“You’ll tell me. And if you don’t, I’m sure she will.”
I kick up an eyebrow. He’s never said a disparaging word about Natalie before, and it’s not like he’s seen her for the last four years. “I knew you didn’t like her.”
“When you first started seeing her, she was, shit, she was intolerable. So were you.”
“Fuck, Iverson. Lay it all out there.”
He drives past the businesses on the edge of town.The mechanic shop across from the small car sales lot. A massage and tanning place. A gas station with a small laundromat attached. We’ll be at Dee’s Sweets soon.
“Just sayin’. You aren’t yourself when you’re with her.”
I haven’t been with her in a long time, and I won’t be. I still haven’t told Iverson about the breakup and I won’t now. He’ll be less likely to think I’m messing around with his sister-in-law, and I’ll have Campbell to myself.
Of course, I’ll also get more time to dwell on what he said. Intolerable? Maybe I was. Having someone like Natalie interested in me after how I was raised? Yeah, I might’ve overlooked a little. After hearing Iverson, maybe I overlooked a lot.
Maybe that’s why I like being around Campbell. We’ve been underestimated in our lives, and together, we can just... be.
When I don’t respond after a minute, he only grunts and pulls into a spot in front of the bakery. A familiar blue SUV is parked off to the side. Is Campbell here? I can’t see her through the big bakery windows. Lane and Haven are already at a table, a mug of something in their hands. I crane my head to look up and down the street.
Is she at Bryce’s downtown office?
“Whatcha looking for?” Iverson kills the engine, peering out the windshield to find out for himself.
“No one.”
He cocks a brow.
“Nothing,” I amend.
He doesn’t make a move to get out. “You’ve been acting weird lately.”
I screw my face up. “You just said I act like an assaround Natalie, and now I’m weird with you. What the hell, Ivy?”
He holds up his hands. “Got it. Just sayin’. I’m here if you need to talk.”
And what would I say? That I don’t think about Natalie much because not only does she not want to talk to me, but I’m focused on gray eyes, a husky voice, and plump pink lips? By the way, all I can think about is when I can taste Campbell’s soaked pussy again? I’m thinking of naming a single barrel after her hot wet cunt because she’s that sweet and addicting, and if I could capture her essence in a spirit, we could make a lot of money, except I’d keep every bottle for myself?
No. A conversation like that would give Iverson a heart attack before he beat the shit out of me for fucking around with his sister-in-law while his wife is trying to finish her at-risk pregnancy. Iverson considers Campbell family, and since he does, so does Haven. I would’ve been better off thinking of her that way too.
I don’t.
With one last glance at her car, I get out. There’s no pretty woman with silky chestnut hair anywhere in the bakery. All the rest of the women inside could have pillow lips and I wouldn’t notice.
I aim for the counter. A big dose of caffeine might dull the edge my mood is on.
Cruz is at the cash register. I stop behind him in line while Iverson hangs back at the table. A red-faced Elodie is looking anywhere but at Cruz. Her dark hair is gathered back into a loose twist, and she’s wearing a frosting-stained apron. Cruz’s stance is wide, his hands stuffed in his jeans pockets, but he still towers over her. He’s got a black puffy vest on over his long-sleeved yellow shirt.
“So what’s the difference between angel food cake and devil’s food?” he asks.
Elodie blinks at him like she can’t tell if he’s speaking the same language as her. Then she turns around to study the menu mounted over the counter behind her.
“I-I don’t have angel food.” Utter confusion fills her voice.
“You have a devil’s food cupcake. Why not angel food?” I can hear the grin in his voice, but Elodie doesn’t know him well enough to decide if his teasing is good-natured.
“Angel food is a white cake, but devil’s food has chocolate,” she finally answers.
“Then why call it devil’s food? Why not just call it chocolate?”
