Page 27 of Hazel and Elijah Find Out: First They F*cked Around

“Good,” I retorted.

“It’s restricting my movement.”

“What, you gonna do jumping jacks on stage?”

He cupped the bill of his baseball cap. The shirt did strain around his arms and shoulders, but that was the idea. It was no snugger than the shirts I wore regularly.

The three-sided mirror repeated our images from different angles. Behind us, the other end of the hallway opened into the store.

“Do you have the belt on?” I asked.

He nodded.

“Cool, tuck the shirt in.” I looked in the other direction, catching an animated conversation between Sterling and Bill Mueller, a local plumber, about the merits of a quality undershirt. The older man nodded, his bald head gleaming under the florescent lights.

To my left, I vaguely registered the rattle of Brooks undoing his belt. Hazel walked into the frame the doorway created. She looked down at a shelf, her hands working quickly through the garments as she talked to someone I couldn’t see to her right. Her smile was warm, and when she laughed, I couldn’t help but grin in response. It sparked a vague memory of sharing a high school class with her. She’d been this cute, nerdy girl in the front row. I wouldn’t go near her, because I was trouble and she was good. I didn’t know if she actually wore glasses back then, or if I’d projected them onto her face in my mind—a manifestation of just how clever she was with her hand always in the air, always with the answer to the questions.

We had driven to the mall separately. She’d called earlier that morning, saying she had some work that needed to get done for the clinic. I was expected to get here at the beginning of the shopping trip, and neither of us wanted to risk Nora’s wrath. Instead, Hazel hitched a ride with Millie, the owner of Country Grounds, Grand Ridge’s coffee shop. Hazel and I hadn’t been able to spend much time together all day, and she planned to hitch a ride back with Millie as well. At least this way we could eat lunch together before she left. And, of course, we had a date tonight, where I’d cook for her at her house.

Seeing her again, knowing that we both wanted to give this romance a shot, had me full of energy. I was certain we would be a good fit; I could see a future with her. A life that looked nothing like what I had pictured before. I always saw myself living in cities, building my business with Sebastian, and the women I dated fit into that image. They were career driven—just like Hazel—but they didn’t aspire to a small-town life with a yard. If they wanted kids, they wanted to raise them in the city.

I didn’t think that was what Hazel wanted. She was building a business she was proud of, and I understood firsthand how important that was.

She didn’t have the type of job that could go remote like mine.

If we became everything I thought we could, it would mean moving back to Grand Ridge—a town I had mixed feelings about. But I had the feeling the more I got to know Hazel, the less that would feel like a sacrifice.

Looking up, she caught me staring, and I didn’t look away.

She pinched her lips together and shook her head.

I smiled, the tip of my tongue running along the ridges of my upper teeth.

Her breasts rose with an inhale.

The need to touch her, to be near her, grew almost overwhelming. I couldn’t wait to get her alone. I didn’t know how I would keep my hands off her long enough to not only prepare food, but let her eat it, too. Not with the way her jeans hugged her hips, and the V-neck of her thin sweater gave me glimpses of the black lace of her bra.

Not when just the memory of her gasps and moans made my cock twitch.

Something must have changed in my expression because pink warmed her cheeks and she absentmindedly grazed her fingertips on the pale skin of her neck.

I was going to run my teeth right there. I was going to—

“This what you want?” Brooks’ voice broke my train of thought so abruptly, I had to blink, forcing my brain into the present and out of a much more desirable future.

“What?” I croaked. I flicked my eyes toward him, then back to Hazel. She was covering her mouth and laughing down toward her feet.

When I met his eye in the mirror, Brooks appeared equal parts amused and annoyed. He held his arms out, indicating his shirt fully buttoned-up and tucked into his slacks. The gold buckle of the brown belt was bright against the navy blue pants, and the shirt was the same blue as his eyes.

“You look sharp, man,” I said.

He gripped the bill of his hat in both hands, the ends of his hair curling out under the rim.

I jerked my chin up. “You know Nora’s gonna make you get a haircut.”

He nodded. “I’ll schedule it today.” He shrugged uncomfortably. “I still think it’s too tight.”

Hazel wasn’t outside of the dressing room hallway; instead there was a woman I hadn’t seen before. She had bright blond hair and whispered something to her friend, who stood with her back to us. The other woman casually looked over her shoulder before doing a double take. It was easy to see the line of the women’s gazes taking in an eyeful of Brooks.

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