“Pancakes are supposed to be fun, fluffy and white,” he said, the hint of a smirk playing at his lips. Gosh, he really took my breath away as my stomach did a flip.
“You’ll get used to them. Eat. I have to get the dogs back from Trey,” I said, sticking a reusable straw inside my drink and taking a long slurp.
Right then, the door swung open and in walked Trey, carrying the puppies. “Speak of the devil,” Beau mumbled under his breath, then stuffed a forkful of pancakes into his mouth.
“We’re back,” Trey said in a cute, musical tone that completely surprised me in a good way. He sounded so funny, I giggled.
“Just in time. Did you eat? The pancakes are still warm,” I said, pointing to the plate on the counter. “Do you want eggs?” I asked as Trey unhooked the leashes from their collars and set them free to explore.
He walked to the kitchen sink and washed his hands. “Pancakes sound great,” he said, and reached for the dishtowel I had in my hands. Our fingers brushed together as he took it from me.
When I looked up, I saw Beau’s eyes on me. He’d stopped chewing, his body taut, like he was ready to pounce. Whatever. “She calls them pancakes but it’s just to trick you into eating healthy shit,” he said as Trey wandered around the island and sat beside Beau.
“It’s better than the stale bread on my counter, man.”
I rolled my eyes and sighed as I got a plate out for Trey and handed it to him. “Dig in,” I said, watching him pile up the pancakes on his plate. He spied the syrup and reached his hand out for it just as Beau moved it out of his grasp.
Deciding to intervene, I hijacked the much-coveted syrup and gave it to Trey.
“You have to keep your eye on it, babe. Guard it with your life,” Beau said with a low warning. “Trust no one.”
“How’s the knee?” Trey asked, looking over at Beau between huge bites of pancakes.
“Fine, how’s yours?” Beau responded in such a short, curt manner, even I could tell how much he didn’t want anyone to ask him that question. I’d have to finesse my way into inquiring about it. Obviously, it was a sore spot for him. Literally.
Trey nodded at him. “Just askin’,” Trey responded with a glimmer of something in his eye and I didn’t think it had anything to do with him caring.
I decided to change the topic and ask Trey about what he and the dogs did. We chatted back and forth for a while as Beau finished up eating and ordering what groceries he wanted online. Trey helped me put the puppies in the play yard, then he left.
“I’m going to grab my things, then we should leave,” I told Beau before I went back to my room to grab my bag. When I stepped inside, I immediately spotted a wet towel lying on the floor. “Wet towels get hung up in the bathroom,” I shouted out to him.
“Got it, sorry,” Beau replied. I sighed to myself and went to hang up the soggy, white, towel—all the while trying to ignore the mess from Beau’s suitcase. That would have to wait until we got home.
“I don’tlike him with the dogs, that’s my point,” Beau said, pulling out of the parking lot. He’d been driving me to the rink every day since we’d become an ‘us’. This morning he had an obvious issue with Trey being around the puppies.
Twisting my body around, I asked, “But why? I get that he’s not your favorite person. He’d never hurt the puppies. You should see him with them. It’s actually kind of cute.”
He gazed over at me briefly, his eyelids half-mast and a look I couldn’t construe written all over his face. “Uh, huh. It’ll be real cute when he tricks you into his bed.”
I gasped and pushed his arm, “That would never happen. Why would you say that?”
“Actually, it’d have to be you and one of your friends. You know how he got his nickname, don’t you?” Beau turned his head to me when we stopped at a light.
I shook my head. “His nickname’s Trey—that’s not his given name. And they sure as hell don’t call him Trey because he’s third in line in his family. He’s a habitual ménage-er. He’s known for liking threesomes, honey. If you’re not into that, but you’re into Trey? He’ll find a way to convince you, you’re into that.”
My eyes widened and I held onto my seat. “That was perhaps more information than I needed.”
“Yeah, I disagree. If you’re going to go there, you should be prepared,” he practically spat out, turning the corner a little faster than was necessary.
“I’m not going there, Beau. Sheesh. He wanted to take the dogs out. I let him. End of story.” Except now I was picturing Trey in ways I didn’t really want to picture him.
“Consider yourself warned, G.”
I took offense to that and mouthed off right back. “Consider yourself stupid, Beau. I’m not even slightly interested.”
Again, he looked over at me. “Yeah, I’ve seen girls look at him the same way you just did. Watch yourself, that’s all I’m saying.”
“That’s kind of you, but you have not one reason to warn me or ask me to watch myself. I look at Trey the same way I look at you. Don’t be an idiot,” I said.
His eyes hit mine, only this time he didn’t say a word.