Page 99 of California Wild

Jesse tore off a corner of his grilled cheese and dunked it into the soup, taking a slow, deliberate bite like he was really considering it.

“Damn,” he said, chewing, eyes flicking to hers. “I forgot how good I am at this.”

Hayley snorted. “Oh, yeah. Culinary prodigy over here.”

He pointed at her with the sandwich. “Don’t act like you’re not impressed.”

“I mean, the pickle on the side really elevates it to fine dining.”

Jesse grinned, taking another bite, but his eyes never left hers.

It had been six weeks.

Six weeks since she’d been in this apartment. Since they’d curled up like this, limbs tangled, nowhere else to be, just existing together.

The soup was warm, the tea was soothing, but none of it compared to this.

Jesse nodded toward her, still chewing. “So, tell me, rockstar—how was it?”

She exhaled, shaking her head. “Unreal.”

“Yeah?”

Hayley leaned back into the couch, stretching her legs over his lap, watching as he instinctively started rubbing slow circles into her bare thigh. Casual. Easy. Like he didn’t even have to think about touching her.

“The crowds were insane,” she continued. “We had, like, 50,000 people screaming our lyrics back at us. The press was wild. The shows were wild. The afterparties were wild.”

Jesse gave her a dry look. “Yeah? You get real wild?”

She smirked, sipping her tea. “Define wild.”

Jesse arched a brow. “Do I need to kill Caiden?”

Hayley laughed. “What? No!”

Jesse narrowed his eyes, chewing slowly. “You sure?”

“Jesse.” She nudged his thigh with her foot. “He’s a friend.”

“He’s a snake.”

Hayley rolled her eyes. “Says the man who ghosted me for six weeks.”

Jesse sighed, setting his plate down, his hand sliding up to squeeze her knee. “You know I couldn’t call.”

She did. She knew that.

But it didn’t mean it hadn’t hurt.

She swallowed, forcing a small smile. “Alright, Mr. Navy SEAL, tell me—what top-secret, classified, black-ops shit were you up to while I was dodging paparazzi and singing my heart out?”

Jesse leaned back, looking smug as hell. “Saving the world.”

She scoffed. “Oh, please.”

“No, really. Super top-secret. Super dangerous. Super badass.” He shot her that killer grin. “You shouldn’t even be asking.”

“Just a humble hero.” She snatched his grilled cheese sandwich right out of his hand and took a bite. She gave him a look, challenging him to just try to get it back.

---