What?
What?
“I beg your pardon?” I asked aloud, staring at her.
Amelia grabbed the bag from the coffee shop, opening it up and holding it out toward me. The scent of spices, coffee, and sugar wafted from the two enormous blondies inside, making my mouth water.
“I’m—”
“I wouldn’t give one of these up for just anyone,” Amelia said, her eyes fixed on me.
The guy in the coffee shop had implied as much.
“You can have?—”
“Your asshole boyfriend isn’t here to stop you.”
I glanced up, catching the glint in Amelia’s eyes, the hard line of her mouth. How did she…?
“You think I didn’t see how he treated you?” she asked, brow raised. “You think wealldidn’t see how he treated you?”
“He dumped me,” I said, looking down at my knees. I couldn’t face looking her in the eye.
“I know.”
I looked up again, mouth falling open.
“I know because he’s the kind of asshole who would,” Amelia continued. “Because if he couldn’t hold being in control of your career over you, if he couldn’t get off on the power that gave him, he wouldn’t want you.”
I swallowed around a lump in my throat. “It wasn’t?—”
“It was,” Amelia interrupted. “It was,” she repeated, voice softer and kinder. “And I’m sorry no one told you. I’m sorry no onehelped you. But I’m not sorry you got out from under his thumb. And I want you to eat the best blondie you’llevertry about it when he can’t stop you anymore. Fuck Piotr.”
Fuck Piotr. Avery would have said the same. Avery was my best friend, and so legally required to hate my exes. Amelia wasn’t.
I reached into the bag and took out one of the blondies. Amelia lit up into a bright smile, her eyes glittering with warmth. I’d have to tell Avery shewasstill beautiful. She nodded to me, encouraging.
The smell of spices and coffee and so, so much refined sugar filled my nose as I raised the blondie to my mouth and took the world’s most tentative nibble on the corner, letting a tiny morsel crumble onto my tongue.
The sound that escaped me started out as a surprised squeak and turned into a moan like I hadn’t heard myself make in years. I stared up at Amelia, finding her smiling even wider than before.
“Holy shit,” I said, taking a bigger bite.
Amelia laughed. “Welcome to Otter Bay,” she said. “We do pleasure around here.”
“Mmhmm,” I agreed, chewing slowly to savor every note. It would’ve been very,veryeasy to get addicted to these. They weren’t as sugary sweet as I’d imagined they would be, the bitterness of the coffee balancing them out and making the spices sing. It wasn’t as though I’d never enjoyed anything I’d eaten under Piotr’s… concern for my health and fitness, but I’d hadn’t eaten thingsforenjoyment in so long I’d forgotten what that was like.
“So, choreography,” Amelia continued, taking the other blondie. She bit down on it, making a sound of pleasure just a little more restrained than the one I had.
I took another bite of mine, toes actually curling this time. DearGod, these were good. I hadn’t hadsexthis good in… maybe ever.
Which said a lot about my asshole ex, didn’t it?
“I’m not a choreographer,” I said with my mouth half full, licking crumbs from my lips. “You’re thinking of my asshole ex-boyfriend, before he was a director.”
“I know he saddled you with doingThe Nutcrackera few years ago for the kids,” Amelia said. “And then took the credit. The whispers reached me even here.”
“I wouldn’t saysaddled.”
