Page 45 of Hunny and the Bear

“Mixed signal?” Confused, Tank prowled after her, hot on her heels as she rushed up the porch steps and into his house. “What mixed signal?”

“I said I didn’t want to talk about this.”

He slammed the door behind him, stalking after her from the living room and into the kitchen. “That’s too damn bad, darlin’. Turns out I’m in the mood for a talk.”

Hunny scoffed, keeping her back to him as she reached the refrigerator. She ripped the door open, grabbing items at random and dropping them on the counter haphazardly. What the hell was she even doing?

“If you’re hungry, I’ll cook something for you.”

“I can make my own food!” Hunny snapped, looking over her shoulder and glaring at him as she slammed the refrigerator door closed.

“Oh?” He glanced down at the items on the counter in irritation. She’d laid out sour cream, mustard, and a melon. “What the hell are you making?”

“None of your business,Tank!” Hunny exclaimed, grabbing the tube of sour cream as she whipped around to face him.

He took a step toward her, his voice dropping several octaves. “I told you to stop calling me that.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you’re not the boss of me,” she seethed.

“No, but I made it clear to you last week I want to provide for you, and now you won’t even let me feed you?” He asked irritably, completely bewildered by this entire conversation. “Is this about this morning? I apologized for that.”

“Trust me, I’mwellaware.” Hunny crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her cheeks heated and she looked away from him. “We don’t need to bring up what happened this morning.”

“Apparently apologizing wasn’t enough, which you made evident when you told me I broke your heart.” Tank was confused and desperate to figure out what the hell had gone wrong between them. “I just want to fix—” His voice cracked, and his throat sliced with pain, causing him to grimace.

Immediately, Hunny dropped her arms, her expression losing its hard edge. “I forgot to make you tea this morning.”

“It’s fine,” he grumbled.

Rolling her eyes, Hunny moved to the sink, discarding the sour cream and grabbing the kettle off the drying rack, filling it with water. Next, she moved to the stove, placing it on top of a burner and turning it on. He watched her with a desperation that was equal parts longing and fear.

Had he really fucked things up so drastically? What if she left him over this? He didn’t know how he’d handle it. If hecouldhandle it.

The silence between them might as well have been a vast canyon, and he didn’t know how to cross it. She was shutting him out, and it made him feel out of control. Unbalanced and lost. And given how he’d spent years of his life, always on the outskirts, alone and isolated … Tank didn’t want to go back to that. Never again.

Not after Hunny …

His heart was in his throat as she placed a tea bag and honey into a mug and then poured piping hot water into it. Focused on her task, she turned to him and handed him the mug, which he took, his attention still trained solely on her.

“I’m really sorry, Henry.” Hunny’s voice was soft and hesitant. “About this morning and how I’ve been acting all day.” Her lower lip trembled, and she huffed out an agitated breath. “I … Look, it wasn’t you-” She cut her words off abruptly.

Hunny was always ready and willing to talk about anything and everything, but now he’d done this to her: she felt like she couldn’t talk openly with him. He never meant for her to feel she had to censor her words in any fashion.

He frowned, his grip tightening on the mug until he thought he might crack the damned thing. “Just spit it out—”

“I thought you were attracted to me!” Hunny blurted out, her eyes widening like she couldn’t believe she’d just said it out loud. His eyes mirrored her own expression, widening as he dropped the mug onto the counter with a thud, scalding water sloshing over the side.

“I woke up and you were all over me, and you were …aroused,” she explained, her cheeks turning a brighter shade of pink. She glanced away, wringing her hands. “I thought it was because of me, and I made a move on you because I really likeyou …” She shook her head, unaware of the way his heart was pounding. “That doesn’t matter. You woke up and freaked out. And I-I—”

Hunny turned away from him, moving back toward the stove. She stood beside it, placing her hands on the counter. “I just feel so stupid. And my feelingsarehurt, but that’s not your fault. You can’t help that you don’t want me like that. And it’s fine, even though I’m acting like an absolute idiot about it,” she whispered forlornly, her head dropping as she stared down at her hands.

Hunny’s shoulders were tense as she waited for him to say something, but Tank was still trying to wrap his head around everything she’d said. “You were coming onto me this morning?”

He’d woken up thinking he’d taken advantage of her, and he’d fled the bed to keep from scaring her. He hadn’t known she’d set out to entice him, otherwise he’d have pinned her beneath him and taken her, just like he’d wanted for days.

“Yes,” she answered tightly, oblivious to his own thoughts. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed that just because you were turned on, it was because ofme.”

“It was because of you,” he admitted gutturally, crowding in behind her. She’d wanted him to make a move, and he’d scurried away like some kind of weak fucking dipshit. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.

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