Page 35 of Cold Front
His brows pulled together. “Why would I drink almond milk?”
I smothered a grin. “Some people are particular about their milk. Oat milk, cashew milk, coconut?—”
“I just drink milk, Eli.”
His tone was flat, but I caught the way his lips twitched, almost like he was trying not to be amused.
“Boring. But fine, whole milk it is.” I tossed it in the cart, along with the butter.
Niall let out a long-suffering sigh. “Of course we are.”
At the baking aisle, I scanned the shelves, my fingers brushing over the labels. “Flour, sugar, baking powder… do you have vanilla extract at home?” I asked, not looking up.
His silence was answer enough.
I grabbed a bottle and tossed it into the cart, the plastic clinking against the other items. “All right, what’s left?”
He glanced over the cart, his focus momentarily drifting to the items already in it. “Coffee. Some cereal.”
I nodded and turned, ready to move on, but Niall didn’t follow right away. Instead, I caught the briefest flicker of his gaze on my hands. I flexed my fingers. Oh god, what’s with this place?
“You’re freezing,” he muttered, his voice a little lower than usual.
“I’m fine,” I said, brushing it off, though I wasn’t sure I fully believed it.
He shot me a skeptical look, his eyes narrowing just a fraction. No argument from him. I could practically feel his hesitation, but he didn’t press.
I continued down the aisle and then the next, grabbing a bottle of hot sauce and dropping it into the cart with a thud.
Niall didn’t even try to hide the surprise on his face as he glanced at the bottle. “That’s… um…” His words trailed off.
“You can’t have breakfast potatoes without hot sauce,” I said. It seemed like an obvious truth, but Niall? He didn’t seem so convinced.
I turned to him, glancing sideways, letting my gaze linger just a second longer than I should. Then a thought struck me. “Wait… tell me you actually season your eggs.”
He didn’t even blink. “Salt. Pepper.”
I blinked in disbelief. “That’s it?”
“What else is there?” he said, like it was the most basic, unarguable fact in the world.
I let out an exaggerated gasp, like I’d just witnessed a crime. “That’sall?”
His expression remained unchanged. “Yeah.”
“No garlic powder? No paprika?” I continued, holding up my hand in a dramatic flourish. “Maybe a little cayenne pepper for some heat?”
“I don’t need my eggs to burn my taste buds off,” he said, deadpan, like he was explaining the concept of gravity. He was entirely unbothered.
I rolled my eyes, but as I shifted my attention to the next aisle, I caught the faintest look in his eyes—a little flicker that wasn’t quite amusement, butsomething. It was like he was... I don’t know… interested? Or at least mildly entertained by my absurdity.
Before I could dwell on that too long, my mind latched onto something else. I paused in my tracks, the sudden realization hitting me like a brick.
Wait—I didn’t get the chilies.
I turned abruptly. “Forgot something in the produce section,” I said, heading back the way we came from.
Niall’s footsteps faltered behind me, and I could practically hear the sigh forming in his chest. “Back to the produce? We already grabbed?—”
