Page 29 of Strawberry Cake

“A little,” she teased with a wink.

“I shouldn’t have told you shit,” Decan grumbled, tying a knot in Hope’s shirt to expose those luscious hips.

Marco only rolled his eyes and followed them inside. Decan made sure Hope was checked in and the whole time, her fingers wound into his curls. She gave him a kiss and he watched as she climbed the stairs to the second floor, only looking away once she vanished over the landing.

“Need a towel to dry the drool off your face?” Marco laughed, smacking him in the stomach with said towel.

Decan didn’t give him the satisfaction of a response.

The workout was a bitch. Especially because Marco was determined to make him look bad in front of Hope. She stayed longer this time, and every time he glanced up at the second floor, their eyes met. There were only a few glances, Marco making him pay for each one. When she finally came down, sweat beaded down her face and her cheeks were a bright cherry red.

“Leaving?” he asked, taking her hand in his.

“Yeah. I have a book that’s calling my name and a cliffhanger that wants to kill me. Text me when you’re back home?”

“I will.”

“So will you two love birds come to Post next Saturday?”

“Drop it before I follow through on my promise,” Decan growled. Why did Marco have to bring this shit upnow?

“It’s just a question, man,” Marco raised his hands in defence.

“One I’m sick and tired of having to answer.”

“I thought you two—”

“Stop thinking for me!”

Hope’s eyes flickered between the two of them but seemed to decide against chiming in. Instead, she leaned down, her free hand on his neck guiding him to look at her. “Don’t rip each other apart, okay?” She captured his mouth, leaving Decan with a passionate kiss that had him breathless.

Decan waited and watched Hope leave before he exploded. “What the fuck was that? I told you don’t bring that shit up again!”

Marco dropped his head and sat on a bench. “Sorry.”

“You’re such an asshole.”

Marco’s playful demeanour vanished. He broke his gaze away from Decan’s and hid it in his lap. “I thought you might feel comfortable going with her.”

Decan wanted to punch him. His day had started out so well but now? Anger, guilt, and shame burned through his veins. He wasn’t proud of it, but he turned and left without looking back.

He was still fuming when he got home, ignoring his phone as it buzzed in his pocket. He slammed his car door every chance he got, and then the front door once he wheeled himself inside.

When he finally looked at his phone thirty minutes later, it was Hope’s name that finally brought his heart rate down. She’d made it home. His first instinct was to call her and use the sweet melody of her voice to soothe him further, but then he would have to explain why he’d lost his temper. And he wasn’t ready for that.

Meeting up every first Saturday at Post had been a monthly routine for years. Showing off his own tuned car in front of other competitors had been his drug of choice. Once he’d managed to nearly kill himself, he hadn’t been back. Marco had stopped inviting him after a thrown mug had nearly cracked that pretty face of his.

Post had been his home for years, and he hadn’t been able to bring himself to go back there. Why Marco decided to bring it up now, he had no fucking clue, but it bothered him for the rest of the day. He could barely put on a smile for his client meeting let alone put on a front to even text Hope. Not that it was her fault, but he didn’t want her exposed to his rotten mood.

After his meeting, he was trying to figure out what to eat for dinner when someone knocked at the door. “C’mon, man!” Marco called from the outside. “You haven’t answered your phone all day. Let me in.”

He groaned, frustrated, but opened the door only to be met by Marco and tacos from his favourite spot. “Asshole.”

“I thought we were past that.”

“With you? Never.”

Marco stepped in, making himself right at home by kicking his shoes off and plonking himself on the couch. Far too hungry to resist, Decan joined him and stuffed his mouth. After the tacos were devoured and their hunger sated, Marco was the first to break the silence.