“You sit, chat with Astrid about your plans. Callan can help.”
“Of course.” Not like I’ve been given a choice, but I don’t mind.
“How are you settling in?” Elsa asks when we’re in the kitchen, cutting slices of cheesecake and putting them on plates.
“Fine. Everyone’s been sound at school.”
“I imagine it’s been harder on you than Erin. She’s at the age where everything is a big adventure. Leaving everything you know behind at seventeen is more daunting.”
“Yeah, it wasn’t ideal.” I won’t embarrass my mum by admitting how pissed off I am to be here and not back home.
“Astrid will help. She knows everyone, and she’s well-liked.”
“Yeah, seems like that,” I say, holding out the last plate.
Elsa’s hand wobbles, and she drops the last slice half on and half off the plate.
“Fan också,” she exclaims before sighing. “I’ll have the messed-up one.”
My lips twitch. I have no idea what she just said, but I can guess. “I can eat that one. I don’t mind.” I’m not planning on eating much of it anyway.
She beams up at me. “You’re sweet, but you’re a guest. I wouldn’t hear of it.”
The girls are all seated around the table when we return, wrapped up in colorful towels, talking excitedly like they’ve been friends for years instead of hours. We distribute the plates, and everyone wastes no time digging into Ma’s cheesecake.
“This is divine, Roni,” Elsa says, devouring the dessert. “I’ll have to get the recipe from you.”
“This is the best cheesecake I’ve ever tasted,” Astrid proclaims, in between bites, “and right up there with maple cake as my favorite dessert.”
“That is high praise indeed,” Mark says. “If Astrid could eat maple cake for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, she’d be in heaven.”
“Truth,” Astrid says, practically inhaling the cheesecake.
“I only tried that for the first time last week at a lovely little coffee shop in town,” Ma says. “It was delicious.”
“You should try it at the resort where I work. They make the best maple cake in all of Vermont.”
“That’s the resort and golf club on the outskirts of town?” Da asks, and Astrid nods.
“Don’t you like it?” Elsa asks, eyeballing my half-eaten plate as I push it away.
“Callan is very strict about his diet and exercise regime,” Ma explains before I can answer for myself.
“Professional athletes have to take diet and exercise seriously,” I explain. “I try to limit my sugar intake.”
“He gives himself a cheat day one day a week, but he’s so incredibly disciplined the rest of the time.” Ma licks the back of her spoon. “I wish some of it rubbed off on me, but I have zero willpower when it comes to cakes, chocolate, and other sweet things, and I have the hips to prove it.”
“I have the biggest sweet tooth,” Elsa says. “I couldn’t imagine life without cake.”
Astrid licks her lips as she finishes her dessert, and my gaze homes in on her luscious mouth as my mind spins fantasies involving her mouth and my cock. Her cheeks pink, and I fucking hope she doesn’t have a sixth sense about the thoughts in my head.
My phone pings, and my good mood disappears when I open the message from Louis. My mate came through, like I knew he would.
“Is that the video?” Astrid quietly asks, and I lift my head, nodding.
“You still okay to watch it with me?”
“Absolutely.”
