She flung paper towels at him. “Are you okay?”
He choked a little, wiped his mouth, and guzzled soda. With eyes still watering, he asked. “And what exactly did the fucker tell you was my favorite pizza?”
“Pineapple, anchovies, and onions with a heavy garlic crust. I tried not to be judgy, but gross.” She wanted to ask if something on it had gone bad, but who could tell if it had?
“He’s a dead man,” he threatened when he finished the entire soda.
Nova wasn’t sure what was wrong, except for the vilest taste in pizza on the planet.
“Do you mind?” Hook nodded toward her box.
“No, of course not.” She flipped open the box. Hook grabbed a slice, taking a huge bite and moaning in appreciation. The rumble his voice made when he did so had her crossing her legs.
“Nothing beats a slice of ooey-gooey goodness. Classic.” He polished it off in two more bites, sucking his fingers to ingest every single crumb. When he pressed his thumb in sideways, and she heard him smacking, a small whimper escaped her. Nova offered him another slice with her mouth agape.
When he winked and took it, she recovered just a little. Enough to stop staring anyway. “So, I take it Croon lied about the pizza?”
“Yep.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why would he lie? I mean, I’ve always sensed a tension between you two, but I thought it was more friendly.” She knew it centered around Devin.
“It is.”
“Ruining the cuisine of gods is not what I call friendly. That’s an act of war.”
Hook’s eyes sparkled at her words, and the laugh that followed was borderline orgasmic. Shit, she needed to get herlibido under control before she asked him to do her right there on the table—pizza be damned.
“Agreed, but he’ll come around.” A note of sadness entered his voice.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Nova finished her slice and removed the plate and the offensive pizza box while waiting for him to answer.
“He thought there was something between Devin and me, and he’s still butt hurt.” Nova knew, at least in passing, most of the club—hell, even she’d thought at some point there was something between those two. If she were being honest with herself, she still wondered if there had been. That insecure part of her needed to know. Everyone, with the exception of Croon, seemed to believe there wasn’t, and they all wanted her to know that.
She tried to resist asking but failed. “And there was never anything there?”
Damn it.
When his gaze clashed with hers, she knew she was busted. A smile curled the left side of his lips, just hinting at the dimple on that side. “Are you jealous, Nova?”
She didn’t want to lie, mostly because she was shit at it, so she said nothing, opting to grab another soda from the fridge instead.
She couldn’t face him just yet; she expressed her emotions plainly on her face. Nova stood with her back to him, sipping her soda, practically standing inside the open fridge.
That wasn’t suspicious at all.
Warm breath on her neck startled her.
“Would I be a dick if your jealousy made me happy?”
A shudder coursed through her. He wasn’t touching her physically, but she felt every inch of his body as if he were. Hewas so close, she had to scoot sideways to close the refrigerator without bumping into him.
Once she did, she set her soda on the counter and just stood there staring at it.
“Turn around, Nova.”