CHAPTER 33
GRAYDON
I bring my coffee to the back corner of Roads where I like to sit and take the seat that’s up against the wall so I can watch people walk in.
I grabbed an egg burrito with chorizo and beans as well, my stomach growling from the workout and the lack of food I consumed because I was busy last night…consuming Maple.
The door opens and Bennett walks in, spotting me immediately.
He nods his head in my direction and then goes to the counter, just as OC walks in as well, looking disheveled.
He’s wearing a pair of royal blue sweatpants, one of the pants legs pulled up, the other cinched around his ankle.
His shirt is stained with what looks like pizza sauce, and his hair is sticking out in every direction.
Jesus…
One hundred dollars says he didn’t even shower yet.
I watch him tap Bennett on the shoulder, and when Bennett turns around, OC claps him in a hug, burying his head against Bennett’s shoulder and clinging to him like he’s a lifeline.
Okay, all I can say is he’s lucky he’s doing that to Bennett and not me because there’s no way in fuck I would be as giving as Bennett is being right now.
Why do I have a feeling this meetup is going to quickly turn in a different direction?
They grab their orders, Bennett coming over with a coffee and OC holding a bottle of cranberry juice and…Jesus, five blueberry crumble muffins.
“Hey,” OC says as he takes a seat and sets his plate down.
I eye the muffins the size of my fist and then look up at him. “Uh…hey.”
Without even removing the muffin wrapper, OC picks one up from the plate and takes a bite from the very center like a goddamn psychopath. Then, to my horror, he tilts his head back, bringing the muffin with him, and starts lapping up the center with his tongue.
What the actual fuck?
I glance at Bennett, who looks just as concerned.
“Uh, are you sharing those muffins?” Bennett asks.
OC snaps his head forward and his brows turn down. “No. If you want a muffin, get your own.”
“Five muffins?” I ask in a judgmental tone. “Not a good way to prepare for the season.”
“Oh, fuck off, as if you’ve never eaten your feelings before.” He takes another bite, burying his mouth in the center of the muffin, leaving the sides untouched just like the wrapper.
Never in my life have I seen someone eat a muffin like that.
Bennett and I exchange glances before Bennett carefully says, “Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.” OC sets a ring of a muffin back on his plate as he picks up another and buries his mouth in the middle again.
“Fuck, I can’t watch you eat muffins like that. What the hell are you doing?” I ask.
“Practicing,” he says. “I haven’t eaten a muffin in a long goddamn time and I don’t want to forget how to do it.”
Bennett and I both pause—his drink halfway to his mouth and my burrito in my hands.
“Wait, what?” I ask.
“Dude, are you talking about eating a woman?” Bennett asks, the thought that was clearly on both of our minds.
OC’s eyes look between us as he says, “Of course. What else would I be referring to?” Then he takes another bite, this time leading with his tongue.
Oh, fuck no.
He lowers the muffin just as I smack it out of his hand, sending it flying against the wall.
“Hey!” he yells. “What the hell?”
“You’re not about to eat that goddamn muffin like you’re eating a pussy in front of me. Have you lost your fucking mind?”
“Yeah, I’m with Graydon on this. Gross, dude.”
OC turns to Bennett. “Hey, Young Buck, if you think eating pussy is gross, then you’re going to have a hard time scoring that friend of your sister’s.”
Bennett’s expression falls flat. “I don’t think eating pussy is gross. I think it’s gross that you’re pretending the muffins you bought at a coffeehouse are pussy, and you’re using your tongue to eat it out in front of us.”
“It’s the same thing.”
“It’s not.” I shake my head.
He hefts a heavy sigh, then leans back in his chair. “Fine. I’ll eat it normal.”
“As if that’s the biggest hardship you’ve ever encountered,” I say.
“It is, because I like eating muffins. Both from the bakery and the ones between legs.”
“Jesus,” I mutter as I drag my hand over my face. “I knew this was going to be a mistake.”
“Yeah, I felt it the moment I agreed to come,” Bennett adds.
OC’s eyes dart between us, a disgusted expression scrunching his nose. “I’m sorry, but are you expecting me to apologize for having feelings?”
“We’re expecting you to act fucking normal, which is not what you’re doing,” I say.
“Ever wonder why?”
“I’m sure you’ll inform us,” Bennett replies.
“Not with that kind of nonempathetic attitude.” He crosses his arms over his chest, and I’m seconds away from getting up and leaving. The only thing that is keeping me from doing that is the realization that he helped me when I needed some advice, so I can at least see whatever this is through.
“What’s going on, man?” I ask, mentally preparing myself for whatever nonsense is about to come out of his mouth.
“I’m glad you asked,” he says, slouching some more in his seat.
Staring off at his half-mutilated muffin, he says, “There’s a girl who I’m in love with and have been for a long time.
Her name is Grace.” Okay, so girl problems. At least it’s not anything else…
weird. Never know with this guy. “We have history, and when I was sent to the Agitators, she also got a job as an athletic trainer there. The boys and I were working on a plan to rekindle our love, but I was traded to the Rogue before we could put it into action.”
“Ouch,” Bennett says, looking more interested in this than the muffin eating.
“Yeah, well, I just found out that she is now dating someone, and it seems pretty serious. The guys told me.”
“Shit,” Bennett says. “I’m sorry, dude.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry,” I say because, in reality, that does suck, despite how annoying he is.
“Thanks.” He lets out a sigh. “And I’m trying to decide if I just…go up there and tell her I love her and figure out a way to make this work, or if I, I don’t know, move on because clearly she has moved on as well.”
Bennett glances in my direction before he asks, “How happy is she?”
OC’s lips press tightly together. “Pretty damn happy.”
“Then maybe…let her just live her life,” Bennett says. “Because isn’t that what is most important, that she’s happy?”
OC lets out a long, dragged-out breath. “Fuck. Yes, you’re right, but what about my happiness?”
“To be fair,” I say, “she lives far away, man. Did you really think it was going to work out?”
He shrugs and then twists one of the muffins on his plate, staring down at it. “I don’t know. I thought it might work out.” He sighs again and then sits back in his chair and crosses his arms. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore, or I’ll start tonguing the muffin again.”
Jesus.
Why is that how he deals with his feelings?
“What happened with Maple?” he asks.
“Are you sure you want to talk about it?” I ask, because chances are, he’s going to be jealous.
“Yeah, I do. Please tell me at least one of us is happy.”
Bennett raises his hand. “I’m pretty happy.”
We glance at him, a small smirk tugging on his lips.
“Why are you happy?” OC asks.
Bennett just shrugs. “You know, patience is paying off.”
OC’s brows shoot up. “The sister’s friend?”
“Maybe, but I don’t want to get into it because I don’t want to jinx it.”
“Understandable.” OC turns back to me. “What’s going on with you and Maple?”
I sip my drink, set it on the table, and then say, “I went to see her at her place and tell her how I felt, like we talked about, but she showed up with Slutty Little Glasses.”
OC’s mouth falls open. “No she fucking didn’t.”
“She did. He took her grocery shopping, which I fucking hated because my goddamn job is to take care of her.”
“Please tell me you didn’t dent his face,” Bennett says.
I shake my head, then explain how it all went down, including my confession and her text telling me to come back. When I’m done reliving the moment of the kiss that nearly brought me to my knees, I look between them, a smirk pulling at my lips.
“Holy shit,” OC says. “He’s smiling.”
“I see it,” Bennett agrees. “Like, actually smiling.”
OC sits a little taller. “Did you two…fuck?”
“Don’t demean it like that,” I say.
“Uh, do you want me to say, ‘make love’?”
“‘Copulate,’ maybe?” Bennett suggests.
“We were…intimate,” I say, not liking the sound of that either.
OC turns to Bennett and takes his hand in his. Wistfully, he says, “They were intimate.”
“That’s…sweet,” Bennett adds.
“And from the way you’re radiating with light and happiness, I’m going to assume it was the kind of night that you will remember for the rest of your life.”
It was, but they don’t need to know that.
“Don’t make it weird,” I say.
“Well…” OC crosses his ankle over his knee and loops his hands behind his head. “Looks like the Gladdy Daddies did their work.”
Even though I hate to admit it, he’s right, and given that he’s having a weak moment, I decide to throw him a bone.
“You did.”
His head whips around fast to meet my gaze. “Do you mean that?”
Jesus Christ.
“I do.”
“Wow, I never expected you to make such an admission. I don’t…I don’t know what to do.” He frantically looks around and then picks up one of his half-mutilated muffins. “Tongued muffin?”
I glance down at the muffin and then back at him before I swat the muffin out of his hand, shooting it against the wall once again.
His eyes land on the baked good smashed across the floor, and after a few seconds, he nods and says, “That’s fair.”
Fucking moron.