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“Mmm.”
“I mean, yeah, it’s with benefits, but please don’t go reading anything more into it. There’s nothing going on between us.” The words sounded hollow to my ears and I bit the inside of my cheek in annoyance.
“I don’t believe it’snothingnothing. But I’ll leave it for now. Will you please let me know when you can tell me what’s going on?”
“For sure. And, you know, thanks for understanding.”
“Of course.”
* * *
Idrifted awake to the sound of birds chirping, confused as to where I was at first. Oh, right. With Gabe. In his bed. With him cuddled up behind me. Frowning, I tried to shift away. This felt way too good, and therefore had to be stopped immediately.
“What are you doing?”
Great, a sexy morning voice and his arm tightening around me, trying to pull me close again. “It’s seven o’clock. I thought I could make Jesse breakfast before school.” He let me go and I had to suppress the twinge of disappointment as I slipped from the bed.
Jesse stepped out of his room just as I was coming down the hallway. “Hey, kiddo. How do pancakes sound for breakfast?”
“Yes, please!”
In the kitchen, making pancakes and coffee, I thought I may as well pack Jesse’s lunch, since I was already there. Checking the clock, I realized I had time to whip up some muffins as a snack. Then I paused, tapping my forefinger against my lips, doing a quick calculation. Yep, I had plenty of time.
When Gabe came out from the shower, I was pulling a frittata from the oven.
“What’s all this?”
“Thought you guys might like something different for lunch. Sandwiches can get boring.”
“It smells amazing. Where’s Jesse?”
“Brushing his teeth. He wolfed the pancakes down in no time.”
“Nice. Have you had coffee?”
“Yeah, but I could have another.” I placed the frittata on the stove to cool, noting that the muffins were probably ready to be boxed up.
“Whoa. Muffins too?”
I shrugged. It really wasn’t that big a deal. I mean, sure, it was a bit wife-y, a little like playing house. But only if you really overthought it. Which I definitely was not going to do. “Pfft, I had time.” I felt him looking at me, but didn’t meet his gaze. There was no need to make more of this than it was.
Jesse appeared in the doorway, a very welcome distraction. “Allegra?”
“Yeah, kiddo?”
“Will you take me to school today? With Gabe?”
Shit. “Um, I don—”
“Pleeeeease! You haven’t seen my school yet.”
I looked to Gabe, trying to gauge what he thought I should do, but all he did was give me a small shrug. Fuck it, I couldn’t resist Jesse’s pleading eyes. “Sure, okay, Jesse. I’d love to.”
So I finished making the lunches, had the fastest shower in history, and we were out the door in plenty of time, even if my hair was still wet.
There was a big line of cars heading into the parking lot, so Gabe pulled to the side of the main road. “We can walk him to the bus drop-off point from here.”
“Okay.”
