Page 18 of What About Us

“Good, I can have half.” He takes his share and bites in, watching me as he chews, and I do the same.

Oh God, that’s good.

“I’d like to hire Harper to make these for me for the rest of time,” I say with a mouthful.

“I’ll share,” he says with a shrug. “I’m glad you got some sleep. You must be tired, pulling two jobs.”

I clear my throat and then take another bite because I don’t know what the hell to say to that. Then, I pull his hundred-dollar bill out of my pocket and set it on the countertop.

Xander lifts an eyebrow.

“For the breakfast.”

He shakes his head. “No. That’s yours.”

“No, that’s yours. Seriously, it makes me uncomfortable, Xander. I don’t want your money.”

“We bought drinks.”

I blow out a breath. “Now who’s being a pain in the ass?”

He licks his lips, but also doesn’t put the money in his pocket. Why do I think this is going to end up being a fight?

“How often do you work at the bar?”

I shake my head. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”

It’s so much better if I don’t talk about it.

His face sobers and then he nods. “Got it. Well, if you change your mind, you can talk to me.”

He frowns as if he didn’t mean to say that, but I appreciate the sentiment because I don’t think that anyone has ever offered to be a sounding board for me before.

“I’ll let you know,” I reply softly. We finish eating in silence, and when the dishes are cleared away, I realize that I forgot my water bottle at home.

Because of course I did.

“Can I use a glass for some water?”

“Forgot your emotional support water bottle?”

I snort out a laugh. “Yeah, I did.”

“You can use anything you want. I have some up here.”

He reaches up above the fridge and comes down with a water bottle similar to my own, fills it with ice and water, and passes it to me. His hand brushes mine when I take it from him, and a shiver skitters along my skin.

“Thanks. I feel bad. I haven’t been terribly professional today. I’ll be better tomorrow.”

“You’re completely fine,” he replies. “Maybe I can keep distracting you from putting me through more wall sits today.”

“Sorry, hockey star, you’ll do the wall sits. It’s good for strength in the joint.”

His eyes bounce down to my T-shirt and then back up to my own gaze.

“Did you just call me hockey star?”

“That’s what you are.”