Cody — 5
“Okay, so many things, but the biggest one: he’s hot. Why did you turn him down, man?” Tristan asked me as he shoved french fries in his mouth. Now, thinking back to it, why did I turn him down? Oh yeah, he was definitely all alpha, and the fact that he was a US Marshal kinda proved it.
“He’s older than me. By a lot.” My comment was met with blank stares like I had a third eye or something. “What?”
“You did not just pull that he’s older than me bullshit on us. Walker is fourteen years older than me, and Trace is ten older than Hawke, so try again.”
“There is no way that guy isn’t forty. No way.”
“Adrian. His partner called him Adrian. And so what? Forty is sexy. Did you see the guy’s biceps? And he carries a gun, Cody. That’s hot. And a badge. Oh, and I bet he has handcuffs. That’s sexy and could be so much fun in bed.”
I rolled my eyes at Hawke so hard it started to hurt. Ouch. I really shouldn’t do that.
“Dude. He’s hot. You should explore those possibly gay but probably bi feelings with him. Seriously. Think about it. I know if I didn’t have Trace, I’d definitely let him cuff me to his bed and have his way with me.”
Again, I rolled my eyes at Hawke. He was too much at times.
“We’re not having this conversation. Not at all. I don’t talk about your relationships with you, so let’s not talk about my lack of one. You two know my last relationship ended in a not so great way. I really don’t want to consider anything else.” I threw down the fry I’d picked up. I really wasn’t hungry anymore, and that just sucked. I had been looking forward to going out with Hawke and Tris tonight, but things changed in a hurry.
“Sorry, Cody. I didn’t mean to be pushy. I guess I’m just so happy, and I want you to be that way, too.”
“I’m not unhappy, Hawke. Just because I’m not seeing anyone doesn’t mean I’m not happy.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
I nodded at Hawke before wrapping up my food and putting it back in the bag. There was no way I was going to be able to eat, so there was no use in even trying. I shrugged before I got up and tossed my bag into the trash.
I needed fresh air. Outside, I noticed Adrian and his partner, Bishop, standing on either side of a black SUV, talking. I turned and walked in the other direction. Even if I’d often found myself thinking about him, it wasn’t going to happen. I wasn’t looking for a fling. But…no. It just wasn’t going to happen.
I walked about half a block and sat down on a bench. It was June, but it was late enough in the evening that it was simply warm, not hot. What did I want in life? Just earlier I’d mentioned how I needed a life.
Nope. That life was not going to involve Adrian. What was it he’d called himself? I really wished I was better with names, but sadly, I pretty much sucked at them.
“Cody?”
I turned my head and looked at my two best friends. “I’m okay. Just kinda lost my appetite. Sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. How about we go back to your place and play Xbox or something? We can talk there?” Hawke asked. I could tell he was worried, and that wasn’t what I wanted.
“We can totally go play Xbox. But if you two need to go home, I understand.”
“Naw. Walker said he and Trace wouldn’t be back for a few hours, so we’ve got time. Walker was driving Trace, so they’ll figure out the pickup place and everything. Besides, I really need to kick y’all’s asses. It’s been a while.”
“It has!” Hawke was way too excited about the idea, but I went with it. I got up and we slowly walked back to the truck. It was the end of the day, and Tristan’s leg was obviously sore, something neither Hawke nor I had thought about.
“You two ready? I’m so going to kick your asses when we get there.”
Tris and I looked at each other, wondering what had come over Hawke because we both knew that yeah, he could play, but there was absolutely no way he was actually going to kick our asses. Or so we thought. Come to find out, Hawke and Trace loved to play Halo and he’d gotten really good at it, and Tristan got his ass handed to him while I just barely escaped.
Where were all of these people coming from? It was a good thing I didn’t have a life because I wasn’t sure I had time for anything other than working and sleeping.
“See? This is what happens when Emme lets Dad book the place. We’re overrun with guests.”
I looked at Hawke, who was frantically mixing up batches of dough for who knew what. Right now, neither of us had time to even breathe.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, the Fourth is on Wednesday, and a lot of people seem to have taken the entire week off to celebrate. All of the cabins are full, and when that happened, Dad started booking people in for day treatments. So they’re coming in from other hotels and lodges, but he’s booked the massage therapists back-to-back and they’re not getting a break.” Hawke looked at me with an almost panicked look on his face.
“Shit, really? What is he going to do if they all quit?”
“Emme has it covered. She’s offered them overtime, and I guess she’s found a couple of other massage therapists that were free, and they’re coming in on a temporary loan thing.”
“I don’t get it. Why would she let him do this, then?”
“He booked this week before she started working. I know she was able to get some of the locals that had scheduled to reschedule, but the ones that were from out of town, she couldn’t do that. I had a difficult time trying to not laugh at the tongue-lashing she gave him.”
“Did you get it on video?” I asked as I piped icing onto the cupcakes I was currently decorating.
“No. But you should have seen his face. I’m serious. I’ve never seen my dad look at a woman like that before. Ever. He’s completely smitten.”
“That’s not a bad thing, is it?”
“Fuck, no. He needs someone. But I’m not sure Emme feels the same. At least not on the same level. I know she’s worried because she comes with kids, but think about it.” Hawke put a batch of muffins in one oven and a batch of coffee cakes in another.
“I don’t know, man. I’ve seen the way she looks at him, and it’s like he’s the best thing ever.”
“I agree. I’ve seen that look from her, but I’m telling you—”
“Hawke, are the cookies ready? Or anything?”
“Hey, Emme. Cody was making cookies, ask him. You already took my last batch of stuff that was finished. Maybe send Dad to Son of a Biscuit to get some extra stuff?”
Emme snapped her fingers before turning and leaving. I looked back at Cody, and we both burst out laughing.
“I guess she forgot about the cookies.” I shrugged before continuing. “You know, they’ll have to hire a bunch more people for the kitchen if they want to expand things. There’s only so much the two of us can do. And I’m not looking forward to going back to working without days off.”
“Never going to happen, Cody. I promise. Emme is already looking into more people. I know she has some interviews planned for this week as well as next.”
“That’s good to hear. I mean, it was okay when they first opened the place, you know. Things were slower, and even I could handle it alone. But now it’s busy, and at times can get hectic.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve talked to them, and they both agree that more help is needed. They also know we both have to make an income that will support us as well.”
I nodded at Hawke and went back to piping cupcakes. I couldn’t help it—my thoughts kept straying to a certain dark-haired federal marshal. That right there really added to the thoughts and fantasy. I had no problems admitting to myself that the suggestions Hawke had made were added to my spank bank.
And boy had that ever grown over the past two weeks. Adrian. No longer did I think of him as the bear from the Blue Diamond. He was no longer a nameless alpha type that had followed me around hoping to get me to dance with him. No—now he was Adrian, and he was sexy as fuck.
For whatever reason, I couldn’t get the thought of him cuffing me to his bed and doing wicked things to me out of my thoughts. But could I do that? Could I give up that much control? Would I want to? I knew Hawke was mostly a bottom, but he’d said that they had switched a couple times and it was great. I, on the other hand, had only ever been on the pitching side of things. And there was no way that a man like Adrian would ever want to be the catcher as it were.
So, my thoughts had strayed to other things. Like Adrian cuffing me to his bed. Or bending me over his table. Or getting busy in the shower. Yeah, I’d had a lot of fantasies of fun in the shower. But I knew that when it came down to it, I wasn’t what he would be looking for. So, he’d have to simply remain in my thoughts, and that would have to be enough. But I had to agree with Hawk and Tristan. I really did need to get laid because my thoughts of Adrian were becoming more and more consuming.
I was so lost in thought that I didn’t even realize that I’d finally run out of cupcakes to decorate until I reached for another and came up lacking.
“Wha…huh. When did that happen?”
“Yeah, you totally zoned out, and I’m not sure I want to know where your mind was.” Hawke smirked at me, but the smile I got after was genuine.
“Yeah, probably not, and please don’t ask.”
“Fine, I won’t. But look at all of the cupcakes you got finished, so maybe it wasn’t such a bad place for your thoughts to go? Emme already took the cookies and some of the coffee cakes.”
I looked at the counter and saw that it was completely covered. I’d been so lost in thoughts about Adrian, I didn’t even realize how many cupcakes I’d decorated. “Shit. I just kept going. Were we supposed to save some of the cupcakes?”
“It’s fine. Anything that doesn’t get used today can be put in the walk-in for tomorrow. But I don’t foresee that being the case. It’s really slammed out there.”
I groaned because that meant we’d have to do this all again tomorrow. Unless… “Hey, did Denver get to Son of a Biscuit?”
“I haven’t heard, but we can ask next time we see Emme. She hasn’t been back in for a while now, which is a little surprising, actually.”
I glanced at the clock, shocked to see that it was already a little after three. Where did the day go? Actually, I knew where it went, but I wasn’t quite ready to relive that. At least, not right now.
“Hey, Cody? Did you ever…wow. Yeah, I guess you did.”
I turned and looked at Emme, who had just walked into the kitchen and was staring at the cupcakes. Well, at least something positive had come from my stray thoughts.
“Yeah, he completely zoned out, and I’m not going to complain. I don’t have to decorate my half of the cupcakes.” Hawke was loading up serving platters so we could take the various pastries out for the guests. If I had any thought, I’d help. But I just stood there, still not quite back in the current situation.
“No, he did good. But we’re going to need to add the cupcakes to the stuff Denver was able to get from Son of a Biscuit. I have one more interview this afternoon at four, and then I’m gone for the day. You two should start cleaning up if you’re finished.”
“We are. I was just waiting for Cody to finish his cupcake spree.”
Hawke’s statement registered, and I looked at the rest of the kitchen; it was already clean except for a few larger pans that either didn’t fit in the dishwashers or had to be hand-washed. Either way, I wasn’t going to complain about having to wash just a few pans and bowls.
“Wow. When did you clean?”
“While you were zoned out.”
I started loading trays with cupcakes so we could place them on the rack and wheel them into the walk-in. What wasn’t taken out this afternoon would certainly hold until tomorrow, and until the kitchen was opened as a full restaurant, the spa only offered pastries until four and we were almost there.
Emme came back in, and after placing another dozen cupcakes on a serving platter, she looked at me intently.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“No. I was just curious if you had plans for Wednesday? Are you going to see the fireworks or anything like that?”
I looked to Hawke to see if he had a reaction because we’d always gone to the parade and fireworks together. But now, he might have plans with Trace.
“Trace is on shift. So are Walker and Tristan, so if you want to go as usual, I’m your guy.” I nodded before looking back to Emme and gesturing toward Hawke.
“So you two will be?”
“We’ve always gone to the parade, then the carnival, and finally the fireworks. Why?”
“No real reason. I was just curious. Maybe I’ll see you around? I’m still new here, and I’m not sure exactly what to expect.”
“It’s great. You and the kids will love it. But don’t you have a brother here or something?”
“I do and he’s already invited me and the kids as long as he’s not working, but he always seems to be working.”
“Oh, I know! Why not have Denver show you around? He doesn’t have to be here, does he?” Hawke asked, maybe a little too excitedly.
“Yeah, he doesn’t want to leave the ranch with so many people here.”
I watched Emme chew on her bottom lip, and that gave me a thought. One I needed to discuss with Hawke later.
“Well, you’re welcome to hang out with us if you want. But I’m sure Julia wouldn’t have any problems showing you around.”
“I know. And she’s offered, but I feel bad. She’s supposed to not be working in the evenings, and I feel bad enough when I get caught up here and I’m home late. Anyway, I need to get these out there. You two take off once you get those pans clean, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Emme. Have a good evening,” I told her as I ran hot, soapy water in the sink. Since Hawke had cleaned the rest of the kitchen, washing these few pans was the least I could do. “Hey, why don’t you go ahead and head on out? I don’t mind washing these since you did the rest.”
“I’ll stay. I wanted to ask you something.”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“Feel free to tell me no or to mind my own business. But have you thought about the federal marshal guy?”
“You mean Adrian?” I asked as I looked at Hawke. It was then that I realized that I’d walked right into that trap. Well, hell. The little shit had set me up, and I’d fallen for it.
“Well, I guess I got my answer. I’m going to head on out, then. See you tomorrow,” Hawke said over his shoulder as he walked to the door and left.
I wheeled the cart of cupcakes and coffee cakes into the cooler while the pans soaked. In under fifteen minutes I was turning off the kitchen lights and I, too, was leaving the kitchen. I was tired and my feet hurt. I really wanted to just relax and decompress, but the question was, would my mind let me?