“I plead the Fifth.”
“You can’t keep doing that.”
“Sure I can,” I tell him, cutting a bite of pancake and shoving it into my mouth. “When you’re being impossible.”
“Impossible is my middle name,” he says seriously.
“NowthatI believe.”
I cut into my pancake as he does the same, and for a moment, there is nothing but peaceful silence between us, something that I never would have thought to put in the same sentence as Jack Baker. I sneak glances at him from under my lashes as I eat, noting the little smile at his mouth that doesn’t seem to be directed at anything, like he’s just happy for the sake of it. It makes my stomach twist with something sweet, seeing that.
“So what are you doing later?”
I peek up at him with my fork suspended in front of my mouth. “Later?”
“Yeah, I thought…” He rubs at the back of his neck. “I thought if you weren’t doing anything…maybe you’d like to come watch the game?”
“You want me to come watch?”
His cheeks flush. A blush on this big man is probably one of the most adorable things I’ve ever seen, and I can’t help the way it makes my lips twitch.
“I’m not doing anything later,” I tell him. “I could come.”
He visibly brightens, perking up like a puppy that’s just been told he can go for a walk. Even though I know next to nothing about hockey and can honestly say I have little interest in learning about it—that alone makes me think I made the right choice by agreeing to go. Especially knowing how important it is to him.
“I know you aren’t some kind of superfan…” He trails off.
I shake my head. “It’s okay. I can learn.”
Probably,I think.
“Are you done with that?”
He gestures toward my now-empty plate, and I’m surprised by how quickly I stuffed the pancake away. I really did work up an appetite, it seems. Not that I’d ever admit that to him. His head is big enough as it is.
It’s funny; that thought used to make me scoff. Now it just makes me feel fond.
I nod as he reaches for it, depositing both our plates in the sink before moving around the counter toward me. He smiles as he turns me on my seat, sliding his hands over my bare thighs and settling them on my hips as he moves between my legs.
“I really do like you in my clothes,” he says appreciatively, eyeing the way his shirt fits me.
I bite back a smile. “They’re comfy.”
“Mm. Are you sure you didn’t just want to wear them because they’re mine?”
“I think that’s why youwantme to want to wear them.”
His hands brush along my hips, tickling my sides. I jerk in his hold as an awkward sound escapes me, only making Jack grin wider.
“Is someone ticklish?”
I narrow my eyes. “Don’t you dare.”
“Don’t do what?” His fingers graze over my ribs. “This?”
I shriek when he starts tickling me for real, and I squirm on my seat as his fingers dig into my sides mercilessly. Jack laughs as I try to shy away from him, bending his body to follow after my retreating one until I’m pealing with laughter.
“Stop it! I swear to God, Jack, you’d better—”