She taps her chin and looks between them before she reaches for a blueberry and pops it in her mouth with a grin.
“Good choice. Right, how about I measure and you whisk?”
She nods, so I hand her a whisk and get to work measuring the dry ingredients before I pour in the milk. She whisks everything together, splashing a little on the counter and her hand. She looks up at me with worried eyes, so I dip my finger in the mixture and swipe it across my cheek before repeating it with the other. Then, when she looks shocked, I reach in for a little more batter and swipe it down the bridge of her nose.
“Perfect.”
She blinks before she bursts into a fit of giggles. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a better sound in my whole life.
Chapter Twenty-Five
CITI
I wakeup and stretch before cracking my eyes open. It isn’t until I glance at the clock that I dive out of bed in a panic.
I throw on a pair of leggings and a hoodie before hurrying to the bathroom to brush my teeth and throw my hair up into a messy bun. I jog to Star’s room but find it empty. I don’t let the fear crush me. Given the time, she’s probably downstairs with Ambros. But when I get down there, I don’t see her, but I see Ambros asleep on the sofa.
I bend down and nudge him awake. “Ambros?”
His eyes flick up before he focuses on me. “What’s wrong?” He jumps up, almost headbutting me in the process.
“I can’t find Star.”
“I took her to school. I’m so fucking sorry. I didn’t mean to freak you out. I just thought you might like to sleep in.”
I swallow, my panic fading, leaving me feeling lightheaded in the process.
“Fuck.” He yanks me into his lap and holds me tightly as my heart threatens to beat out of my chest.
“I’m okay. I’m overreacting.”
He pulls back and shakes his head. “No, you’re not. I didn’t think about you waking up to find Star gone again and what that might do to you. I just wanted to do something nice. It won’t happen again.”
“Hey—I don’t want you to stop being you because you’re worried about how I’ll react. That’s on me.”
“Fuck that. You’re mine, Citi. That means any issues you have are my issues too. I’ll do better, I promise. I’m not saying I won’t fuck up again, but I promise I’ll learn from my mistakes.”
I slide my hand around the back of his neck and tug him to me, pressing my lips to his. “I’m so glad it was you.”
He growls and kisses me harder, his hands gripping me tight enough to leave bruises. He doesn’t ask me to explain what I mean. He knows. I’m glad it was him who carried me out, him who refused to let me slip away, him who opened his arms to me when I returned as if I’d never left. He’s cautious of my scars, but he never acts like they define me. If anything, he seems to be in awe of them, which is a little weird sometimes. I have no idea what he sees when he looks at me, but I don’t think it’s the same thing I do when I look in the mirror. I worried about that a lot to begin with, but then I realized Star looks at me differently, too. Everyone has a version of me they see, and maybe they are all different, but they’re all the same too. Pieces of me are loved by many. I might not have figured out how to love myself as a whole, but they remind me every day that broken can still be beautiful.
“I’m going to feed you, then fuck you until you’re fit to burst, and then I’m going to drop you off at the movies.”
I look at him, amused. “The movies?”
“Ran into Amity after dropping Star off, literally. I swear that woman doesn’t have an off button. Anyway, she mentioned her shoot got called off today due to the director being sick, so she wanted to see if you were free today.”
“But I’m supposed to be working with you this afternoon.”
“Perks of dating the boss. He can give you days off whenever he wants to.”
“But…are you sure? You’ve been so busy lately.”
“We have a couple of people coming in today to interview for part-time hours.”
Disappointment hits me. “You don’t need me anymore?”
He frowns, confused. “Of course, I need you. Oh, you mean working at the gym? No, I’m not replacing you. I’m just reducing the strain—not just on you, but on everyone. There are things I want to do that I haven’t been able to do due to staffing issues. This has been a long time coming. If anything, I’ll need to take on another two or three people at least, even if the two interviewing today work out.”
