Page 47 of Call It Love

“Been looking forward to it all day,” Chase said.

I turned to Jordan. “Feel like learning how to make a chicken potpie?”

Jordan nodded slowly, his eyes flicking to Chase with uncertainty.

Chase caught it immediately. “The more hands, the faster we eat,” he said.

“Don’t think you’re getting out of helping,” I warned Chase.

He held his hands up in mock surrender. “Never.”

We made our way into the house, cleaned up, and got started on dinner. I handed Jordan a knife, a cutting board, and a pile of carrots and demonstrated how to clean them and cut them into nice, even pieces. Then, I tried to show Chase how to roll out the crust. He wielded the rolling pin like he had a vendetta against the dough.

“Gentle,” I scolded. “You’re not rolling out Play-Doh. And the crust should be round, not…whatever shapethatis.”

Chase gave me a mock scowl. “Thanks, Martha Stewart.”

I started to laugh, but almost immediately it caught in my throat.

That look—the glare, the frown, how he used a cool tone. Teasing or not, it hit me wrong. Too close to how Mason used to look before the verbal lashings started.

You’re such an ungrateful little bitch.

You don’t contribute anything to this relationship.

You’re impossible to be around.

How many times have I told you not to tell me what to do?

“I’m sorry,” I said quickly, stepping back. “You’re doing fine. I didn’t mean to be bossy or ungrateful for your help.”

“Whoa. Hey,” Chase interrupted, catching the shift. Hetried to capture my hands, but I took another step backward, swallowing hard.

“No, really. I didn’t mean to criticize. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me,” I said. My voice trembled, and tears stung the back of my eyes.Don’t cry. Not in front of Jordan.

Chase stepped toward me slowly, his hands out and his voice steady. “Anna. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

I tried to focus on his voice. On his words. Tried to override the memory pressing in around the edges of my mind.

“You teased me. It’s okay. I’m not mad. Not even a little. I promise.” He closed the distance, carefully placing his hands over mine. “You’re safe with me. Always.”

I looked at him. There was no cruel twist to his mouth, no bite in his voice, or hardness in his eyes. Just patience and kindness. And maybe a little of something else that was too soon to name. But it worked. It calmed me.

“Okay.” I let out a breath I’d been holding and glanced at Jordan. He kept his eyes on the carrots, but his frown gave him away. He’d noticed.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

Chase bumped my shoulder with his. “No more apologies.”

“I’m sor—” I caught myself and gave a slight shake of my head. “Okay.”

Chase smirked. “Guess I’ll need to practice rolling out dough more. Which means more pies in our future.”

A future. With Chase.

That sounded better than any pie I could bake.

Chapter 16

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