Page 28 of Taming Hawke

Hawke

Riding back to the clubhouse, I decide to turn and head toward Quill’s house instead. If anyone will know what to do, it’s Jasmine.

Parking my bike in the driveway, Rhyder approaches me from where he’d been leaning on his own bike.

“Hey, brother, you here to replace me?”

“Yeah, man, I’ve got it from here. You can go.”

A big smile warms Rhyder’s lips. “You’re the best. I have this sweet ass waiting on me back at the club.”

“Fuck, Rhyder. You have a different woman each night.”

Rhyder has long hair, like mine, but brown, and his eyes are blue. He takes a different lady to bed each night and gets rid of them in the morning. The man is a tomcat. Ladies can’t help but fall for his baby blues.

“I can’t help it if all the ladies want me. They each deserve a chance to ride this,” Rhyder says as he rubs his hand over his torso.

I roll my eyes at him. “Sure, man. Now get the fuck out of here,” I say shaking my head as I walk toward the front door.

Knocking, I laugh when I hear Jasmine say from the other side, “Coming! Ow, fuck!”

When the door opens she has her foot in her hand, rubbing her toes.

“Hey, Jazzy. You stub your toe?”

“What does it look like, you moron?” She smiles at me as she opens the door wider, gesturing for me to enter. I walk in and look around. The house that had once looked like a bachelor pad, now has evidence of a female touch. There are flowers in a vase on the dining table, and a cookbook sits on the kitchen bench. A throw sits over the back of the couch, and some new pictures by the look of them rest on the mantelpiece. It feels homey.

I walk toward the kitchen. I can see something is cooking on the stove and remove the lid of the pot, inhaling the delicious aroma rising out of it. “Mmmm, this smells good.” I dip my finger in the red spaghetti sauce and taste it. “Tastes good too. Damn girl, you can cook,” I say, smiling as I look over at Jasmine.

“Move out the way, Hawke. I was just cooking for me, not for you. Now take your grubby fingers out of my sauce.”

“Come on, Jazz. Surely there’s enough for two?” I plead. I place my hands together in a prayer gesture. “Pretty please.”

She laughs out loud and playfully swipes my shoulder. “Okay, fine. I can share. But remember, I’m eating for two,” she reminds me, and caresses her stomach.

Jasmine moves to pull bread out from the oven. “Can I help?” I ask.

She points to the sink. “Can you drain the noodles? The strainer is in the sink already.” She continues to stir the sauce, and I grab a tea towel and carry the cooked noodles to the strainer and pour them into it.

Jasmine sets the table and I take a seat, loving the smell of the food she places in front of me. I dig into it, not realizing how hungry I actually am, and grab a piece of garlic bread and take a huge bite.

“Hungry?” Jazz asks, sarcasm dripping from her voice. I look over to where she’s sitting opposite me, and she’s grinning at me.

I smile and can only imagine how I look with spaghetti sauce all around my mouth.

“You’re a pig,” she says giggling, and digs into her own meal.

After we’ve both cleaned off our plates, I laugh when I see how Jasmine’s mouth is now also covered in sauce.

I point it out to her. “Looks like you have some food left over.”

Jasmine traces her finger around her lips and giggles again. “What can I say, it was good.”

“Yes it was,” I reply sitting back in my chair, feeling tired all of a sudden.

“So, what’s going on, Hawke? It’s not every day you come to visit me. I’m guessing dinner with Lu didn’t happen?”

“What, she didn’t call you?” I ask, surprised.

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