The Cinnamon Bun Book Store: TikTok Made Me Buy It (Dream Harbor, Book 2)

It was possible that Noah was having some sort of fever dream. But if he was, he sure as hell didn’t want to wake up.

Not now. Not with Hazel in nothing but her underwear on her knees in front of him. He should have left. He intended to leave, to be a gentleman, to get Hazel off and then go on his way. He didn’t want to pressure her into anything and he sure as hell didn’t want her to think he expected anything from her.

But then she’d asked him, Hazel Kelly asked for permission to go down on him, and it had been the hottest thing that had ever happened to him.

Well, the hottest thing before Hazel undid his pants and slid off the countertop. And now here she was, her soft eyes on his, kneeling at his damn feet and Noah did not know what to do. He was not equipped for this. This was Hazel. Not some random chick from the bar. Sweet, smart Hazel Kelly from the bookstore. Hazel who he hadn’t stopped thinking about for the past year. Hazel, who he liked to think was slowly becoming his friend.

And now she was naked, and he knew what she tasted like and the noises she made when she came, and…

What if he hurt her?

What if she regretted this?

What if one time wasn’t enough?

What if one summer wasn’t enough?

She ran her tongue along his length and the questions stopped. The world stopped. His heart stopped.

‘You have to tell me if I’m doing it right, okay?’ she said, pulling away. The furrow was back between her brows. ‘Like, let me know if it’s good.’

‘Jesus, Haze. It’s already so good, I’m barely hanging on.’

A small, satisfied smile crossed her face and he nearly lost it.

‘Okay, good.’ She gripped the base of his erection and slid her mouth down around him. He moaned, long and low, unable to control it. He held tight to the counter behind him, wanting to wrap his fingers in Hazel’s curls but unsure if she’d like that. He could ask, but he had no words available to him at the moment other than ‘Oh, God,’ and ‘holy shit’ so he kept his hands to himself.

Hazel worked her mouth up and down his length and Noah trembled. She must have noticed because her eyes flicked up to his, needing reassurance.

‘It’s so good. Just like that.’

She went back to the movement, using her hand to cover where her mouth didn’t reach and her tongue to swirl around the tip when she pulled back. Noah was seeing stars. Transcendent.

He couldn’t hold back anymore. He wrapped his fingers in her hair and her little moan vibrated through him, like a purr. Her curls were so damn soft.

‘That okay?’ he choked out and she moaned again. One more time and he would come for sure. ‘I’m almost there.’

She moved faster, taking him deeper each time, and pleasure worked its way up his spine. He looked down and seeing her there, doing things he’d never allowed himself to even fantasize about, combined with the feel of her mouth, so warm and sweet, did him in. He pulled out just in time and came messily in his own hand, not wanting to do anything Hazel might not want to do, feeling so thoroughly thrown off his game, like this whole thing was the first damn time a woman had made him come.

‘Hazel.’ Her name seemed to be the only word he was capable of at the moment. She stood up and handed him a towel for his hands. He wiped them off and then tugged her closer.

‘It was good?’ she asked.

His breath was still ragged when he answered. ‘God, yes.’

He could hear her smile rather than see it. ‘Good.’

‘Very good.’

‘So, I think that went well… I mean that was a good first … um … experience.’

‘Hazel, please tell me you’ve done that before.’

‘I have. Just not that often… Could you tell?’

He huffed a laugh. ‘No, I couldn’t tell.’

‘I just meant, first experience for us together … I mean as part of our … fun.’

‘Right.’ Why did it sting to be reminded that this whole thing happened purely because Hazel was throwing caution to the wind for the next two months? He was just a part of her reckless era.

He shook it off. This was good for him, too. He’d finally get Hazel out of his system and he could move on with his life.

‘Is it always that good?’ she asked quietly, and again he had to wonder about her past sexual experiences. Who were these losers that didn’t properly take care of this woman? But if he was being honest, things were rarely that good.

‘No … that was above and beyond.’

‘Do you want to stay over?’ The question caught him off guard. He was still trying to untangle why everything that just happened was so much better than his usual hook-ups. And trying desperately to ignore the answer the little voice in his head was screaming at him.

‘Um…’

‘You don’t have to.’ Hazel was already pulling away and he found himself pulling her back, tucking her warm, soft body against his. He found himself telling her yes, he wanted to stay.

He found that it was true.

He stuffed the little voice in his head that warned this was a bad idea into a box and followed Hazel’s polka-dotted panty-clad ass into her bedroom because if Hazel was going to be reckless, he was, too.

It was morning and Hazel was propped up on her elbow staring down at him. They were in her bed. He was in Hazel’s bed. A place he never thought he’d end up but was pretty psyched he was.

It was soft and cozy and had just as many pillows as he’d expect her to have, which was a lot. The sun was filtering in through the gauzy curtains and while this room didn’t have quite as many plants as the living room, there were still a few on the windowsill, cactus and small succulents, which he only knew because Hazel told him last night while they talked in the moonlit darkness.

And then they’d just slept.

And it had been really freaking nice.

She’d even evicted the stuffed frog from her bed and made him sleep with the giant penguin he had won her, which had been perched on an overstuffed chair in the corner.

‘Did you sleep okay?’ She was wearing the Yale T-shirt with an ugly bulldog on the front that she’d slept in and a fresh pair of those cotton panties he was now inexplicably obsessed with.

‘I slept great.’ He crossed his arms behind his head and smiled up at her. He was wearing nothing but his boxers and he loved the way Hazel’s gaze warmed when her eyes flicked to his bare chest.

Her hair hung down into her face and he couldn’t resist pushing it back.

‘Can I kiss you?’

She covered her mouth with her hand. ‘I haven’t brushed.’

‘I don’t care.’

She scrunched up her nose. ‘Really?’

‘Hazel, who did you date before … this?’

‘A few different guys, why?’

He scooted up to a seat, leaning against the headboard. ‘Were they all right? I mean, did they treat you okay?’

Hazel shrugged. ‘They were fine.’

‘Fine?’

She twirled a curl around her finger, avoiding his gaze before bringing her eyes back to his. She was still without her glasses and he could see the silver ring around her pupils in the morning light. ‘I’ve never really felt … I don’t know … like I turned them on. No one has ever called me hot before … before you.’ Her cheeks turned red as she spoke.

She was sitting now too, and he tugged her closer, wrapping an arm around her waist. ‘I don’t know these guys, Haze, but I can only assume they were idiots.’

‘They were all really intelligent, actually.’

He huffed. ‘Then how did they miss what was right in front of them?’

She shrugged against him. ‘Maybe it was me? I didn’t feel very sexy … I mean I never really have.’

He rolled her over then and she squeaked in surprise. He caged her in with his arms. ‘And how do you feel now?’

She smiled that mischievous smile he was addicted to. ‘Sexy.’

He dipped his head and kissed her neck. ‘Good.’ He sucked on the delicate skin and Hazel arched into him, her legs came up to wrap around his hips and he cursed himself for not running out to buy condoms last night.

But the moment didn’t last long, anyway.

His phone buzzed on the nightstand where he’d tossed it the night before.

‘Should you get that?’ Hazel asked, as he continued his ministrations on her neck. He really should get that. He was a one-man business. It could be someone wanting to book a tour, and with the summer winding down he really needed to take all the work he could get.

But Hazel was so warm and she wasn’t wearing a bra. He could feel her peaked nipples against his chest.

His phone stopped and immediately started up again. He groaned and pushed himself away from Hazel’s welcoming body.

‘Sorry.’

‘It’s okay.’

Noah glanced at the screen. It was an incoming video call from his sister’s number. Damn it. He tugged on his shirt before answering. There was only one person this could be, well two, actually, and he never ignored their calls. He glanced at Hazel apologetically once more before accepting the call.

Two little faces filled the screen.

‘Uncle Noah! You didn’t answer!’ Ivy’s voice was full of six-year-old indignation.

‘Hi, Uncle Noah!’ Cece was the more forgiving of the two cousins. His sisters had given birth to a girl each only a week apart and now the two were inseparable, unless they were fighting and then they were sworn enemies. Until they weren’t anymore. Similar to how his sisters had been his whole life. And he had been the baby brother they doted on. Until he ditched them.

He cleared his throat. ‘Well, excuse me, ladies. I was … busy.’

Ivy frowned. ‘You said you were never too busy for us.’ This kid knew how to go for the jugular.

Cece nudged her cousin. ‘Maybe he was pooping,’ she suggested and both girls collapsed in a fit of giggles. He glanced up to find Hazel with her hand clapped over her mouth stifling her own laughter.

He rolled his eyes. ‘What are you two little menaces calling me for, anyway? This is not our usual chat day.’

His nieces both immediately looked guilty. He’d tried to teach them about poker faces but it had gone terribly. ‘Well, Mommy doesn’t know we have her phone.’

‘Ivy…’

‘It was an emergency!’ she protested and he only now realized the girls were huddled under what looked like a Bluey blanket. The pattern cast a blue tint to the girls’ faces.

‘Is everything alright?’

Cece’s face scrunched up like she was trying not to cry and Ivy put a comforting arm around her. Noah’s heart rate ratched up.

‘Girls, what’s going on?’

‘Mommy’s having another baby!’ Cece wailed. ‘And I don’t want one!’

Ivy nodded. ‘Babies cry all the time and they poop in their pants,’ she said with the deep wisdom that comes with being six.

At the mention of poop, Cece started giggling again and Noah felt like he was losing his mind.

‘Hey, wait a minute!’ Ivy pointed at the screen. ‘That’s not your house! Where are you, Uncle Noah?’

The girls’ inability to stay on topic was giving him whiplash like usual, but he hadn’t been prepared this morning. He hadn’t even had any damn coffee.

He glanced up and found Hazel slipping from the bed like she needed to hide in her own home. Which he hated. But he never introduced the women he … slept with to his family. And certainly not his little nieces. What would he even say?

‘I’m at a friend’s house,’ he said.

‘Did you have a sleepover?’ Cece asked. ‘Mom says I can’t have one until I’m older. Only with Ivy.’ She rolled her eyes.

‘That’s probably a good idea.’ He actually had no idea what age was appropriate for sleepovers but he knew his oldest sister was crazy protective of Cece. And now his sister was having another baby. Was he even supposed to know? It stung that no one had told him, not that he would admit it.

Ivy’s eyes widened, her little face craning away from him. ‘Uh-oh. We gotta go…’

The blanket was snatched from their heads and both girls started screaming bloody murder.

‘Give it.’ His sister’s voice brokered no room for argument.

‘Bye, Uncle Noah!’ the girls called as Kristen’s face came into view.

‘Hey, sorry about that.’

‘Hey, Kris.’

Her eyebrows raised as she took in his surroundings but she didn’t ask where he was.

‘Hope the girls didn’t interrupt anything.’

‘No, not really.’

‘You don’t always have to answer for them.’

Noah frowned. ‘I like to.’ His nieces were the one part of his family that didn’t feel complicated. His love for them and theirs for him was simple and unconditional. He’d always answer the phone when they called.

Kristen nodded, studying him like big sisters do. What she was looking for he didn’t ever know, but he always felt like he came up short. Noah, the little brother, the flaky, high-school drop out, the perptetual screw up.

‘Are you coming home for the holidays this year?’

Noah looked up from his phone. Hazel was gone. And this was the last conversation he wanted to have in the middle of her bedroom. He hadn’t been home for the holidays in years and didn’t have any intention of going this year, either.

Hazel had called him a good uncle. She didn’t know that he’d only seen his nieces in person a grand total of three times.

He swallowed hard, the memory of their little bodies crashing into him in delighted hugs the last time he’d been home bringing unwanted emotions to the forefront.

‘Not sure.’

‘Noah…’

‘I can’t right now, Kris.’

‘Yeah, okay. But I just … everyone wants to see you. That’s all.’

Noah swallowed hard. He knew she meant it, but he also knew it wasn’t that simple. Going home meant facing everyone’s questions, everyone’s expectations. What are you going to do with your life now, Noah? The last time he’d visited he hadn’t even stopped by his parents’ house. He couldn’t have the same conversation with his dad again.

He’d left.

And he couldn’t go back until he had something to show for it. He couldn’t sit across the table from his father until he had more of a plan for his life than fishing tours and bartending, something to prove that leaving school and leaving the business had been the right thing to do.

None of this was shit he could talk to his sister about while he was mostly naked in Hazel’s bed. ‘I gotta go.’

Kristen sighed ‘Okay, love you.’

Noah looked into his sister’s worried face. She always looked at him like that. Like she wondered how he managed to survive in the world without all of them. Like how did he even manage to feed himself without his big sisters or his parents’ business to fall back on?

He was sure she didn’t do it on purpose. But he could feel it, her lack of faith in him. Was it so wrong that when he went home he wanted to be able to say, he did it. That he left and made a life for himself?

Maybe it was.

Maybe he was just a stubborn asshole.

‘Love you too, Kris.’