Page 45 of Honey Pot

“No way.” Bobbi raised her hands in the air and got close to the camera. “I’ve known you since we were nineteen, and from the day I met you until the day you left for Rhode Island, you have wanted one thing.” She put her finger up to emphasize it. “And that one thing is Cael Cody.”

A knock on the door frame of my room scared me off my seat, and I hit the end of our phone call when I saw who was standing there. Cael leaned against the frame, in a cropped gray t-shirt withFUCKBOYscribbled across it in yellow letters that showed off his taught lower stomach and hardened V-lines, with his arms behind his back and a shit-eating grin on his face. He was in a pair of wide-legged jeans and a green ball cap that looked older than the both of us combined. His cheeks were red with blush and his tongue brushed out over his bottom lip.Okay, now I was definitely convinced that handsome idiot didn’t own a proper shirt.

“How long have you been standing there?” I asked him, and he just shook his head and looked away.God dammit Bobbi.“What do you want, Cael?”

“You haven’t eaten today,” he said, his eyes raking over me.

“Yes, I have,” I protested, pointing to the half-drank cup of coffee on the small working desk at the end of the bed.

When I looked back at him, he was holding a paper bag out in front of him. The smell of warm fries wafted from it and filled my nose.

“Are those?”

Dukes.

“Hilly’s, but the taste is close,” he answered. “It was the only thing that I ate when we moved here. Turns out french fry grease is brutal on the complexion of a teenager—Mama had to bribe me to eat a vegetable after six months.”

The mention of Lorraine had his brows furrowing.

“Take them.” He wiggled the bag at me and forced a smile back on his face. “Before they get cold.”

I grabbed the bag from him and unrolled the top to let the smell out. They were still hot. He had come straight here with them, and he was right. They did taste like Dukes. It almost made me angry that he had found something so similar here.

“Did you bring sneakers?” He looked around my room.

“Why?”

“We’re going down to the stadium.”

When I didn’t move he rolled his eyes and stood up. His tall stature filled out the door frame and he used his arms to lean toward me. “If you’re writing a piece on the Harbor Hornets, I expect you to actually get to know them. No more of this interrogation bullshit.”

I hated how much pure compassion flowed from him. He loved the team even if he pretended it was forced. Somewhere along the way, he had found himself a family.

“Aw, but those have been so much fun, Loverboy. You should see how manyinterrogationsI have.” I cocked an eyebrow at him and popped a fry into mymouth, reveling in the jealousy that flickered across his face and tightened his jaw.

“Watch out for Dean,” he recovered quickly. “He bites.”

“I have a feeling he learned that from you.” I waited for him to get mad but he just smirked at me.

“I have scars to prove the legitimacy of that statement, Plum. Get your sneakers.”

“If I do this, you have to finish your interview,” I said, passing the bag of greasy goodness back to him.

“I never leave a job unfinished.” His blue gaze raked down my body, catching on the hem of my tank top where a sliver of skin was exposed.

“Turn around,” I said, pulling out a clean pair of tights.

“If you think I’m turning around, you’re delusional.” He didn’t hesitate in his response.

“At least shut the door. I don’t need half the nest seeing my ass.”

“But what about the tapes?” He mocked as he kicked the door closed behind him.

For a short moment, I thought he might take advantage of my privacy but, instead, he gave me one more look, popped a fry between his lips, and turned around to face my bed so I could change.

The softness of his behavior caught in my throat, unexpectedly tender and unlike the man he had been up until now. It was such a young Cael movement that, for a second, we were back in my room, and I was still hoping that he’d notice the look of love in my eyes.

Please don't notice the look of love in my eyes, I begged quietly now instead. Bobbi had gotten in my head. Was it so wrong towantto give Cael a chance?

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