Page 97 of Cook

Cook grabbed a beer from the fridge, flicked off the top, and took a long drink. His throat bobbed as he came back toward the couch. We didn’t kiss enough or cuddle at the club, and all I wanted now was for him to hold me.

Roni walked out of the bedroom, but she didn’t carry the shards, dustpan, or the small broom. She stopped in the doorway, watching me openly, though sad curiosity glistened in her eyes.

I twitched. Besides Signora, and more recently Bou and Belle, I hadn’t spent a lot of time around women, and I certainly couldn’t read them.

“Can I get you something to eat or drink, Maddie?” asked Roni.

I looked at Cook, but he echoed her question by raising his eyebrows.

He was allowing me to answer for myself. Giving me the choice. “No, thank you. I can clean that up.”

“It’s already been taken care of.” Celt walked out of the bedroom, carrying out the shards in the dustpan.

“Sorry,” I said again, dipping my head. I should’ve been paying attention. I shouldn’t have been trying to eavesdrop. I was an idiot.

“Don’t be, sweetie,” said Roni with a kind smile. “It was an accident. Do you want to sit in the living room?” She sank onto a chair, and when Celt came back after throwing out the broken lamp, he handed Roni her beer too.

He took the facing chair, more than filling it.

Cook walked over to the couch, and I was the only one left standing. All eyes burrowed into me. Fire licked my skin, and I gathered the blanket tighter around myself. I didn’t want to look at them.

Why are we here?I wondered and asked, “Why didn’t we go to Vivi’s?”

“Come here,” said Cook, patting the cushion beside him.

Sitting, I pressed my thighs together, lingering on the edge of the seat and rolling up onto the balls of my feet so I could run at any point.

Celt and Cook sat close to each other, talking about something I didn’t know and wasn’t about me. Even with my shoulders pointed away from Roni, I felt how her eyes burrow into my back. I wassupposed to speak to her—it was rude not to—but I only wanted to be near Cook. I wanted him to tell me it was going to be okay. To look at me and only talk to me and tell me we could go home.

“Are you sure you aren’t hungry?” asked Roni to my back. “Or thirsty? I can get you something. Maybe some clothes?”

Cook rested his hand on my knee, and I calmed under his touch. I shook my head at Roni’s questions. My stomach was in knots being around people I didn’t know and in a foreign place.

I wanted to go home.

“Are you sure you don’t want some clothes?” pushed Roni. “You must be cold.”

I didn’t care if Cook’s best friend saw me naked, as long as Cook didn’t care. The two of them talked, and I tried to listen.

Eventually, Roni got up and walked off.

Celt and Cook both watched her leave the living room, and then Cook swung his gaze back to me, like he had just noticed I was there.

After half a moment, Roni returned, carrying a stack of clothes. She put them on the coffee table. “If you want them. No pressure though.” Her smile was dazzling, and it gave me jitters.

Everyone was staring at me now, but I didn’t move away from Cook. She could offer all she wanted, but I didn’t need her clothes. Hiding myself didn’t matter, and I didn’t want to dress up how she thought I should.

Like Doctor Richardson had tried to coerce me into doing the normal things, she did the same. Despite how friendly her voice sounded, I wouldn’t play the games they wanted. Unless...

“Daddy?” I whispered for his ears only, needing him to tell me what to do.

Cook looked down at my chest, the blanket wrapped tightly around me like he ordered, and then he squeezed my bare knee. “Put on the clothes, Maddie.”

I wouldn’t resist him. Standing, I dropped the blanket in place.

Immediately, Celt looked away, and Roni raised her eyebrows as she backed away.

Cook grabbed the blanket and stood, holding it like a screen between me and the others in the room. “I meant it would be appropriate to take the clothes and go into the other room to dress.”

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