What am I even doing?
Maybe I should take a cooking class. Just as I’m mentally plotting when to fit that class in between my morning runs, Lio duty, and escorting Sloan to her van after her shift every night, Lio hits me with another unexpected suggestion. “Or we could make our own pasta!”
“I’d rather try to make the lasagna,” I tell him, and while he reaches out for the lasagna packet, I mutter under my breath, “This is going to be a disaster. I can’t cook for shit.”
A sly chuckle behind me makes me turn around to find Sloan trying her best to conceal her amusement.
I greet her, slightly embarrassed, “Hey.”
Lio, on the other hand, seizes the opportunity to involve Sloan in our culinary deliberations. “Sloany, tell Daddy how good I can cook pasta.”
She continues to wear that smirk when she answers, “That’s right, Lio is the best cook. You could make grilled cheese sandwiches. I showed him how to make them when we hung out.”
“Oh, yes, Daddy, can we make grilled cheese sandwiches? They’re better than lasagna.” Lio puts the packet back, and I stare at Sloan.
This goddess.
“You just saved my ass,” I whisper to her, making her chuckle. Having her smile and giggle because of me is a heady feeling. One I could get addicted to.
“I savedhim. You can go ahead and get yourself food poisoning,” she whispers back.Ouch. “Doing some shopping over lunch? Where’s Hunter? Can’t he cook?”
Right, she doesn’t know.
I need to tell her but now isn’t the time or place. Instead, I say, “Wanna come over and have lunch with us? Maybe help to cook? Please?” I cringe, trying to make her laugh, but she only breathes out through her nose. However, there is amusement in her eyes when she raises a piece of cheese and some bread.
“Sorry, already got my lunch, but I’m sure you guys can manage to make grilled cheese. Or maybe you could ask Hunter for help?”
Lio chimes in proudly, “Daddy’s the cook now.”
I wince at the declaration, unsure whether to be proud or terrified. Sloan, however, raises her eyebrows at us.
“Well, then maybeDaddyshould make sure he gets some of the holy grail as a backup.”
Damn, did she just call me Daddy?Focus, North.
I furrow my brow, puzzled. “What’s the holy grail?”
She doesn’t miss a beat as she walks away backward, grinning from ear to ear. “Dino nuggies.”
Thunder rumbles overhead,lightning occasionally piercing the darkness outside, briefly illuminating my van’s interior. I’m alone, and it’s late, well past midnight, but sleep seems impossible with how the storm rattles and shakes the van. The rain is pouring down relentlessly, and the raindrops on the roof are loud. The heater is running at full force, and I’m grateful for the heated blanket since there are so many little cracks, especially in the back of the van, that allow cold air to draft inside.
When I woke up this morning, Nash was still snoring softly beside me, while Saylor was just gone again. We have to figure out if there’s anything we can do about it,anythingI can doto tether him to me because I sure as fuck am done with him unwillingly disappearing on me all the fucking time.
North had kept his promise to meet me for our run, and when I returned, Nash was patiently waiting for me. He mentioned that he wouldn’t be able to make it to the restaurant today because of some stuff he had to take care of and wouldn’t be coming over tonight either since it would be late by the time he got home.
I brushed it off with a nonchalant shrug, pretending it was no big deal. Deep down, though, my stomach twists with unease, wondering where he would spend the night instead, even though I knew I had absolutely no right to know or feel this way.
He isn’t mine.
But it was no use, and my head kept thinking about worst-case scenarios until I found North and Lio in the grocery store, North looking like a fish out of water. It was so damn funny and such a welcome distraction that, in hindsight, I was way too friendly with the dickhead.
Oh well.
I managed to keep a smile plastered on my face during my shift at the restaurant and kept everyone at arm’s length, even North, who came by toward the end of my shift, watching me work before escorting me to my van. I got in and locked the door behind me, dismissing him with a terse “Night.”
Something is off, isn’t it?
One day, they are all over me, and the next, they’re gone.
