Page 104 of Cook

I threw myself off the bed and out of the bedroom, skidding to a halt as Cook was already walking toward me. Roni and Celt were behind him, concern written across their faces, but it was just me overreacting.

“What is it, Maddie?” Cook met me at the mouth of the short hall, his eyes searching my face. “What happened?”

“Um...” My tongue swelled in my mouth. Nothing happened.

“Celt, why don’t we go get some more clothes for Maddie?” asked Roni, pulling on Celt’s arm, and they walked toward their shared room.

“Maddie,” warned Cook in a low voice, and he backed me into our bedroom here. I didn’t like it. I wanted to go home. I wanted my own clothes.

With my head bowed, I stopped myself before I fell to my knees. Daddy didn’t seem to like that when his friends were around. “Sorry. I just thought you were gone.”

“I’ll never leave you.” He gripped my chin and raised it again to face him. “But I do have to make breakfast, and you need to put on some clothes.”

He wore his low-hanging jeans and his t-shirt from yesterday. Still on the hook: his motorcycle jacket. He never would’ve left without it. Stupid me.

“Get dressed,” he said.

Roni appeared in the door, extending a stack of clothes. I took them from her hands and waited for Roni to leave before moving.

“I’m right out here,” Cook said, assuring me.

He closed the door behind him, and I changed quickly. When I stepped out of the bedroom again, Cook was at the stove and laughing with Celt while Roni was scrolling on her cell phone. I reached for a camera that I didn’t have, so I blinked like I snapped a picture, searing the image of Cook laughing with Celt into my mind.

Though I knew he had a sense of humor from his shirts and aprons, I didn’t often see my man laughing, even with me. Maybe I needed to figure out how to fix that.

“Hey,” said Roni, putting her phone down.

It was like the spell on the kitchen had been broken. Smiles dropped, and Cook straightened his back. Celt watched me from the corner of his eye with a displeased look. A shudder ran down my spine, and I fought the urge to run into Cook’s arms. I would have to be okay with Celt eventually. But maybe not today.

“I’m happy the clothes fit,” said Roni in an overly chipper tone. She was wearing her scrubs and had her hair tied up in a claw clip.

I shied away from her. “Yeah. They do.” I didn’t like the clothes. They fit around my body but rose up at my wrists and ankles.

Cook turned away from the stove. “I made you breakfast.”

“You shouldn’t have done that,” I said. “I can do that for you.”

“What did I say about cooking?”

I furrowed my brows. “The grill is yours.”

“No, Maddie.”

Then I remembered and twisted my fingers together, answering meekly, “It’s what you do around the club.”

“Good. Now sit. Eat,” said Cook.

Celt backed toward the door, eyeing Cook.

A physical pain shot across my chest, and I tried not to grimace. I knew what was coming before Cook even said, “Hey, Maddie. I gotta help Celt with his bike. We’ll be back in a few minutes. You’re good with Roni, right?”

The woman smiled so hard I saw her molars. Her lips were pulled back, and I waited her to turn into a nameless and faceless monster. But she was nice and trying to include me, opposite of Celt, who I wasn’t sure had the ability to smile.

But as I studied her, I concluded Roni didn’t look like she could have an evil bone in her body. I also couldn’t tell Cook no. He was already walking toward the door, clapping Celt on the shoulder. They left the apartment.

“You should eat,” said Roni, walking around the island in the kitchen and dropping her cup in the sink. “Cook always makes the best food. I like when he’s around for that. And he makes me giggle with all his rude T-shirts.”

She laughed, though it seemed forced.

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