Page 71 of Love Me Like It's Real
Hayworth watches me for a moment and then he smirks. “Aye aye, Captain,” he answers and throws the joint out the window and comes to feast on me.
TWENTY-ONE
HAYWORTH
I’m on my way to the gym the next morning when I bump into no one else but the man who’s been percolating in my dreams with his naughty smile and filthy tongue and mere thought of whom gets me hard as steel.
“Hayworth!” the girls scream and both jump around my legs, hugging my hips and waist.
I drop my gym bag to the ground and hug them back.
Felix waves at me, grinning, but I don’t miss how some passersby behind him are staring at the scene in the middle of the street as if it’s a show.
God knows whatMaplewood Matterswill write after today. What wild headline will they make up to drag my name through even more dirt?
“How are you?” I ask Felix.
Elsa pulls away and answers with a huge smile. “I won a drawing competition at school!”
I turn and kneel down to look at her and give her a pat on the shoulder. “Well done. That’s great, Elsa. Who ran the competition?”
Elsa’s smile gets bigger and she twists left to right, overflowing with excitement. “Mrs. H. She said I’m very talented and would like to tutor me.”
Even though I know Mom works at the school and she’s an art teacher, it still takes me by surprise when I hear her name.
“You must be really good if Mom offered to tutor you.”
“‘Mom’?” Felix asks before Elsa gets the chance.
“Ah, yeah. Mrs. H. She works at the school part-time but she also has a craft store here in town. It’s actually a couple doors down from Special Blend.”
“Mrs. H is your Mom? Wow! She’s very pretty,” Arya says and I chuckle.
“She is, isn’t she?”
“I love her hair,” Arya adds.
“I didn’t realize. That’s so weird. I’ve stopped by to get supplies, but…” Felix starts and I straighten up so I’m at eye level with him.
Or as eye level I can be with Felix, considering I’m a head taller.
“Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t help that she goes by Mrs. H most of the time.”
Felix bites his lip and gives a small nod. “There’s still so much to learn about this town.”
I laugh. “Hey, no one said living in a small town is easy and I’m sure you’ve been busy with the?—”
“Hayworth?” Arya tugs at my hand.
I stop to look at her. “What is it, little devil?”
“Aren’t you going to kiss Poppy?” she says and immediately hides her giggle behind her hands.
“Oh,” both Felix and I say at the same time and stare at each other as if we’ve been caught red-handed.
Flashes of his passionate kisses claiming my mouth from last night flood my vision but this isn’t last night and it isn’t a private tête-à-tête. This is broad daylight in the middle of Maplewood. It feels…weird.
“Is something wrong?” Elsa asks and it knocks back some sense into me.
