Page 23 of Alfie

“I remembered you saying at your parents’ party how you wished you’d made pulled pork to go with the mac and cheese.”

“Alfie,” she whispered, feeling all mushy and warm on the inside.

He leaned over and kissed her. “I’ve also got what I think is your favorite dessert.”

She hummed in curiosity. “Well, I can’t wait.”

He turned on the TV and chose a streaming service, then they picked a comedy to watch while they ate. After eating the best pulled pork mac and cheese she’d ever had, Alfie brought dessert from the refrigerator—dark chocolate-covered strawberries.

“I picked right, didn’t I?” he asked earnestly.

She could have cried right then. Or fallen to her knees and given him the blow job of his life. It was just too dang sweet.

“You did,” she said. She took one off the plate. “How did you know?”

“I saw how many times you went to the kitchen counter after the party was over, dipping strawberries into a small bowl of chocolate frosting. I actually made these myself.”

“You did?”

“Yeah, I asked one of the women who works at the candy shop in the park what kind of chocolate to get and tips for making them, and then I went to get the stuff today.”

“So you not only picked my favorite meal, but you made my favorite dessert?”

He grinned, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “I’d do anything for you, Myla. You’re my girl.”

Swooning.

She was freaking swooning like a heroine in one of the romance movies Mrs. P was always talking about.

Taking a bite of the strawberry, she hummed happily at how sweet it was.

She leaned over and kissed him. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”

“I just want you to be happy.”

“I’m definitely happiest with you.”

He took the strawberry from her fingers and fed her the rest, and then they took turns feeding each other, the kisses between the bites of fruit and chocolate getting longer and deeper and more intense.

When they tumbled to the bed a little while later, she’d expected—hoped—that he would ask her to stay the night. But he didn’t. Instead, he suggested he run her home before it got too late.

She tried her best to hide her disappointment.

She was confused why he didn’t want to stay the night with her, at his place or hers, and it made her wonder if he was keeping something from her.

She wasn’t sure what it was, but there was definitely an undercurrent of something between them.

Long after he’d left her in her apartment and kissed her goodnight, she’d stayed leaning against the door and wondering what was going on with him.

He said they were soulmates, so why didn’t he want to stay all night with her?

Thursday, Myla worked the evening shift. Alfie had offered to take her to work and pick her up, because a snowstorm had come in and was dumping quite a bit of snow on the roads.

She adored how much he cared about her safety, and she hadn’t minded that he’d shown up that day and taken her to work and come inside to meet her bosses. He stayed for a half hour of a new movie before he had to get back to the park, promising to be at the theater promptly at eleven, when she’d be done for the night.

She’d decided after several days of not sleeping all night with him, and nearly two weeks together, that she was just going to ask him about it. There had to be a reason why he wasn’t sleeping with her.

Maybe he snored.