Page 9 of Novice Girlfriend

I thanked her and had her wrap them up but then decided to get bouquets for Mrs. Reid, Tracey, and Wyatt because… Why not?

Seriously—why not? Flowers were nice and I’d made a mess so again—why not?

Yeah, I had no reason not to.

And I felt better at least knowing that I was being nice enough to appreciate them.

So nothing shocked me more than to find Winter waiting at my house with a bouquet of yellow flowers.

“You are never boring, little sexy,” he chuckled as he took in my overloaded arms.

“Only one is for you,” I told him as I moved closer.

“I guessed the yellow ones, but I was the one at fault.”

I beamed at him. “Not that I’m weird for wanting to give you flowers?”

He furrowed his brows. “I love pretty everything. How can I not enjoy something beautiful when I chase you all over?”

“Smooth,” I chuckled.

“Thank you. And before I’ve had coffee even.”

I laughed and let him inside. I set the others down and handed him his, explaining what they were.

“They’re great, really, Bev,” he accepted, and handed me the dozen huge roses. “I went with classic because I was cliché being a jealous dick.”

I moved my hand to his chest and he got the idea, leaning down so I could kiss his cheek. “We have too much going on. If it was a normal pool party and you blew your lid that I was showing too much skin around people like you owned me, then you’d be the asshole. You’re right that we should talk about things.”

“I still should never make you feel you did anything wrong when it’s our society that’s fucked up and I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted. And I’m sorry that I didn’t think about how it would affect you. In the future, I’ll be more careful and discuss actions that could affect us and remember we’re the team.”

“Thanks, Bev.” He gave me a soft kiss. “These are really great. I know you took the time to pick something that made you think of me. That means a lot.”

I flushed and then showed him what I’d looked up, saying the shop was great and they’d caught my eye. I hurried to gush about my roses. They were huge and I didn’t want him to think I didn’t appreciate them.

There was nothing wrong with classic. I loved them.

I really did, and they brightened up the kitchen. My sister, Clare, said as much and made us plates. She really liked cooking and mumbled a few times that she was glad so many nice people were around who appreciated the food.

But that she was pleased we had Nelly now because she didn’t like doing the dishes or grocery shopping. She liked the cooking and meal planning, and having a housekeeper who did the rest was the perfect balance for her.

For us even.

Fair enough. I appreciated the meals and made the money so we could have them.

“This is my favorite,” I told Clare, gesturing at the egg bake thing with my fork. “It’s like the perfect blend of everything.”

“Thanks,” she said, blinking at me for a moment before clearing her throat. “I like it too. It’s simple, but if you bake just a thin layer of it, it’s more like eggy hash browns instead of mushy potatoes inside an omelet.”

“Yeah, it’s really good,” Winter agreed. “Tofu?”

“You really are a foodie,” I teased him when Clare did a double take.

He snorted. “I manage a food delivery service. I hear all about the food and this and that all the time.”

“I wouldn’t have thought tofu,” I admitted as I took another bite. The taco hides it.”