14. Easton
FOURTEEN
Easton
After an uneventful day and a half, which mainly consisted of me hovering over Hazel as she slept or peeking in on her way too often while she just sat in bed and watched TV, she’s feeling well enough to walk around the house and get moving more.
“So, if you’re feeling up to it,” I start, sitting across from Hazel at the island as we drink our coffee, “I think we should head into town to do some grocery shopping. We need the supplies, and it’ll give people the chance to see us as a couple.”
Hazel coughs a bit as she finishes her sip of coffee, setting her cup down. “Right. Sorry, I guess I hadn’t thought about that part of the plan. Umm, yeah. We should. I’m totally fine to go.”
“Okay, great. We have to take Jade, obviously, but she’ll be fine in the store.”
“Of course. A family trip to the grocery store.”
The words hit me hard, but I nod, not saying anything. There’s something about the idea of being a family with Hazel and Jade…
Stop that. This is just to protect her. You’re not really dating.
Except I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that kiss and where it was headed since it happened. We also haven’t talked about it—at all.
“Yup. Okay, umm, I’ll go get Jade.”
I stand up from my stool and jog upstairs to go find my niece. At least the outing is nowhere fancy or private.
I mean, how much trouble can I get in at the grocery store?
“Can I go look at the books?” Jade asks, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
This is a small-town grocery store with very little of anything, but there is a single display of books that come in. Usually, Hazel’s books make it in there.
With a sigh, I nod. “Yeah, go ahead. Just don’t go anywhere else so I can find you.”
“Okay!”
Jade hurries off, and I’m left standing in the produce section with Hazel. Hazel who has chosen to wear cut-off shorts and a low-cut tank.
I swear she’s trying to kill me.
Just be cool, Easton. It’s fine. Everything is fine.
“Hey, babe ,” Hazel calls out, and I snap to attention, fighting back the need to glare at her, “what do you think, cantaloupe or watermelon?”
She holds the fruit up in front of herself, right in line with her breasts, and it takes everything not to groan out loud.
“Watermelon. I hate cantaloupe.”
I know the answer is a bit short, but Hazel just smiles at me, and dammit, I’m ready to fucking spank her for being such a brat right now.
Cool it, Easton. You know how she gets.
And I do. That’s part of the problem. I know that Hazel is doing this to get a rise out of me, but it’s working regardless.
As she bends over the cart, my eyes drop to her ass, revealed way too much by those shorts, and I have to force myself to look away.
She comes over with the cart, all smiles and sunshine. “What else is on the list?”
I narrow my eyes at her. We didn’t make a list. We came here to show people we were dating and get a few things for the house.
Hazel seems to be taking that first part of the assignment to heart.
“We could get some burger stuff? I could grill out.” I keep a smile pinned to my face, putting my hand on the small of her back as we walk toward the bread aisle and pass a few people I recognize. “You used to love it.”
Humming to herself, Hazel stiffens only a hair and nods. “I still do.”
As soon as we’ve rounded the corner and are out of sight of anyone, I pull my hand away. I’m not looking to send the wrong message to her or overwhelm her.
Hazel just got back from the hospital, and I won’t risk her health.
In fact…
As we get to the section with all the buns, I stop and turn to her. “How are you feeling? Do we need to head back?”
“I’m fine, Easton. You don’t need to worry. Let’s go get the patties.”
I follow her without saying anything. The truth is, I’ve been a mess since I got the call from the hospital. Every moment, I’m on edge, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Seeing Hazel in that bed fucked me up—more than I want to admit—and I have this terrible paranoia that follows me everywhere I go.
Sure, it’s like this when you’re protecting someone from a looming threat. I’ve been doing this job for years now, and it’s that hypervigilence that’s kept me and my clients alive, but…
It’s different when it’s someone you know, someone you…care about.
“You’re going to walk into a pole.”
“What?” I come back to myself and look up at Hazel just as I run into it, making her bark out a laugh.
“Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
I rub the spot where my forehead met the pole, glaring playfully at Hazel. When she rounds the corner to head toward the meat section in the back, she grins at me, laughing and chewing on the corner of her lip.
And bam. Where I was feeling stressed about protecting Hazel and fucking everything else, now, I suddenly feel overcome by the need to pull her into my arms and kiss the hell out of her.
Right here in the grocery store. Right here in front of everyone…because I do want people to see her as mine.
I am in so much trouble.
“You could stop laughing any time now,” I grumble, pulling up next to Hazel as she steers the cart.
“I certainly could. Don’t know if I will, though.”
She smirks at me, and it goes straight to my cock. Dammit, Hazel always did this to me when we were together.
She’d give me shit, teasing each other in our own little love language, and I don’t know what’s up and what’s down.
Just as Hazel grabs the prepackaged hamburger patties, I slink up to her, shoving her hand back down as I shake my head.
“Oh, no. If we’re making burgers, we’re doing it right. No premade bullshit.” From behind her, my hips very close to her ass, I steer Hazel to the tubes of ground beef. “Grab me that one there. Two pounds. I’ll season the fuck out of it and make the perfect burgers.”
Leaning back over her shoulder, Hazel eyes me. “Oh, will you now?”
“Damn straight.”
She chuckles, reaching for the ground chuck, and then spins, pressing the cold tube to my chest. As she smiles, she slips past me and wanders over toward a display that’s been set up with numerous types of chips.
“I’m getting some of these, too. And we should get corn on the cob.”
This is the most normal conversation, and yet…all I can think about is how fantastic Hazel would look stretched out on a towel near my pool while I’m frying up burgers on the grill.
“Hey, Easton,” a familiar voice calls out from behind me, and I turn around to see Hudson.
“Hey, bud.” Smiling, I walk over, and we clap our arms together in a shake. “Hey, Juniper.”
Hudson’s son is with him, and I offer him a smile. He’s a good kid, and it hits me that maybe Jade would appreciate a play date or something.
“How’ve you been, man. It’s been a minute since we’ve been able to chat in person instead of through email.” Hudson’s expression drops just a hair. “How’s Jade settling in?”
Hudson has been a buddy since we were kids and a client for years.
I help run his security department for his local business, which, of course, means I ensure he has everything the office needs to be as safe as possible while occasionally stopping by to check on the actual building.
I mean, it’s Red Lodge, and Hudson is a financial advisor. There’s basically nothing to steal in his office, and his staff is limited to himself, a receptionist, and two advisors who work beneath him.
So mostly, Hudson is a damn good friend, and when all this went down with my sister and Jade, I turned to him as one of the handful of fathers I know in town.
“It’s okay. We’re…making it work. I have some help now, too.” I turn toward Hazel, ushering her over, and then wrap my arm around her waist. “This is my girlfriend, Hazel.”
Hudson’s eyes flare, but then a grin breaks out over his face. “Well, hot damn. That’s awesome. I thought this lughead was going to stay single forever.”
Hazel scoffs out a laugh and extends her hand. “Hi, nice to meet you.”
“Hudson,” he offers, shaking firmly before pulling his son close. “And this is my son, Juniper. Nice to meet you. I have to say, if you’ve finally got Easton to settle down, that’s a hell of an accomplishment.”
“Hey!” I gesture, mildly insulted, but I have to admit he’s not wrong.
Still, something tightens in my stomach. I don’t like lying to a friend, especially my oldest friend, who grew up in this town with me.
But if the entire town is going to buy that we’re a couple, there’s no better place to start than with the people closest to me.
Hazel’s laugh knocks me out of my head again. “Ha, well, thank you. And yeah, you graduated with Easton before I started high school, right?”
Hudson nods. “Yup, it’s been me and this joker since we were kids. The crew has gotten a bit bigger over the years, and most of us have spouses and kids now. Glad to see Easton is joining the ranks of non-bachelors.”
When I look over at Hazel, her cheeks are a slight pink, but she doesn’t seem overly nervous or on edge. She’s still letting me wrap my arm around her, too.
“I see. Well, Easton neglected to mention that. We should get together.” She faces me, her eyes meeting mine in a way that demands my full attention. “Jade would love to have other kids to hang out with.”
“You’re totally right. That’s a good idea.”
“I’m always right. You seem to forget that.”
Hazel winks at me, and I don’t know what it is about the moment, but I pull her in and plant a gentle kiss on her lips.
My heart is beating a million miles a minute when I realize I just did that. But it felt instinctive, and I have to admit that it was a smart move, too.
It’ll help to convince Hudson and anyone else who happens to be looking at us.
When I lean back, Hazel’s eyes give off a little thread of shock, but she’s also smiling pretty damn big, and I can’t tell if that’s just an act.
“Yes, you are, babe.”
Just like the kiss, the word “babe” just comes out of me, unplanned.
“We should totally plan something.” I remember Hudson is still there, having fallen into Hazel’s eyes and dropped off the earth. “Right, Juniper.”
His son smiles and nods in that way kids do when they’re just going with it, trying to keep their parents happy.
Hudson laughs. “Well, hey, I really am so happy for both of you, but I need to get going. Juniper has a birthday party at the community pool, and we need to finish grocery shopping.”
“Thanks.” I give him a smile and another brotherly shake. “I’ll text you some good times for all of us to hang out.”
“Yes, perfect. Do that.” He nods, stepping away with Juniper toward the other end of the store. “Catch you later.”
I hold up a hand in a wave. “Yup!”
After a moment, it’s just Hazel and me again, and I slowly extract myself from her, too many emotions and memories swirling through my head.
Hazel’s cheeks are even redder now, and she’s staring down at the cart full of food.
“I’m sorry about that.” I keep my voice low. “I wanted to make it believable.”
Nodding, Hazel reluctantly drags her stare back up to me. “Totally. I understand. You don’t need to apologize.”
Her smile is tight, but she turns back toward the cart and starts pushing it down another aisle.
“Let’s finish up so that we can find Jade and head home.”
My heart skips when she says home like that, and damn, is it confusing with the rest of me still reeling from kissing her and calling her babe.
Oh, and going over that first night with her in my house again. The one where we did kiss, for real, and all signs pointed to us doing more.
I don’t say anything, though. We just finish up shopping and snag Jade out of the book section with a new paperback in her hands that she begs me to buy.
It’s a only a single book, so of course, I say yes. And then, before I know it, we’re walking out to the car, ready to drive back to my place and relax.
Unspoken words and dozens of questions linger between Hazel and me as we pack up the truck bed with our stuff and then clamp down the tarp cover so nothing blows away.
I volunteer to return the cart to the corral so I can have a few more moments of fresh air before being trapped in the car with Hazel for the next fifteen minutes.
Trapped is harsh, Easton. It’s not Hazel’s fault you’re a walking pile of live landmines.
I nearly laugh at my own inner monologue, the comparison apt. But instead, my mind fills with questions I don’t have the answers to.
Did I make the right choice by asking Hazel to pretend to be in a relationship with me?
There’s something there between us, and we’ve already blurred that line significantly. What could this do to our tenuous relationship?
Do I even want this to be fake? Or…more?