Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 143842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 143842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 719(@200wpm)___ 575(@250wpm)___ 479(@300wpm)
“Am I bothering you?”
He couldn’t stop the tugging at the edges of his lips. “Nah, darlin’, pretty sure there isn’t a chance your presence could bother anyone.”
Redness pinked her cheeks, and she kept peeking at him as she came to settle on the ground off to the side of him, facing the same direction.
For a bit, the two of them just sat staring off into the thick woods that held them like a shroud.
“I saw you earlier…and you…looked upset.” She chanced it, each word hesitant and filled with question.
He choked out a laugh that wasn’t the least surprised. “You always notice, don’t you?”
Uncertainty wound in her posture. “I shouldn’t, but I do.”
He knew what she was referring to.
Brooke.
Brooke who he’d made that mistake with two more times in the last month. Being a fucking idiot and allowing lust to grip him. Or maybe he was just doing everything to drive a wedge between him and Hailey since he knew there was no chance in hell he could ever have her.
Now that? That would make him a monster.
He knew it.
But he felt like a piece of crap, leading Brooke on the way he had, but she kept promising she was only looking to have as much fun as she could before she left in September for college.
This thing was no strings.
A fun fling.
But it wasn’t feeling fun to Cody, anymore, and he’d promised himself that he wasn’t ever going to touch her again.
It felt…wrong.
They sat in the silence for a little while before Hailey shifted to peer at him, her knees drawn to her chest. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Air huffed from Cody’s nose, and he picked at a blade of grass below him. “Not sure it’s something you would understand.”
“Try me.”
He exhaled heavily, peeking at this sweet girl he should definitely tell to go on her way.
But he liked her there.
Liked her presence.
Liked the way she soothed a little bit of the ache lighting a path through his body.
“Just someone I care about is having a bit of trouble and, as hard as I tried, there doesn’t seem to be a damned thing I can do about it.”
Her expression dimmed, and she looked out at the peace of the scenery that whispered around them. “I’m sorry,” she murmured.
“Me, too.”
She chewed at her plump lip, so damned shy and timid all while being this bright shining light that beamed, no chance of the radiance she emitted being contained by her reticent shell.
Yeah, this girl was getting ready to bloom.
He was sure of it.
“I brought you something.” She passed him the plastic container that she’d set on the ground beside her.
He couldn’t help but grin. “You brought me somethin’?”
Eager as all fuck, he peeled off the lid.
Inside sat a big heaping pile of strawberry shortcake.
His stomach rumbled right as his chest tightened.
“Did you make this?” He couldn’t stop the wonder from filling his voice.
More heat splashed her cheeks, and she shrugged a shy shoulder. “It wasn’t a big deal. I just…saw you eating fresh strawberries with your lunch a couple weeks ago, and I thought you might like it. That maybe…”
She was looking at him then, her eyebrows puckered together in hope. “I thought it might make you feel better.”
Cody took the plastic fork that was tucked inside the container and dug it into the concoction. Through the whipped cream and sugared strawberries and down to the shortcake at the bottom.
He groaned when he put it in his mouth, the sweetness hitting his tongue and his heart doing that stupid thing it liked to do whenever she came around.
“You like it?”
His chuckle was rough. “Do I like it? Best thing I’ve ever tasted.”
And that was saying a lot because his sister was shaping up to be a damned good baker. Dakota loved to bake things to make people feel better, though, and he wondered if it wasn’t the same for Hailey.
Pride flamed on Hailey’s face, and she rubbed her palms up the fronts of her thighs.
He took another bite, licking at the fork. “See. I already feel better.”
Modesty had her looking away. “I’m glad,” she whispered.
She seemed reluctant to push to her feet, but she did, the girl standing over him.
Appearing an angel who’d been sent to assuage his failure.
Awkwardly, she gestured in the distance. “I should go. Brooke will be wondering where I am.”
Disappointment pulsed in his spirit. “Okay.”
She started to walk, though she hesitated then shifted to look back at him. “Brooke is wonderful. You’re lucky you have her.”
Without saying anything else, she turned and hurried back up the path she’d come from, Cody watching her go, regret thick in his throat.
“Fuck,” he muttered, shaking his head, though he sat there and ate every bit of that strawberry shortcake.
This was for the best.
Hailey chalking his and Brooke’s non-relationship up as something that counted.