Page 47

“Browsing?” I ask, my voice coming out more high-pitched than I’d like.

“Hazel, put the damn cheese in the cart,” he huffs.

My cheeks burn. How do I tell him this place is too expensive for me without losing all my dignity? “Oh, I don’t need it.”

He groans and moves the cart to the side, stepping up beside me. He reaches over and grabs the cream cheese and a couple cartons of oat milk and creamer. “Is oat fine or do you prefer almond?” he asks.

“Um, oat is fine,” I say, scratching the side of my head.

“Good. Pick whatever you want. I told you I’m paying,” he says, adding the items to the cart and moving on to the next section.

I blink at his back, stupefied. God, he’s stubborn. And thoughtful. And nice. I frown, following him, trying not to let my eyes stray to his backside and the way it looks in his shorts.

I fail, miserably.

When he turns to face me, I whip around to stare at the cereal on the shelf, picking one up and pretending to read the ingredients. Why am I acting like a middle school girl with a crush?

Levi waits patiently for me to finish reading, even though my eyes have trailed over the same paragraph three times already, without comprehending anything. My brain is mush.

His fingers wrap around the box, and he gently pries it from my hands, adding it to the cart while he holds eye contact with me.

My lips twitch with a smile but I cross my arms over my chest. “You don’t have to do this,” I say, sinking my teeth into my bottom lip. “You’ve done enough to help me.”

“It’s just groceries, Hazel. I needed some anyway, it’s not a big deal,” he says, rubbing his shoulder absentmindedly.

“Are you okay?” I ask, nodding to his shoulder.

His hands drop. “Fine, just an old injury flaring up now and then.” He returns his hands to the cart handle, clearly not wanting to talk about it anymore. “What else is on the list?”

Hours later, after the fridge is stocked full of ingredients and Levi has left to meet with Ezra, I take the chicken and broccoli casserole from the oven and shred some vegan cheese over the top. I take two servings with me and leave a note for Levi that I’ll be at Rosie’s for a few hours.

Even though I now live in Levi’s house and we went grocery shopping together like a married couple, I still don’t have his phone number. It didn’t even occur to me to ask him for it in case of emergencies.

Thankfully, Levi left me keys to the house and garage, and the code to the main gate. My engine sputters and I groan. “Please, not now. You’re all I have left,” I plead, patting the steering wheel. It finally starts and I do a relieved little happy dance in my seat.

Rosie’s studio is on the ground floor of an apartment building not far from Brody’s. I walk in without knocking, knowing she left the door unlocked for me. She pauses Spider-Man movie she’s watching on her TV and sits up against the headboard of her double bed.

“Fooood,” she says, making a grabby-hand gesture at me.

I roll my eyes and move the food under one arm as I open her fridge and take out two root beers. “Damn, your fridge is stocked. Did you go on a hangry shopping spree?”

Rosie laughs and blushes a little as I approach and place our food and drinks between us on the bed. I make myself as comfortable as I can, trying not to think about her and Ezra fucking in this very same bed. A little shiver goes down my spine at the thought. I hope she washed the sheets after.

“Ezra wanted to cook me brunch, so we went to a farmer’s market and he went a little crazy on the ingredients. He couldn’t decide what to make and ended up buying a ton of stuff.”

“What is it with these men and their obsession with feeding us?” I mumble to myself.

“What?” Rosie says, her cheeks already full of the chicken casserole.

“Nothing.” I raise my eyebrows. “So you’re telling me he not only didn’t bail after your one-night stand, he made you brunch and stocked your fridge? Ezra gets brownie points for that.”

“Right?” Rosie says, taking a sip of the root beer. “Haze, he was so dreamy. And the man can really use his⁠—"

“Don’t tell me about his penis as I’m about to eat, please,” I stop her, wincing.

She giggles. “I wasn’t gonna say that. I was going to tell you about his hands.” She wiggles her eyebrows at me, and I fake a gag. “Okay I won’t get into details,” she says. “It’s just been a long time since I had sex with a guy, and the ones before were clearly boys. Because the way Ezra moved? Holy shit, now there’s a real man.”

“I’m happy for you. I just don’t want you to get ahead of yourself.”