Page 159 of Fall I Want
Her eyes are on me. I can feel her gaze like it’s burning holes in my back. I glance over my shoulder at her. “Yes?”
“Seeing you cook for me is sexy,” she admits, her chin resting on her propped-up fist.
“Is it like a dream?” I ask, wondering.
“Every day with you is.”
When I’m finished, Autumn bursts into laughter at the leaning stack of twenty pancakes I prepared and somehow balanced.
“It’s too many!” she says.
“Have to keep my wife bred and fed. Butter and syrup?”
“Mm.” She nods, glowing. I take a second to admire her in the early morning sunlight as she loads her plate with pumpkin discs.
“What?” she whispers.
“You wake up pretty.”
A hint of a blush meets her cheeks as I move to the fridge and pantry, grabbing what we need.
“Fork?” she asks.
“You didn’t want to eat with your hands?” I ask, opening the drawer and snagging two.
“I did that about fifteen minutes ago.”
“Mm. Maybe we can do that again?”
As Autumn pours syrup on top of her pancakes, a knock sounds from the door.
“Expecting someone?” she asks.
“No,” I say, wishing I could see through the door. “Stay here.” Icross the living room, and when I twist the knob and pull it open, my smile fades.
“Nicolas.” His name comes out colder than the steadily dropping temperatures.
“This a better time?”
I breathe out, pushing the door closed and turning to Autumn.
“Sure,” she whispers with a cute shrug. Whatever I want, she’ll support, but it’s too fucking early for confrontation.
“Come in.” I step to the side and his gaze immediately meets Autumn’s.
Autumn turns to him with bright eyes, swollen lips, and messy morning hair. She beams like a fucking angel. If it weren’t for Autumn... I don’t want to think about where I’d be.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Am I interrupting?” Nicolas asks, glancing back at me. The smell of pumpkin pancakes and coffee floats through the air. Happy energy encapsulated the house until he arrived.
Autumn shakes her head, sipping her espresso with a kind smile. “Not at all. Are you hungry? We have too many pancakes. It’s like fate,” she says.
“I wouldn’t impose,” he admits.
“Oh, come on.” She’s too nice. He doesn’t deserve her kindness. Or mine.
“Fine.” She shrugs. “Missing out.”
He glances at me. “I’ll come back later when you’re not in the middle of breakfast.”
