Hotcop: Ha! Gonna take more than frosting to fix this,buddy.
SexyMuffin: Name it. Anything. (Except frosting,natch)
Hotcop: How are those mint brownies holdingup?
SexyMuffin: Sixleft.
Hotcop: What? What kind of god can’t sell a plate ofbrownies?
SexyMuffin: Who said they’re for sale? Boxed ‘em up for you, baby. *god mode:winning*
Hotcop: God-smod. I don’t see them in mymouth.
SexyMuffin: Three…two…
I tipped my head, wondering what he was upto.
“…one.”
I knew that voice, and couldn’t stop the squeal of delight that shot out of my mouth. “SexyMuffin!”
“Hey there,Hotcop.”
Delaney groaned like she had just had enough of usalready.
“How’s your morning going, Officer Reed?” Hogan strolled into the station like he owned the air, the ground, and every single one of my heartbeats that inexplicably synched up to the rhythm of hissteps.
He was built lean, with wide muscular shoulders, tight, flat stomach, and a bubble ass I couldn’t keep my eyes off of. His skin was darker than mine, inherited from his Jamaican mother, his hair long black braids that he kept tied at the base of hisneck.
That face I couldn’t get enough of was angled, but softened around all the edges so it always seemed like he was about to break into a smile, his eyes a startling blue he’d gotten from the dad he never talkedabout.
The man was summer and sunshine and happiness. And love. Anyone could see that from a mile away. Anyone would be amazed to be around him, to be withhim.
Just like I was amazed. Happy. Giddy,even.
Except...except when I thought about how long we’d been together. And that if he and I revealed all our secrets of who we really were to each other, maybe we’d both give up onthis.
“Hey,” he said, stopping on the lobby side of the counter like everyone in Ordinary should. Like he should, even though I hadn’t thought of him as just another person who lived in town for months now. “Did someone here say they couldn’t wait to get my brownies in theirmouth?”
Delaney snorted, but didn’t move away from my desk. She was watching Hogan, probably using her cop eyes to take in his body language: relaxed, his voice: sexy, his eyes: happy. Happy to see me. Not a mask, not a flicker of fear orlies.
I held back asigh.
I sucked at this relationship thing. Which was weird, right? Because I could tell Delaney what she needed to do to make her relationship with Ryder work. I could tell Myra to stop not-flirting (totally flirting) with Bathin. Because, c’mon:demon.
I could poke at Hatter when he used those cheesy pick-up lines in the bar that worked for him, but only because he laid on the fake Southern accent so thick and followed it up with those puppy dogeyes.
I could even give out advice in all my gaming groups, both online and inperson.
I was good at this. Good at helping people be their best selves, their honest selves so they could be with someone else. Build a besttogetherness.
Like, if cupid was a job and not an actual person (who currently wasn’t living in Ordinary) I’d so be shooting heart arrows at anyone who so much as made eye contact withme.
But when it came to my heart, my own honest self, I wanted to duck and cover bigtime.
Delaney slid her gaze to me. I wasn’t sure what she saw, but yeah, Hogan wasn’t the problem in this relationship. That was all onme.
She raised one eyebrow. I didn’t know if it was the what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you eyebrow or the aren’t-you-going-to-answer-that-flirty-maneyebrow.
