Page 15

“Because you’re a normal guy, hot stuff, who has no desire to control Neko into doing or being what you shape him to be. You accept him as he is,” Echo said.

I sighed. “I know you’ve worried about me since then. And if I wanted to date, I would have.”

“No, you wouldn’t have, babe. You don’t trust yourself with men.”

My mom gasped. “You never told me that.”

I shrugged and started chopping the fresh peaches and the dehydrated oranges for the scones. My hands kept busy; I kneaded the mixture, rolled it out, and cut them before placing them on the sheet trays and washing the top with a bit of milk.

Graham waited until I slid the tray full of twenty-four scones into the oven before he hugged me. What can I say? I bake when I’m avoiding uncomfortable conversations.

“Are you okay?” Graham whispered.

“Yeah?”

“Echo looks devastated. Why don’t you comfort her as I get the rest of the stuff for breakfast out of the fridge?”

With a nod, I turned and strode toward where my best friend sat, her face buried in her hands, and pulled her up and into a fierce hug. “You know I don’t tell my parents everything, and it’s not a secret that I’m afraid of getting into another relationship. Why are you upset?”

“I introduced you to that asshole.”

“But you also stuck around when he tried to get me to push you away and warned him about hurting me. Hell, you saved me that night. There’s no reason to feel guilty. He hid his entire personality in the beginning and unless you’ve seen it before, how were you supposed to know?”

“You’re trying to make me feel better,” she joked.

“I’m done wasting time on him. You’re right, I should get out there, but I have to do it in my own way.”

Graham growled and both our heads spun towards him, but he busied himself with slicing open the bacon package before laying them out on a foil-lined sheet tray.

“You okay there, extra hot?”

“Yep.” The word was short and curt.

I turned back and raised my eyebrow in a silent question. She wiggled her eyebrows at me and purred, as if I wouldn’t get her suggestion. I kissed her cheek. “I love you, E.”

“Love you, too, sweetie. Stop, you’re going to make me ugly cry and you know I won’t do that in front of witnesses.”

With one last squeeze, I moved toward the pantry to pull out the brown sugar mix I used for the bacon. When Graham moved to wash his hands after laying out enough meat for an entire banquet, I paused.

“You don’t mind spicy, or sweet, do you, Graham?”

“Both is fine. What are you doing with that?”

“It’s a mix of brown sugar, a pinch or two of cayenne pepper, chili powder, and black pepper to make the bacon candied.”

I won’t lie. The low groan that escaped his throat at my answer had a shaft of longing settle in my groin, suddenly grateful I wore a baggy hoodie and loose sweats. Mesmerized, I watched him as he closed his eyes and leaned his head back, taking a deep breath, before opening them and piercing me with his gray orbs.

About to jump into Graham’s arms after forgetting about his not-so nailed down attraction to men, I licked my lips and sucked in a breath as his eyes flashed down, tracing the movement. A loud groan rumbled in my throat at the heated look. But before I pounced, I jerked back into reality when Ri announced, “I want poached eggs with breakfast.”

“Right, eggs… breakfast. Okay,” there was a beep, and I blew out a sigh, “coffee’s ready.”

There was a rush toward the coffeemaker. But mom arrived first, pulled out mugs for all seven of us, and poured out the carafe until it was empty. There were clinks as the twins added sugar, a splash of milk into my parents, and Echo taking hers black, like me.

“Graham?” I was proud my voice cracked only a little at the end.

“Black, please.”

Mom slid his cup toward him. It grew quiet in the kitchen as we all sipped the caffeine we required to live. Well, I did, at the ungodly hour on a weekend morning.