Considering I had been doing the dishes myself since we moved in, I’d say he was lying.
“Okay,” I muttered. “Also, I know I told you before, but my niece is coming over again. And I know you said it’s okay, but if it isn’t, you can tell me. I can work something out because I know you didn’t sign up for having a kid over all the time.”
I knew it was repetitive, but I always let Salem know before Millie came over. While he spent a lot of time either out of the apartment or in his room, constantly having a child in his space could get annoying.
“I seriously don’t care, Alex. It’s fine,” he said, his tone snippy.
Salem didn’t waste another second speaking to me before he left in his pajamas. I had no idea where he was going or when he was coming back; he didn’t bother to tell me. Maybe he was going to see River again—fuck, River was back on my mind.
It wasn’t long before the doorbell rang. Millie barged into the place like she owned it, skipping to her favorite spot on the couch with her iPad in hand, and I wondered if Anna had fed her a bag of sugar before dropping her off.
“Thanks for watching her, Alex.” My sister reached out to ruffle my hair, but I swatted it away. “She already had dinner, but I’m sure she’ll want a snack.”
“Alright,” I mumbled. “What time will you be back?”
“Before midnight,” Annabelle said before turning to her daughter. She snapped her fingers to gain Millie’s attention. “Mills, be good. Do you understand me?”
Millie’s arm extended forward, and she gave her mom a thumbs-up. Annabelle returned it with a satisfied smile.
My niece was pretty good at keeping herself occupied. She liked me to talk or play when I was willing to, but she was smart at recognizing when I needed her to be quiet and let me do my own thing. I rarely had issues with her, probably because we spent most days together, and we learned how each other operated.
Regardless of how well we knew each other, Millie was still a child. I left her alone for three minutes, thinking that she knew how to tend to herself while I got what I needed out of my bedroom. It took those few seconds for me to find her standing on top of the counter and reaching for the top shelf.
The mental image of her falling backward made my heart skip a beat. I rushed to where she stood and lifted her off and onto the floor while she looked at me as if I had just done something ridiculous.
“What were you thinking?” I asked, exasperated.
“I want a snack.” She folded her arms across her chest stubbornly. “You were in your room, so I got it myself.”
Mills was used to my apartment from last year, where the snacks were within her reach. Here, I kept snacks on the top shelf where even I could barely reach, so the kid took it upon herself to reach.
I pulled down the few snacks I had left, and I came to realize it was only a couple of cookies left in a packet and a bag full of chip crumbs. I just bought those chips a couple of days ago.Salem’s been eating my snacks; I just can’t prove it.
My hand ran through my hair, frustration washing over me. Millie waited patiently beside me as her eyelashes batted, hoping I could miraculously conjure up a treat for her.
“Do you want a snack from the vending machine?” I asked, trying to remember if I had cash lying around somewhere.
“Yes!” she exclaimed, eyes glistening with excitement.
She ran through the door and into the hallway before I could find the money. She was already down the hall with her hands and face pressed against the glass of the vending machine by the time I found a few dollars.
I crumpled up the bill and smoothed it back out before inserting it. “What do you want?”
She poked at the glass. “That one! No—I want that. Wait, can I have two?”
“All I have is a dollar fifty.”
Mills frowned, her eyes staring longingly at the candy in the machine. She pressed her hand at the top of the glass and slid it down, dramatically sinking to the floor with a pout.
I rolled my eyes at her dramatics. They only worked with suckers who didn’t spend all their time with her to know her manipulations. Even after finally getting her chocolate bar, she kept her head hung low.
“You aren’t going to pout the rest of the night, are you?” I asked dully.
“I wish I had another candy,” she mumbled.
I exhaled through my nose. “And I wish I had more money.”
“I have cash to spare,” offered a voice from behind me.
