Page 60

“We raced!” Elena gave a little hop on her stool. With her exuberance, you would have thought they actually won.

Christina slanted a knowing look at Trevan.

A little nudge that she knew he’d been at a disadvantage. That he’d stopped and picked that apple for her.

But he didn’t mind. He’d promised to look out for Elena.

And he never, ever broke his promises.

FOURTEEN

TREVAN

“What are you trying to do to me?” I groaned it around a spoonful of soup right before I stuffed a piece of homemade bread into my mouth.

Glutton.

Heathen.

It was a toss-up.

I supposed both titles fit when it came to her.

Elena grinned from where she sat on the stool next to me. “Um, hello, I had both Meems and Lulu to teach me. Did you really think I was going to be a hack when it came to cooking?”

“Never.” I sent her an easy grin.

I could win an Academy Award with the way I was acting like our emotions hadn’t been all over the place the entire day.

Light one moment then careening into volatility the next. The push and pull that waged between us a fucking world war.

Elena’s brows lifted for the sky. “Yet you’re over there looking surprised.”

“I’m not surprised about anything when it comes to you.”

A flush of pride pinked her cheeks, though her voice remained solidly in the realm of a tease. “I’m glad I impress you.”

“Like you don’t already know that you do.”

My attention flitted over her face. Tracing the sharp angles and soft edges. High cheekbones and small, rounded nose.

Her lips were lax with her own satisfaction, and her hazel eyes were big and wide. Rimmed in striking black and those long lashes blinking in a mesmerizing sway.

“You impress the hell outta me, Elena,” I couldn’t help but add. “The person you are in the middle of all of this.”

She hopped off her stool. “You say it like you think the rest of you are bad.”

She grabbed our bowls and rounded the island for the sink.

The stool legs screeched on the hardwood floors as I stood, and I moved around the opposite side of the island, though with the same destination in mind.

“You’re only seeing the positives,” I rumbled as I approached, ignoring the way her braid had fallen over to one side and the soft flesh on her neck was exposed. “Now scoot.”

I knocked my hip into hers to push her away from the sink.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

One brow arched. “The dishes.”