Page 31 of Wild Card

“Hang tight.” I stood and jogged over to the counter.

I wished I knew how she took her coffee, but she’d have to settle for it black and the cinnamon roll. Once I paid, I took our coffees and the water bottle I had purchased for her and walked back to the table.

A small blush crept into her face as she gently took the water from me.

“You didn’t have to do that.” It was a tiny mumble quickly followed by her twisting the cap on the water and tossing her head back to take a drink.

I smiled. I didn’t want to sit there and argue about me buying shit. She had seemed irritated enough when I was in her living room the night before. Thinking of it had me thinking about when she’d opened the door, that black thong running between her luscious ass cheeks. Then there were those hockey sweats she wore, which had me wondering if she was seeing someone. Or maybe it was casual…though the only reason someone would leave sweats behind was if they took them off pretty regularly, right?

She cut into my thoughts. “Okay, so it’s passed down…is it like its own fraternity then? I’ve heard the baseball team all lives in that house, but I also know there’s no official label for them.”

I sipped the coffee, moving past the image of her with another guy, and instead thought of this deal we’d struck. I wished she would have considered who was offering the deal before agreeing. Beyond just finding her attractive, I actually liked this girl, and well…she deserved better than the terms I’d omitted from our deal.

“It’s an unofficial fraternity that doesn’t have to play by any rules, doesn’t have to answer to anyone. They operate more as a secret society than anything, but there are members who don’t live in that house. You don’t know it because they like to make it seem like everyone is there, but not everyone agrees with what they do.”

The high school girl walked over with a plate the size of my hand, a massive glazed cinnamon roll in the middle. My mouth watered.

“Here you go.” She set it between us then dug in her apron for two forks like I had asked her to.

I grabbed mine and dug in. The first taste melted in a buttery sweetness that made me groan in utter satisfaction.

“Good, right?” Mallory smiled as she watched me. Her teeth dug into her bottom lip while her eyes danced with excitement, as if watching me taste this for the first time was the highlight of her entire day. It made something in my chest twitch.

“Share it with me.” I ducked my head before pushing the plate toward her.

She blushed again. “No, it’s okay.”

“Come on, I know you want some.” I took another bite, groaning obnoxiously loud.

“No…I’m trying to eat better, and that is definitely not better.” Her eyes stayed pinned to the paper in front of her while her nostrils flared.

“Why? You’re perfect…is it a medical thing?” I raised an eyebrow.

She had the most delicious curves I’d ever seen; there was no fucking way she wanted to lose any of that.

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

I paused mid-chew, watching her—unsure of what she was talking about. The expression I wore must have spoken for me, because she let out a small sigh before explaining.

“You were pretty mean the other night, kicking me out, telling me I ruined everything. Then the parking lot…”

Right, shit.I had been a bit of an asshole.

“I’m sorry about that…I guess I should have apologized for that last night.” I felt my face heat like I was in middle school again.

“So why did you do it then?”

I tried to ignore how cute she was when her head tilted to the side like she was trying to figure me out.

“I was just mad…at the situation and the reason I was there. It’s complicated, but it wasn’t about you.”

“I thought maybe it was something I did, or…just the way I didn’t look like her.”

I choked on the sweet, sticky dough in my throat. Was she serious?

“No, definitely not anything you did. I was…uh…” I rubbed the back of my neck. I knew I shouldn’t say this, but… “I was definitely enjoying myself, but the questions you were asking tipped me off.”

She brought her hands to her face and laughed. “I should have known.”

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