Page 174 of Hold Me Until Morning

It felt…wrong.

They sat in the silence for a little while before Hailey shifted to peer at him, her knees drawn to her chest. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Air huffed from Cody’s nose, and he picked at a blade of grass below him. “Not sure it’s something you would understand.”

“Try me.”

He exhaled heavily, peeking at this sweet girl he should definitely tell to go on her way.

But he liked her there.

Liked her presence.

Liked the way she soothed a little bit of the ache lighting a path through his body.

“Just someone I care about is having a bit of trouble and, as hard as I tried, there doesn’t seem to be a damned thing I can do about it.”

Her expression dimmed, and she looked out at the peace of the scenery that whispered around them. “I’m sorry,” she murmured.

“Me, too.”

She chewed at her plump lip, so damned shy and timid all while being this bright shining light that beamed, no chance of the radiance she emitted being contained by her reticent shell.

Yeah, this girl was getting ready to bloom.

He was sure of it.

“I brought you something.” She passed him the plastic container that she’d set on the ground beside her.

He couldn’t help but grin. “You brought me somethin’?”

Eager as all fuck, he peeled off the lid.

Inside sat a big heaping pile of strawberry shortcake.

His stomach rumbled right as his chest tightened.

“Did you make this?” He couldn’t stop the wonder from filling his voice.

More heat splashed her cheeks, and she shrugged a shy shoulder. “It wasn’t a big deal. I just…saw you eating fresh strawberries with your lunch a couple weeks ago, and I thought you might like it. That maybe…”

She was looking at him then, her eyebrows puckered together in hope. “I thought it might make you feel better.”

Cody took the plastic fork that was tucked inside the container and dug it into the concoction. Through the whipped cream and sugared strawberries and down to the shortcake at the bottom.

He groaned when he put it in his mouth, the sweetness hitting his tongue and his heart doing that stupid thing it liked to do whenever she came around.

“You like it?”

His chuckle was rough. “Do I like it? Best thing I’ve ever tasted.”

And that was saying a lot because his sister was shaping up to be a damned good baker. Dakota loved to bake things to make people feel better, though, and he wondered if it wasn’t the same for Hailey.

Pride flamed on Hailey’s face, and she rubbed her palms up the fronts of her thighs.

He took another bite, licking at the fork. “See. I already feel better.”

Modesty had her looking away. “I’m glad,” she whispered.

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