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“Is it aerosol?”
Her smile is back, thank all the berries on my waffles. Her eyes are back to glistening too. “What other way is there to have whipped cream?”
“If you get it, I can think of a few interesting things we can do with it.”
“That involves waffles?”
“That involves you.”
“Oh. In that case…” Cass leaps up and races to the fridge.
I push back from the table, my breakfast forgotten, as she playfully shakes the can. She lets out a squeal when I approach, tosses the can at me, and goes racing off in the other direction.
“If you want to use that, you’ll have to catch me first.”
Can I answer all the hard questions staring me in the face right now? No. Not at the moment. Do I still have a healthy amount of doubts that sit in my stomach like a pile of pebbles that can’t be digested because rocks don’t do the whole digestion thing well? Yes. Am I ready to just give up? No. I’m not someone who does that well. Never have been, never will be.
We don’t get many things in life to truly, truly fight for.
I shake the whipped cream can. I did give her a head start since I didn’t want to be accused of not playing fair. She’s worth fighting for. She’s so, so beyond worth fighting for. Just for good measure, I squirt some into my mouth. Man, there really is no other way to eat whipped cream. Straight from the can, baby. That’s how it’s done.
I hear Cass’ footsteps, and then she’s back in the kitchen sans robe, her shoulders heaving from running without being chased. She raises a brow at me as she studies me. “Are you planning on finishing that off yourself?”
I casually shrug right before I sprint across the kitchen, gather a screaming Cass up in my arms, and toss her over my shoulder.
“No fair!” She mock-pounds her fists on my back. “You play dirty.”
I spank her bottom lightly with my free hand. “You bet I do. And don’t worry. I left lots of whipped cream for you.”
CHAPTER 15
Cass
“Hey! I thought I’d surprise you.”
I am indeed surprised to find Ayana and Maya waiting outside for me after work. The building is a tall one, with other offices, and I wonder how long she was waiting out here. On the other hand, there’s a coffee shop nearby. They don’t look overheated, and Maya looks happy as ever. She waves her hands at me before grasping some of the lace that lines the world’s most adorable pink dress. It has little purple hearts and unicorns all over it. Man, I seriously wish little baby fashion could be big-grown woman fashion too, and I don’t feel like any less of an adult for admitting that.
“Where’s your diaper bag?” Ayana never goes anywhere without it. It’s a big black leather bag, and even though it was designed for babies, I absolutely love it too.
“Oh, uh…” Ayana is terrible at keeping secrets, and right now, she looks like she has a mouthful of frogs jumping around trying to get out. She squints her eyes, blows raspberries to Maya, and doesn’t answer my question at all.
I know when my bestie is being evasive. “Where’s your car?”
“Um, well, that’s the thing. The diaper bag is in the car, but the car isn’t mine.” She smiles at me, but it’s a froggy smile for sure. “And Ransom’s granny might be waiting in it.”
“What? Shoot, is this one of those kidnap me for a second time and threaten me the way she did to you to find out if I’m really trustworthy and nice kinds of things?”
“No. She wants to take us shopping. Actually, she wants to take us antiquing or thrifting. Your choice.”
That makes me even more suspicious. Maya is smiling at me, but Ayana looks totally uncomfortable. She’s not a fan of shopping, but on most days, I can always convince her to do either of those happily enough.
“This is definitely the scenario where I get shoved in the trunk of a car. If that’s the case, just tell me, and I’ll get in willingly.”
“No trunks.” Ayana seems a tad bit amused at that. “I promise. You get the backseat with Maya if that’s okay?”
“I know all about how backseats make you car sick. I’m good with the back as long as I’m not being driven into some horrible scenario.”
“We have Maya with us.”
“I wouldn’t put it past that granny. Of course, she wouldn’t do anything to endanger us, but maybe just to scare me a little? Put me to the test a tad? Something that involves Glocks?”
Ayana grabs my arm above the elbow and starts walking down the sidewalk. “Forget about your car. We’ll swing around for it after. You have a parking pass for the lot, right?”
