Page 91 of My Favorite Hero

Jesse the jokester. Teasing, fun, sexy. Grumpy, jealous Thorne. Silly, sunglasses-wearing Jesse.

Today, he was all of them.

And I especially loved the fact that I was one of the few people who saw them all.

Chapter Twenty-One

CASEY

Iwoke up, my head on Jesse’s lap. He gazed down at me, a gentle expression on his face again.

“Hey, sleepyhead.”

I sat up, yawning. “How long have I been out?”

“Only about thirty minutes.”

I tilted my head. “You have something on your lip.”

He wiped at it, licking his finger. I looked over at the basket. “Were you into the cupcakes?”

“You were asleep. I had to keep myself entertained.”

“By eating the cupcakes?”

“I only had one,” he protested. “And a couple of cookies.”

I rolled my eyes.

“They were good,” he informed me. “But not as good as yours.”

“You know how to BS your way out of trouble, don’t you?”

“Speaking the truth.”

He reached into the basket and brought out the box. “Want a cupcake?”

“Sure.”

He handed me the vanilla one I had picked out, and I took it from him. I peeled away the paper and broke it in half, then flipped the icing top over onto the bottom and pressed it together like a sandwich, taking a bite.

“What did you just do?” he asked.

I held it up. “Made a cupcake sandwich. Then you get icing in every bite.”

“Dammit, woman. That is brilliant. I have to try it.”

He grabbed another cupcake and copied my movements, taking a huge bite. “Amazing,” he said, cupcake crumbs escaping his mouth. He ignored them and kept eating.

I ate mine, enjoying the rich buttercream and the light vanilla cake. I licked my fingers and stood to go to the brook. “Sticky,” I said, waving my fingers.

“Careful,” Jesse called. “It’s slippery on the rocks,” he chuckled. “And I’m not coming in after you.”

I bent and rinsed my hands, standing upright. “Whatever, Jesse. If I fell in, you’d come after me.”

“Nah,” he laughed. “It’s shallow. Not even you could drown in it.”

Ignoring him, I stood in the water, watching the ripples and current move downstream. The water was so clear I could see the bottom and the pretty rocks and the way the water skimmed over them. I wandered a little, my feet adjusting to the cold temperature. It was deeper in the middle, and I imagined, on a summer day, very refreshing.