Page 16 of Cherry Picked
“Are we still on for our usual hike tomorrow, Hawk?” I blurted.
Across the room, Crys let out an excited little squeak that made everyone look at her. “Oh, silly me! I just saw the time! It’s nearly eight. Katey, we should go now if you still want to hit Singles’ Trivia Night at the Tavern.”
Katey glanced down at the counter she’d been scrubbing. “Singles’ Trivia Night? Tonight?”
“Honey, of course. Remember we said we’d go?Now?”
“Well… no. But I guess we could if you—”
“Now,” Crys repeated, linking her elbow with Katey’s and towing her out the back door. “We wanna get there early before all the cute singles get paired off with the smart ones. ’Night, guys!” she called over her shoulder.
Once they’d gone, the whole restaurant was silent aside from the steadyplink plink plinkof the faucet. Hawk’s shoulders were stiff, and it almost seemed like he was holding his breath.
“Hawk?” I stood and edged closer, careful not to touch anything sharp or flammable or poisonous, stopping a foot away from him. “What do you say? Nothing, you know… weird. Just you and me. Being normal. On a regular hike. Like we’ve always done.”
Great, Jack. Nothing sounds more normal than insisting something’s normal.
Hawk did the thing he always did when nervous. He stretched his neck by leaning his head from side to side. “Aregular, normalhike?” He sounded half-amused, half-annoyed. After a pause, he shrugged. “Sure. I was planning to go hiking tomorrow anyway.”
“Good.” I let out a relieved breath. “Good. It’s just… I missed talking to you this week. Things are so busy here. I haven’t heard about your latest adventures with the Mini Scouts or if you’ve gone hiking with… anyone. I don’t even know what you’ve been reading lately.”
As friendship test balloons went, this seemed incredibly pathetic, but after rubbing his lips together for a second, Hawk nodded to himself and glanced over his shoulder at me. “I just finished a good book, actually. Total keeper-shelf, reread material. It’s agayPride and Prejudiceretelling, so it’s Eli and Darcy this time. And it’s spicy.”
“Oh? Well, that’s—”
He shut off the water and turned around, leaning back against the sink with his arms crossed over his chest, almost like a challenge. “Eli and Darcy are in a closet under the stairs at Rosings—you remember that’s where bossy-as-fuck Lady Catherine lives when she’s not gallivanting around trying to break the two of them up?”
I nodded. For a man who’d still never readPride and Prejudice, I knew a hell of a lot about its variations.
“They’re still at the part of the story where they think they know each other, but they’re both super wrong, and they want each other but aren’t ready to admit it. There’s so much unresolved sexual tension it’s practically clogging the air.” He lifted an eyebrow. “You know?”
“Huh? Oh. Sure. Yeah. I can… I can imagine that,” I agreed. The kitchen was stiflingly warm, but I fought the urge to tug at my collar.
“So they’re in the front hall arguing—tension crackling like lightning in the air—when Lady Catherine comes looking for them. And they dislike each other, but they dislike Lady Catherine even more, so they duck into this closet without really thinking about it. Except once they’re in there together… they’recommitted. No matter how uncomfortable it gets, they can’t leave or make a single sound because Eli’s reputation would be in tatters if they were caught. They’re stuck in that tiny space with Darcy pressed up against Eli’s back. Thigh to thigh. Practically cheek to cheek.”
“Oh. Uh-huh.” I swallowed hard, trying not to look like I was imagining Hawk and me in that position, even though I very much was. “Wow. Yeah. That sounds—”
“The problem is,” he went on solemnly, “there’s still that pesky sexual attraction. Even though they want it to go away. Even though they’re pretending it doesn’t exist.”
“That’s… rough.” I cleared my throat. “So, anyway—”
“So when they’re forced to be that tightly fitted together—rubbing up against each other with every breath, sharing the same air—they can’t hide their attraction anymore. Darcy sees that Eli is hard under his breeches, and Eli notices Darcy’s breathing getting fast and choppy…”
I knewmybreath was coming faster, but I couldn’t stop it. I stared into Hawk’s golden-brown eyes, and I couldn’t have looked away even if the roof collapsed.
“So they get naked, right there in the closet.” Hawk’s voice was only a whisper now. “Unbuttoning the falls of their pants, all quick and dirty, but trying to be so, so quiet, too, so that no one can hear them. Darcy ends up on his knees, rimming Eli. And Eli… he’s never done that before, but it feels so good he can’t help moaning. So Darcy gets to his feet, grabs Eli by the throat, and pins him against the wall—” Hawk demonstrated with a hand around his own throat. “—then kisses him to keep him quiet while he finishes him off with his big, strong hand.” Hawk licked his lips like he was tasting a kiss there. “I can’t decide if I’d like that or not.”
My throat clicked with the effort of replying. “Erk” was all I managed to get out.
“Doyoulike that?” he asked, head tilted to one side like we were just making casual conversation now.
I was not feeling casual. Not in the slightest. My dick was hard as a rock, and I was in very real danger of lighting something on fire again… probably myself.Spontaneous human combustion in Little Pippin Hollow! Film at eleven.
“Nn-hn. Hnh?”
“Anyway.” Hawk shrugged. “Yeah, fine. Hiking tomorrow.”
I managed an affirmative-sounding noise.
