Page 98 of A Shot of Pretty Poison

It even reached one point where I honestly wondered if this house has some weird kind of feng shui to it that makes your sex drive go wild. It would’ve made so much sense, except the sexual tension crackles between us even at the bar.

And at Cam’s.

And in the truck.

And…well, you get it.

I’ve tried talking to Mali about it, but she doesn’t see the problem. From how it looks to her, Hayes is just trying to let us go back to normal. Brush it under the rug so to speak, but it’s not that simple for me. He’s different than he used to be. And I know that’s bound to happen. After everything, I’m lucky he even still looks in my direction.

But I wish I knew if there’s even a chance we’ll ever get back to where we were before I went and screwed everything up.

I’m sitting on the island, watching Hayes cook dinner. Well…okay,cookis a very generous word for what he’s doing. Pretty sure whatever he’s trying to make is not going to come out edible, but when I tried to help him, he told me he’s got it and that he doesn’t need my help.

So, I hopped my little ass onto the island and now I’m enjoying watching him ride the struggle bus to failure town.

Is it too soon to order a pizza?

“I think I’m going to come to the bar with you tomorrow,” I tell him. “There’s no one in the studio so I just have to work on writing, and I figure I can do that there.”

He shrugs, keeping his eyes on the “meal” in front of him. “That’s fine. Whatever you want to do.”

Ugh,he’s so frustrating. Every time I try to get a read on him, he shuts down for the sole purpose of keeping me out. It’s like he wants all of me, but isn’t willing to give me all of him in return.

Funny—sounds a lot like how we started.

“I don’t have to,” I say simply. “I could go hang out at the rink instead. Lucas told me last Friday that I should stop by sometime.”

His whole body tenses. “Did he?”

“Yeah…”

“Hmm. That’s interesting.”

My legs stop swinging. “Why is it interesting?”

He shrugs once more. “I just didn’t know he had a death wish. That’s all.”

A giggle bubbles out of me. “You’ve known Lucas just as long as you’ve known Cam.”

“Yeah, which means I’ve heard almost every single time he’s tried hitting on you,” he growls. “But if you want to go, go ahead. I’m sure Riley willlovesome time alone with me at the bar before Cam comes in.”

Fucking checkmate.“Wait for me in the morning. I’m coming with you.”

“Whatever you say, Rochester,” he says as he glances back at me and winks.

I roll my eyes. “You fucking suck.”

He chuckles as he finally turns completely around to look at me. “It’s not my fault you’re more jealous than I am.”

“Oh,” I laugh. “Is that so?”

“Mm-hm.” He takes a step closer.

I give him a knowing look. “Is that why you damn near poisoned Finn that one day?”

He plays it coy. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No?”

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