk said.

"I didn't even give him an explanation as to why I freaked out so much when he kissed me." She shook her head.

"You didn't need to. You don't owe him anything. Not your time or an explanation." Punk said.

"I know he was laughing about it." AJ nodded, "At the open-mic night, he was laughing directly at me with his friends. He probably told them."

"He's a fucking loser." Punk said, "Didn't even deserve a date with you. I'm sure you made it clear that you weren't feeling things with him, and he still went in for the kiss. If he ever bothers you, and I'm not there, you'll tell me, right?" He said, turning her around to face him.

"Yeah, of course." AJ nodded.

"He's not worth troubling yourself over." He said, tucking a strand of her wet hair behind her ear.

"I'm pretty good at troubling myself." AJ nodded tiredly.

"I can untroubled you." He smiled.

"Right now?" She nodded hopefully, loosening her towel a little as Punk nodded.

He watched as she dropped her towel, immediately leaning in and kissing her with passion as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He pushed his shorts and boxers down, stepping out of them before pulling back from her to pull his t-shirt over his head.

As soon as stripping his clothes off was taken care of, he lifted her up and pressed her against the bathroom wall, their kiss becoming rougher and much more desperate as they dragged their hands through each other's hair.

Punk placed her back onto her feet, only so he could crouch down in front of her and put his mouth to use. He pulled one of her legs over his shoulder to give him better access, parting her folds with his tongue as she grabbed a hold of his hair.

Just the mere sight of him on his knees with his head between her legs conjured up so much pleasure inside her.

He gripped the leg which she had over his shoulder whilst continuing to suck her clit, drinking in all of her moans and panting from above, like angels singing to his ears.

"Come fuck me against this wall." AJ begged breathlessly, tugging on his hair a little as he kissed his way up her body and picked her back up to press her against the wall.

"Ask me again." He nodded whilst kissing her neck sloppily.

"Fuck me against this wall." AJ begged again, aching for it as she felt the tip of his hard length at her entrance, pushing its way inside of her until he was fully inside, buried as far as he could go.

She kept her arms locked around his neck whilst he held her up under her thighs against the wall, beginning to thrust in and out of her hard.

"Look down." Punk said in a rough voice, "Watch me fucking you." He said as AJ looked down between their bodies, watching his length appear and then disappear inside of her, back and forth, enticing her even more as she watched what was physically happening.

"Fuck." AJ moaned, rolling her head back against the wall, feeling him latch his mouth around one of her nipples, sucking at her whilst pumping inside of her hard. One thing about him, he was going to stimulate every single part of her until she was screaming.