Page 23 of Cherry Picked
Jack’s eyes widened, whether at my temper or my crude language, and I could almost see his thoughts beaming out of his brain.My Hawk doesn’t talk like that!But guess what? Today, I sure as fuck did.
“For god’s sake,” I went on, the emotion I’d dammed up pouring out of me in torrents. “Even Drew, who’s old enough to be a grandfather, reinjured his leg last week andclaimedhe hurt it gardening… like anyone who shares a roof with him didn’t hear the noises coming out of his room the night before.”
“God, stop!” Jack held up a hand. “I beg you. I do not want to know a damn thing about your family’s sex lives—”
“Really? Then why the fuck do they get a say inmine?” I demanded. “If you don’t want me, Jack Wyatt, that’s your choice, and I accept it. But if you’re honestly trying to pretend that you’re doing this formysake—slapping me up on a pedestal I never asked to be on, telling me I’m too pure and good to ever have something hot and sexual andreal,pretending you know what I want better than I do—you can get on your fucking high horse and take a long canter off a very short bridge.”
His jaw hung open as his startling blue eyes stared at me. I didn’t wait around to hear his pitiful excuses. Instead, I lobbed one final line at him before taking off up the trail at a fast clip.
“I will lose my virginity this summer with or without you, Jack. Mark my words. It’s happening whether you like it or not.”
ChapterFive
JACK
“I am all astonishment.” ~ Caroline Bingley
I stood stock-still, blinking at the space where Hawk had been for a long moment after he stalked off.
One part of my brain firmed its jaw and wanted to yell in Hawk’s direction,See? This is what happens when you complicate a perfectly wonderful friendship! Better now than after you’d developed romantic feelings for me.
Another part twisted up and whimpered,Come back! I was wrong! Give me a do-over!
But, no lie, most of my brain was busy replaying Hawk’s sweet voice gritting out the words “something hot and sexual and real”on an endless loop while picturing him naked, “bending over” and, in a bizarre new twist, covered in organic honey. My cock swelled uncomfortably in my pants, and I couldn’t even pretend to be shocked about that since this was at least my twenty-fifth Hawk-based erection in the past seven days.
How the fuck had we gotten to this place?
Hawk was trying to change the rules of our friendship in the middle of the game, and I couldn’t decide whether to be angry or… worried.
There was clearly something going on with him. Something weird. Something potentially dangerous. Maybe it was simply the resort development dredging up grief over his dad and causing him to lash out. Or maybe, I thought darkly, recalling a certain pink-haired employee, Hawk had been listening to the wrong people.
The crunch of Hawk’s boots ahead of me on the trail was familiar enough to make it clear he was angry, even if I hadn’t seen the frustration on his face when he’d made his defiant stand. But when his footsteps paused, I glanced up and found that he’d stopped right under a break in the canopy and tilted his face toward the sun.
My gut clenched. Christ, the man was beautiful—wide stance, thick calves, firm shoulders, head held high, so freaking alive—and Christ, he looked lonely.
Worry won out over anger.
“Hawk,” I croaked. “Hey, wait up.” I walked faster until we were pacing side by side. “Look, I’m sorry I upset you. That wasn’t my intention. Not ever, but for sure nottoday. Truce, okay? Can we finish our hike together? I don’t want this to come between us. You’re too important to me.”
Hawk closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. He made ampfhnoise that wasn’t the enthusiastic agreement I’d been hoping for, but when he started walking again, he made room for me beside him on the trail.
“Are you—?” I began tentatively.
“I was just thinking about my dad again,” he cut in. “Did I ever tell you he played drums in a band when he was in high school?”
I shook my head, grateful for the seemingly random topic shift. “No. Was he good?”
“Nope,” Hawk said, popping thep. He grinned. “He was awful. They called him the Mangler. Uncle Drew still has a T-shirt from a batch they had made up when they played at a local festival. It says The Narwhals featuring the Mangler.” He laughed, and the sound jolted my heart back into its normal rhythm. “What you said before, about him being proud of me… it really hit me because I think about that a lot. What would he think of me and what I’m doing with my life? What would he think of the plans for this place?” He gestured up the trail, toward the peak. “Would he have been more persuasive than I am? Would he have convinced people that the development was a terrible idea? It’s good to remember that there was stuff he wasn’t good at, too, and that he just kept trying his best.”
“Bird, you’re an incredible person. You—” I reached out a hand to touch his leanly muscled biceps, but Hawk sidestepped.
“I don’t need comfort or a pep talk right now,” he said softly. “I know there are plenty of things I’m good at. It’s just…” He broke off, shaking his head.
I shoved my hands in my pockets. “You mean, are you good at the things that were important to him. Does part of him live in you. I get it.”
Hawk’s gaze flew to mine. “You don’t talk about your dad much. About… that time.”
“No. Partly that’s because I was young when I lost him, and I don’t remember him much. But I do sometimes wonder… I’m sure he’dloveme if he were still alive, but would helikeme? My mom used to talk about him playing tuba in the marching band back in high school and how good he was. Would he be disappointed I never learned an instrument and didn’t get any of his musical talent?”
