Page 45

“Correct.”
“We should just kill the fucker,” Hawke grumbles around a mouthful, and I kick him under the table. “Ow.”
“You said I was running this show,” I growl at him, and he rolls his eyes. Actually has the balls to roll his eyes at me.
“I can do that. And you’ll bait him back here? How do you plan on doing that?” Braxton asks.
Hope smirks as if already knowing my answer. “Well, he’s just a guy. It should be easy to get him back after a few messages.”
“I see,” Braxton says.
And that’s the end of that conversation as we enjoy our meal. Hawke has already demolished three heaping plates before I’m halfway through the first. We talk about Hope’s upcoming show, and it’s nice to see the way Braxton stares at her in admiration. He’s utterly transfixed, and I know without a doubt he will never betray me because he will never betray her.
“So, what’s happening between you two? You’ve been hanging out a lot. You’re certainly starting to look a lot like a squabbling couple,” she says, piercing a meatball with her fork. Hawke and I both look up at the same time.
“Us?” I look at him in disbelief, and the arrogant asshole has the nerve to smirk as he rests his arms along the back of my chair.
“Yeah, we’d make a pretty hot couple,” Hawke says matter-of-factly.
“What the fuck?” I snap.
“Well, come on. It’s obvious that I’m holding up the team here.” He’s so smug I punch him in the arm.
“You’re such an ass,” I say, throwing his arm off the back of my chair and then piercing a piece of my pasta. It’s only then that I glance back up and see Hope and Braxton are watching us. Hope has a big-ass grin on her face. “What? We’re just working on this stuff together. He fucking wishes we were together.”
“See how she treats me?” Hawke says dramatically.
I roll my eyes. “Last time I checked, I treat you pretty well,” I bite back.
“Only when that pretty little mouth of yours is being obedient.”
“Please. My defiant mouth is the thing you like about me most.” I glare at him and can’t help but smile at his arrogant smirk and the way his gaze devours me. Fifty bucks says if I grabbed his cock right now, it’d be hard.
Braxton clears his throat. “Hawke, do you mind if I speak with you outside for a moment?”
Hawke’s playful expression drops, and Braxton doesn’t even wait for his answer before he’s standing and pressing a kiss to Hope’s forehead, promising he’ll be back shortly. We watch as they leave, taking a palpable tension with them.
“I hope they don’t kill each other,” I say, wondering what that’s all about.
Hope nonchalantly shrugs. “I think they’ll end up friends.”
“Really?” I ask, surprised she’d think that.
“Let’s be real. They’re both smartasses who like to push everyone’s buttons.” I think about that, concluding that’s most likely why my father can’t stand him.
“You sure everything’s okay, though? You seem different lately. I just want to make sure you’re all right. And if my cousin is becoming overbearing, let me know, and I can shackle him in a basement for a week.”
I laugh at that. Hope surprises me with some of the things she says. But it’s reassuring to see this side of her slowly come to the surface. That she’s comfortable enough with us to reveal all of herself instead of just parts. I feel almost guilty for keeping some of my own secrets, but I know I’ll eventually talk about them. Right now doesn’t feel like the right time as I hyper-fixateon getting to the bottom of Makayla’s murder and whatever is happening behind it.
“I’m okay,” I reassure her as I place my hand on hers over the table. I don’t have the heart to tell her that I don’t even think a chain and ball could keep Hawke down for a week. “Now, let’s figure out what I should text Jared to bring him back to New York like a good little boy.”
She chuckles. “From you, ‘Hi’ should be enough.”
I smirk, validated by her confidence in me. Then again, catching a man’s attention has never been difficult for me. It’s the one who keeps showing up at my house uninvited that I’m unsure how to deal with.
CHAPTER 28
Hawke