Chapter 7 Felix #2
“You need a balanced diet. Protein and shit. I’m sure Mindy has it all set up.” I throw the meal-prep lady a glance. Bail a bro out, sister.
“I do, in fact.” Praise the Lord, Even though I don’t appreciate her watching Piper and me like we’re the entertainment portion of her afternoon, I do appreciate Mindy picking up what I’m laying down. “I was just about to go over how it’s organized in the refrigerator when you came in.”
Tyler appears a lot less pissed than he did moments earlier when he thought I was trying to veer from the nutrition plan he has me on. Smug is not a good look for him.
“I’m sure we can figure it out,” I say quickly. I do not want to go over this with an audience. I definitely do want to wipe the smirk off of my personal trainer and former friend’s face.
“I think you’ll find the meals to your liking,” she tells Piper gently, “and they’ll be easy on your stomach.”
Christ. Could she be any less subtle?
“Felix went over your preferences in detail, so—”
“How do you know my preferences?” Piper demands as she turns to me again. It sounds an awful lot like an accusation. As if I’ve committed some kind of crime by paying attention to what she eats.
“We’ve had plenty of meals together.”
She raises a brow. “Plenty?”
“Plenty might be an exaggeration,” I admit, running my hand through my hair.
“But enough that I know you like chicken breasts but not thighs. You don’t eat red meat, you’re iffy on mushrooms, and you have a mild shellfish allergy.
Most importantly, if a person could survive on bread and pasta alone, that would be your choice. ”
Her mouth opens and shuts a few times, and once again, her lips are driving me to distraction. “That’s disturbingly accurate,” she says quietly.
Mindy, bless her, senses the vibe and heads toward the door. “Like Felix said, I’m sure you can figure it out. Call or text with any questions or to reorder.”
“I’ll walk you out.” Tyler is already falling into step beside her. “I’d love to get some more information on your business and how things are structured. We’ll be up here a few more weeks, and the truth is I’m not much of a cook myself.”
They disappear toward the front door, and Piper stares after them for a long beat. “Did you inadvertently play matchmaker by being rude and insufferable?”
“I’m neither of those things, and I played get-the-hell-out-of-our-kitchen.”
“I didn’t need you to order food for me,” she repeats, but there’s less heat in it now. She’s looking at me like whatever’s pulsing between us is a puzzle she can’t quite solve.
Join the club, Hart.
“You could just say thank you,” I prompt, although watching her struggle with gratitude is strangely endearing.
“Thank you.” Those two whispered words sound like they were painful. I get that. Vulnerability isn’t easy for either of us.
She’s quiet for a moment, then moves to the fridge. “Mindy found something in the fridge and wasn’t sure how it got there.”
“That sounds…ominous.”
“Just odd,” she clarifies, opening one stainless-steel door. “What exactly is this?”
She pulls out a glass mason jar, and I bite back a groan. Shit. I thought I’d hidden it better.
“It’s nothing.”
“Mindy said it’s sourdough starter.”
I shrug, trying for casual and probably landing somewhere closer to guilty teenager caught sneaking out of his girlfriend’s bedroom window. “Maybe Sadie left it up here.”
Piper rolls her eyes. “My sister doesn’t bake sourdough, and Mindy said it’s been fed recently, whatever that means.”
Busted.
“Felix, are you a bread baker?”
“You don’t have to make it sound like you discovered my porn stash.” Honestly, that would have been less embarrassing at this point.
“Nice deflection. Sourdough,” she says again, and there’s something in her voice I can’t quite place. Possibly amusement, but maybe respect? “You have to order meals, but you bake fresh bread?”
“My deep dark secret is out.” I stalk forward and grab the jar from her hands, trying not to notice how soft her fingers are when they brush mine. Trying not to remember how they felt on my skin that night in Denver. “I like to bake bread. It’s a hobby, obviously. I have a regular job.”
“Yes. NFL wide receiver. I’m well aware.” She’s fighting a smile now, and it’s doing dangerous things to my self-control.
“I started after Ronnie and I broke up last summer,” I admit, not sure why I’m telling her this.
Maybe because I’ve completely lost control of this conversation—and my mind, where Piper is concerned.
Maybe because I don’t want to keep secrets from her.
“I needed something to do with my hands that wasn’t throwing things or punching walls. ”
“So you punch dough instead?”
“Kneading isn’t the same as punching. The truth is, it’s wildly therapeutic.
” I set the jar back in the fridge, then pick up a kitchen towel from the counter, suddenly very interested in the fingerprints marring the shiny stainless steel.
“I like the science of it. Feeding the starter, watching it grow, waiting for the perfect rise. Everything in my life is fast and violent, but bread takes time. Patience. It’s good for my mental health, you know? ”
When I finally look up, she’s staring at me like she’s never seen me before.
“What?”
“Nothing. Just...” She shakes her head, smiling in a way that makes my stomach do loop-de-loops “You’re full of surprises, Felix Barlowe.”
“Yeah, well, don’t get used to it,” I warn, but there’s no heat in the words. “And if you tell anyone—”
“Your secret’s safe with me.” Her smile widens, hitting me square in the chest. “Add it to the list.”
Right. The list of secrets we’re keeping.
Ellie. That night in Denver. Whatever this thing is that’s building between us, despite our best efforts to ignore it.
I should step back and create distance between us.
Go take a cold shower. Do literally anything except stand here staring at her like a lovesick idiot.
“I should check on Ellie,” she says, but she doesn’t move.
“She’s sleeping.”
“Right.”
Neither of us moves.
“Piper—”
“Don’t,” she says softly. “Whatever you’re about to say, don’t. We agreed this was a bad idea.”
“The worst,” I confirm, taking a step closer despite myself. “Terrible judgment all around.”
“Your brother would kill you.”
“Probably.” Another step. “Ian’s got a mean right hook.”
“And we don’t even like each other.”
“Not one bit.” I’m close enough to see the pulse jumping in her throat and smell her shampoo. That fruity scent that lingers even when she’s not in the room and has been driving me crazy. “Except…maybe we can be friends.”
She swallows hard. “Not the kind with benefits.”
“I don’t want benefits,” I agree, and we both know it’s a lie. Maybe it started that way, but somewhere between the shoe throwing and the breakfast routines and watching her with Ellie, things shifted. My heart shifted.
“Same,” she whispers, but her hand comes up to rest on my chest, right over my heart, which is doing its best to break free from my rib cage.
I cover her hand with mine, holding it there. Can she feel how hard my heart is pounding? Is hers doing the same thing?
“This is such a bad idea,” she breathes.
“The absolute worst.” I slide my hand up her arm until my fingers tangle in her hair at the nape of her neck. She shivers. “We should definitely not do this.”
“Definitely not.”
But the way she’s tilting up her head feels like an invitation. Her eyes darken, and those lips I can’t stop thinking about part slightly.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, my better judgment is screaming at me to stop.
Reminding me of all the reasons this is complicated.
But Piper Hart is looking at me like I’m something worth having.
Like maybe she sees me as more than a flashy meat stick of a man who catches balls for a living.
And I want to believe we both see that there’s more here, and it’s worth exploring.
Besides, I’ve never been good at following rules.
I lower my head slowly, giving her every chance to pull away. She doesn’t. Instead, she grips my shirt and pulls me closer, eliminating the last few inches between us.
When our lips finally meet, it’s nothing like Denver. That night was desperate and frantic, fueled by tequila and straight-up physical need. This is different. It’s deliberate, with both of us making a choice we know we probably shouldn’t.
The kiss starts out tentative, as if we’re testing the waters.
But then she makes a small sound in the back of her throat, and the control I’m gripping with white knuckles snaps.
My arm hooks around her waist, pulling her tight against me as I deepen the kiss.
She responds in kind, her fingers sliding up into my hair and tugging just hard enough to make me groan.
She tastes like the juice she was drinking earlier, sweet and tangy, and I want more. I want to memorize the way she feels pressed against me, the soft sounds she makes, the way her body fits perfectly with mine—like maybe we were designed for each other.
The thought should terrify me, but it doesn’t.
She breaks the kiss first, gasping for air, her forehead resting against my chest. “We can’t—”
“I know.”
“This is—”
“I know.”
“But—” She pulls back enough to look at me, her pupils blown wide and her cheeks flushed with desire. “Maybe just one time?”
“Just this once,” I agree, and it’s the biggest lie I’ve ever told.
Because even as I kiss her again, backing her against the kitchen island, I know one time won’t be enough. It can’t be. Not when she feels this right in my arms. When her laugh makes my heart skip a beat and her smile makes me want to be better than I am.
“Fee!” Ellie’s cry rings out from the monitor on the counter, tinny but insistent.
We spring apart like guilty teenagers, both breathing hard and trying to look anywhere except at each other.
“I should—” Piper gestures toward the stairs.
“Yeah.”
She starts to leave, then pauses in the doorway. “Felix?”
“Yeah?”
“This can’t happen again.”
I nod slowly, willing the ache in my chest—and in other, less publicly acceptable places—to settle.
She brushes her fingers across her mouth like she’s trying to erase the kiss. Or maybe keep it. I can’t tell.
“Definitely not,” I agree, and she disappears.
I stand there for a long moment, one hand pressed to my mouth like I can still feel her lips on mine, wondering what the fuck I’ve just done. And why I’m not more worried about it.
Because I know I’ve started falling for Piper Hart. And I have no clue how the hell I’m supposed to stop.