Page 27 of Role Model

Troy: Way too early for eggnog.

Harris retorted with a row of Santa face emojis.

Troy: Fine. Are you in your office?

Harris: Yes. Wouldn’t say no to a cake pop either if they have them.

Winky face emoji.

Troy didn’t know what a cake pop was, but it sounded like the kind of thing that Harris would like.

Troy: k. Be there soon.

Cake pops, it turned out, were even stupider than Troy thought they’d be. Especially since they were decorated to look like snowman heads, so apparently it was eggnog season. Troy had never really looked at any of the baked goods on offer at a Starbucks before. He always just ordered a black medium roast without observing his surroundings much.

He knocked on Harris’s office door, balancing a tray with two cups and a paper bag with three cake pops because they seemed kind of small, so Troy bought a few.

“Come in.”

Unlike the last time Troy had been here, Harris’s smile didn’t fade when he saw him. In fact, it grew wider.

“Coffee delivery from an NHL star. I could get used to this.” He locked his fingers and stretched his arms over his head. It lifted the hem of his Carly Rae Jepsen T-shirt enough that Troy caught a glimpse of his fuzzy belly button area.

“Cake pops are supposed to be for kids, I think,” Troy said, forcing his gaze away from the strip of exposed skin. He set the tray on the desk opposite Harris’s, then handed him the paper bag.

Harris relaxed his arms and grabbed the bag with enthusiasm. He yanked out one of the pops and held it up, admiring it. “They’re cute!”

“It looks like an impaled head on a spike.”

Harris laughed way too hard at that. “It does! Yikes.” And then he shoved the whole snowman head in his mouth, wrapping his lips around the base of the ball and tugging it off the stick. It was...something.

He swallowed the ball of whatever the fuck it was—cake, Troy guessed—and grinned. “I love these things. Holy shit, there are more in here!” He pulled a second one out.

Troy settled himself into a chair that was against the wall, near the end of Harris’s desk. “I wasn’t sure what a normal serving of cake pops was.”

“No limit. Here,” Harris said, holding it out to him. “You gotta try one.”

Troy was conflicted. On the one hand, he didn’t want to put that ridiculous thing in his mouth. On the other hand, he didn’t want to watch Harris deep throat another one.

“I’m good.” He took a sip of his black coffee to demonstrate how good he was, and promptly burned his mouth. “Fuck.”

“You know what would cool your mouth down?” Harris asked, making the snowman ball dance around in the air. “A peppermint cake pop.”

“No it wouldn’t. And stop making it be, like, alive.”

Harris turned the snowman so he was looking it straight in the eyes. “I’m naming him Gordon.”

“Fuck off. Just eat it.”

“I can’t. We’re friends now.”

“Whatever. Your eggnog is there.” Troy pointed to the paper cup on the corner of Harris’s desk.

The small office was flooded with the sickly sweet aroma of eggnog and cake. Troy took a deep whiff of his own coffee to block it out.

He supposed he could leave. He’d only come here to deliver a coffee and a snack. Mission accomplished.

“When is your conference call?”

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