The next breath I took was shuddery and deep, drawing me back just enough my shoulders brushed his chest. The contact was fleeting, barely there, but his body went rigid, his fingers flexing on the doorknob.
“I don’t have ulterior motives,” I said softly.
Time stretched as my heart stuttered. Neither of us moved. We barely breathed. We weren’t even really touching, but those inches of fleeting contact had felt electrified and important.
Then, as if snapping himself out of it, he took a step away and twisted the doorknob. Moving aside for him to open the door wider, I dared a glance back at him. His cheeks were flushed, and tension radiated from the corners of his eyes and the clench of his jaw.
“I’m gonna go.” I offered him a smile so we didn’t end on a sour note, then barely made it two steps onto the landing before his voice caught me.
“Phoebe.”
Heart in my throat, I turned back. “Yeah?”
His fingers curled at his sides. “I’ll answer the door.”
A thousand butterflies took flight in my belly.
“Okay,” I whispered.
One shoulder braced against the jamb, the weight of his gaze followed me as I slid my key into the lock. Before stepping inside, I hesitated, my eyes flicking up to him.
He nodded to me. “Night, Phoebe.”
“Good night, Deke.”
Chapter Ten
Deacon
Whatwasthat?
Phoebe Kelly wanted to be my friend?
Why the hell would she want to go and do something stupid like that?
I sat down in my camp chair, the bakery box in my lap. There weren’t any more otherworldly cookies, so I tore into a muffin that tasted like carrot cake.
I’d never eaten anything like this in my life. Growing up, what meals I hadn’t eaten for free at school had mostly been scraps I’d scrounged up in our kitchen. No one had been making gourmet, and my cooking skills were severely lacking. I ate because I had to. This…it was an extravagance I’d never consider giving myself.
And Phoebe had handed it to me like it was nothing then stood in front of me, watching me eat like it was no big deal at all.
Phoebe Kelly, with her thick rope of shiny hair draped over her shoulder. A woman so distinctly outwardly feminine, she might as well have been a different species—one I sure as hell had never been this close to. Her floral shirt had hugged her full breasts before trailing over the gentle roundness of her tummy. The denim of her jeans had followed the generous lines of her full hips and thick thighs. And she had this…curve right at the apex of her thighs, where her jeans creased. My eyes continued to stray to that spot, wondering how it looked without clothes, how it would feel to slide my fingers into. Would it be as soft and warm as my head told me it was?
I’d tried as hard as I could not to look, but it’d been impossible. Just like it’d been impossible to keep my body from reacting to hers.
Luckily for both of us, she hadn’t noticed the bulge in my pants from my half-hard cock. Her offer of friendship would’ve been rescinded fast enough to make both our heads spin.
Forcing my mind from spiraling, I examined the rest of the pastries in my lap. I should’ve saved the rest for tomorrow, spread out the decadence and spared my stomach, but once I’d had a taste, I didn’t want to stop. One by one, I ate everything in the box. When it was gone, I tipped the corner up to my mouth to get every last crumb.
With a full belly, I sank down in my chair and closed my eyes, letting the good settle over me.
Strawberry shortcake cookies, lemon bars, carrot cake muffins. Phoebe’s shoulders touching my chest, the scent of sugar radiating from her pores, the look of sheer wonder when she’d discovered I’d made her planters. Comfortable, quiet home. Freedom. Joy, Chris, and Tilly. So much goodness, it was hard to believe it was all mine.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, tearing me out of my reverie. Pulling it out, I checked the screen, expecting a message from Chris or Joy. Instead, I found a text from an unknown number.
Unknown:Heard you’re out and back in SB. How’s it going? Enjoying the smell of freedom?
Dread pooled in my gut. I’d expected a text like this last year when I first got out. It never came, and I’d let my guard down. That it would come when I was feeling somewhat optimistic made sense.