Page 63 of Clean Finish

“Without buns, though.” He shook his head and selected a jelly donut. “The bun’s the best bit.”

I laughed. “Is it?”

“Yeah.” He grinned at me, and instead of retreating to his desk, sat down beside me on the couch. “I love bread. My dad has always made our bread. Homemade bread is the nuts.”

“Those buns yesterday definitely came from the store. Can you imagine Holt spending his morning baking dozens of buns?”

Larkin snorted as he took a bite of his donut, sending powdered sugar spraying into the air. I smiled and tried not to stare at him too overtly. If I kissed him right now, he’d taste even sweeter than usual.

“Has your dad taught you how to make bread?” I asked as he dipped a long finger into the jelly in the centre of his donut.

He nodded as he popped it into his mouth to suck. “Mhmm.”

The fact that he wasn’t even doing it to be seductive—I didn’t think Larkin knew how to even attempt to be seductive—made it so much worse. I wanted to pull his finger free and sink my tongue into his mouth, taste him and jelly and powdered sugar all at once.

“He taught me when I was a kid, and then he taught Nolan,” he continued. “But I haven’t done it for a few years now. Bet I’d still make a bangin’ loaf, though.”

I chuckled. “I like cooking, but I’m so bad at baking. Even though I always follow the recipes precisely, which everyone says is the most important thing, it just never turns out right.”

“You’re probably over-kneading.” Larkin stuffed the last of his donut into his mouth and then grabbed one of my hands, lifting it between us. “Look at these things. They’re lethal weapons, dude. You’re probably pummelling that dough until it begs for mercy.”

I grinned and flexed my fingers, resisting the urge to thread them through his. “Probably.”

“I can show you sometime. If you want.” He was still holding on to my hand. “How to make bread properly, I mean.”

My heart squeezed. “Sure. That’d be nice. Thanks.”

He grinned at me, then finally released my hand to reach for the donut box again. “You want one? Wait, let me pick which one I think you’d have…”

I let out a calming breath while he wasn’t looking. He was killing me. A tiny part of me had always clung to the belief that, even if Larkin had wanted me back, we would never have worked. We were too different. The age gap was too big. We’d have nothing in common and even less to talk about.

But it was so easy between us. And he was so unexpectedly sweet. All the little things he did for people without expecting any fanfare—like how he looked after Cora every time Corey was performing without any complaints, and how he picked up coffee most mornings, and said hi to everyone, and always remembered little details that people told him so he could ask them about it the next time they spoke.

He got distracted easily, but when he paid attention, he made sure to take everything in. He was kind, and soft-hearted under his posturing, and generous with his time.

Whoever he ended up with was the luckiest asshole in the world and I already hated them.

“Pumpkin cruller,” he declared, leaning back and holding it out to me.

It touched me more than it should have that he’d gotten it right.

“Yep.” I smiled and took it from him.

“Yes!” He laughed, his wings fluttering with pleasure. “Knew it.”

Taking another donut from the box, he munched on it and peered down at my newspaper with interest. I could tell he wasn’t intentionally sitting a touch closer than necessary and brushing my arm with his. Larkin was just a touchy-feely person who tended to ignore personal boundaries when he felt comfortable with someone.

I didn’t mind. At all. I wanted to wrap my arm around his shoulders and pull him closer until he was nestled into my side. Obviously, I didn’t.

“You weren’t kidding,” he said after scanning the front page. “This is all depressing as fuck.”

I huffed. “Yeah.”

“No one in my house reads or watches the news. My parents say it messes with their energy or whatever. Now I kind of understand why.”

“My dad’s read the paper every morning for my whole life.” I smiled faintly. “I used to go and get it for him when I was a kid to earn an allowance.”

“That was all you had to do to earn an allowance? Lucky, dude.”