He was gorgeous as always, his dark hair curled and shining in the warm, morning light, his eyes bright again, unlike the way they had dimmed yesterday.
“Am I behind, or are you early?” I questioned, knowing I’d only been open for twenty minutes. This man shouldn’t be awake for hours yet.
He rolled his eyes at my teasing. “I’m early.”
“Is everything okay?” I hedged, starting to worry now. My best friend was always confident and calm, but right now he looked so unsure.
I wasn’t sure what to do with that.
“Did everything go okay talking to your brother last night?”
I busied myself putting the scones in the bakery case while I waited for him to answer.
“Actually, yes,” he said. “Apparently, we were both just being stubborn assholes. He’d reached out more than I realized, and I didn’t want to see it. There’s a lot more hurt in him than I thought but we’re working on it. I had a lot to let go of and come to terms with last night. I haven’t even slept yet.”
I could’ve told him that if he’d listened to me.Iwas hurt, too, when Cole left. We were all friends. I assumed we’d be a pack someday with how close we all were. Our personalities complemented each other, and they both made me feel so safe and protected.
Then it fell apart.
“We met in the middle and I think it’ll get better now,” he continued, moving closer to me and making my heart pound against my ribcage. I tried not to look but couldn’t help it. “He said something that stuck with me, North.”
The way he said my name had me freezing in place. I watched, eyes wide, as he slowly walked around the cabinet. His scent was strong now, peppermint and mocha teasing my senses, the rich chocolate and cool peppermint blend I’d always adored strong and enticing, making my mouth water.
My cock twitched in response, like it usually did, and I had to do everything I could to stop it from springing to full attention.
Jack took the tray from my hands and set it aside. I let it go willingly, so stunned I didn’t know how to react.
It was hard to think when he was this close, overwhelming every one of my senses. I swear, everything about Jack when he was like this, cool and confident, made me want to fall to my knees and worship him.
Something I’d definitely picture later while using my hand to get myself off.
“What… what did he say?” I finally managed to breathe out.
He was closer now, so close that all I could do was look up into those gorgeous, brown eyes of his. I swear I could drown in them.
“That we’ve been dancing around each other for years,” he said quietly. “That you’ve been in love with me since high school. Is that true, North?”
I swallowed hard, every instinct screaming at me to back away, but I was frozen, unable to fight the pull of Jack Hawthorne.
“Yes.” The word left my lips before I could even stop it.
For a moment, horror washed over me, until his lips tipped up into a smirk.
“And here I thought I was the only one that felt that way. I was trying not to ruin our friendship, North. Tell me I shouldn’t, and I’ll walk away right now.”
“Please don’t walk away.”
It was all I could manage, ending on a whine at the idea. A desperate plea for this man to finally give into the fantasy I’d built up over the years.
Then his lips were on mine, one hand gently caressing my jaw as our bodies moved close enough that I could feel his cock was just as hard as mine.
Holy shit. I was kissing Jack Hawthorne.
And he felt the same.
He wanted me.
Me.
