“Freya, you’re my chef, not my personal assistant,” I point out.
“I’m going there anyway. I don’t mind grabbing some extra items.”
“I appreciate the offer, but aside from cooking, I really can look after myself.” I’ve been doing it for as long as I can remember. I don’t need to rely on anyone now.
“Well, the offer is there. If you think of anything, just message me.”
She spins to the sink and rinses her mug out.
“Did you…did you get the message I sent last night?” I ask, hating the hesitation in my voice.
“Yeah,” she says. “I’m sorry I didn’t reply. I crashed as soon as I got in.”
“No worries. Just wanted to make sure I had the correct number.”
Cole Hansley, you are such a fucking liar.
“It was.”
As I stare at her, another question balances on the tip of my tongue, but I swallow it down.
The guy she was talking to last night is none of my business.
Hell, nothing about Freya other than her skills in the kitchen is my business.
That doesn’t mean I don’t want it to be, though.
I’m not sure I’ve ever been this curious about another person before.
Usually, I’m counting down the minutes until an interaction is over. But not with Freya. For some reason, the more time I spend with her only makes me crave more.
“If you don’t need anything else from me, I’m going to head out, leave you in peace to enjoy your afternoon.”
“Uh…yeah,” I say, combing my fingers through my hair and pulling myself from my thoughts. “You go and enjoy yourself.”
“I’ll…uh…I’ll see you later. Remember, just message me if you need anything.”
12
FREYA
“Can I have some more ice cream?” Sutton asks, gazing up at Casey as if she’s just hung the moon.
“Just don’t tell your daddy,” Casey teases.
Sutton laughs. “You got it.”
She’s out of her seat and racing toward the ice cream machine in a heartbeat.
The team left yesterday for two back-to-back away games. Understandably, Sutton hates it when Kodie’s away, so Casey invited me out to join them both for dinner and ice cream before the game tonight.
With Cole gone, I’ve got time to kill.
For the last week, I’ve had focus and a reason to get up in the morning. Suddenly, that’s disappeared. I know it’s only for a few days, but still. It’s weird. Cooking for Cole has been the best part of my days, and now I feel a bit lost.
Really, I should be glad to have a few days off to catch up on sleep, but that’s the opposite of how I feel.
“So, everything still good with your job?” Casey asks while we have a few minutes alone.
