“I mean, I’m not, but…” He squirmed. “Won’t your male viewership get jealous?”
“Maybe, but that just means I’ll get a flood of messages, and messages cost them money.” I grinned wickedly.
“You’re evil,” he laughed.
“Each message to send and receive is a dollar. I rack up a pretty penny some nights.”
He shook his head. “I wish I was hot enough to do that. I could pay for school and not blink an eye.”
“You’re definitely hot enough.” I raised an eyebrow as my eyes trailed down his body. “You just need some confidence.” I turned to my fridge for the dairy and other various items. “If you took off your shirt, flexed, and put a book in your hand, Booktok would go crazy.”
“Booktok?” He laughed.
“Yeah, those girlies love a hot guy who reads. Can you growl?”
“Growl?” He plucked a strawberry from my bowl the moment I set it down. “I might just keep eating ramen for a while. Now, how can I help?”
“Start some tea?”
He went to the stove and grabbed my teapot to fill it.
I finished the batter and poured it into three medium-sized circle pans and shoved them in the oven. I set the timer on the stove and began clearing the island to start working on the filling and frosting.
“What kind of tea do you want?” Kansas opened my cabinet filled with various jars of dried tea.
“I have a nice fall mix I made the other day. You want to try it?” I pointed to the jar I wanted him to bring down and he did as the whistle blew.
While I chopped strawberries to put in the filling, Kansas filled two tea infusers with my mix and poured us cups of hot water.
“Thanks!” I blew him a kiss, and he rolled his eyes.
“You really gotta stop doing that.”
“Doing what?”
He sighed and looked directly at me from across the island. “Teasing me. You’re so damn…” He sighed and slapped the counter. “I think I need some fresh air. I’ll be back.”He turned to leave the kitchen, and just then, a knock came from my front door.
“Can you get that?” I asked, raising my hands, covered in strawberry goop.He took off toward the door.
“Uh, Eisley…”Kansas’s nervous tone made me wipe my hands off and go to the door. I turned the corner to the hall and paused. Through the frosted glass, I saw red and blue flashing lights.
Berries & Cherries, to quote Micah, the police were here.
I swallowed my nerves and went to the door, opening it quickly.
“Hello.” I smiled at the officers from the drive-in.
“Eisley Doe?”
I frowned. “Yes.” I hated my last name. I’d been given it after Kansas and I escaped, and they couldn’t find my biological family. Changing it was on my list of things to do.
“We wanted to talk to your boyfriend. Is he here?” They peered around me.
“I’m here.” Kansas stepped forward with a dark expression. “What is this about?”
“We’re here about what happened at the drive-in this evening. Some patrons said there was a knife brandished.”
“That wasn’t him!” I blurted.
