Page 100 of You Found Me
“Suze, he’s a freaking chef. How is it fair that he’s in this competition? This was supposed to be my year to finally win.”
Theo snorts. “Bunny, your cookies always look like something a toddler would make. Your chances of winning this year were the same as every year before—slim.”
Mia aims her bag of frosting at him. “Nobody asked you, Teddy. Not when we all know the reason why you participate.” Inotice his ears redden, and Cori bumps shoulders with Colette who shakes her head.
“Suze. He needs to be disqualified,” Mia pleads.
The smile I see on Beckett’s face is not one I’ve seen in a long time.
It’s genuine, pulling both dimples completely out. Which is why I get in on Mia’s side. “Yeah. He absolutely should be disqualified. He had to do a whole rotation of desserts in culinary school. He’s got an unfair advantage.”
“Dude,” he says to me with a look of disbelief. “You know damn well I almost flunked out because of desserts. If anyone should be disqualified, it’s Piper.”
“Hey!” Piper says in surprise. “Don’t bring me into this.”
“I’ve seen how amazing your desserts look, Pipes. If I’m disqualified, she has to be too,” he says to Emmy’s mom.
Callum, who has been closely watching the interaction between the two of them, cuts in, “She is amazing. But she and I have been trading our cookies to decorate them together. Which is super unfortunate for her because I suck—big time. Piper won’t be winning.”
Punching his arm, she says, “Way to have faith in us, Cal.”
More bickering ensues while I sit back, eating more cookies. Emmaline hasn’t been a part of the conversation, but I see her smiling.
Ten minutes later, we’re all done. I chose the snowman I did as my entry. He’s simple, nothing crazy, but I do think I frosted him decently enough.
Theo was right about Mia not needing to worry about B being the reason she wouldn’t win because her reindeer looks seriously wonky. She somehow managed to turn the brown frosting into a gray color, making the poor cookie creature look closer to the brink of death than helping deliver gifts.
Beckett tries his best to be supportive while the rest of us laugh. But when she asks if he’d choose her little buddy as his sidekick to fight crime in Metropolis, he loses it.
Cori’s entry is a deranged, killer reindeer that she somehow managed to have it look as though it bit off the head of a snowman cookie. It’s incredible—but mostly terrifying. Shecatches me looking at it, shrugs and laughs. “I love gore and dislike Christmas.”
Callum and Piper pick one of their joint creations to use. It kind of looks like a watercolor snowman with an ugly sweater.
Theo’s is a basic snowman. Much like mine but a little better.
Emmaline’s reindeer looks like a My Little Pony, and it’s actually really cute. Which is exactly what I tell her, earning me a small smile.
The pizza arrives, and we’re about to grab it to go watch the movie when Susannah tries pulling Emmaline to the side. “I don’t want to talk to you right now. I need time and you sending me messages and calling nonstop isn’t giving me that space.”
“I’ve apologized countless times. I can’t do anything to change what I did, but I can try to make it better. If you want me to reach out to Rick, I will. I’ll be the one to tell him about you.”
“No. You don’t get to feel better about this right now. You lied to me my whole life.”
Deciding that now might be the best time to go before this gets too heated, I lightly put my hand on her shoulder. “Emmy, why don’t we head out. You’ve got that split shift in the morning and haven’t gotten your work bag ready,” I say, trying to give her an out.
It’s not a lie though, she did decide to pick up a half shift to help out another nurse.
She looks up to me, relief evident on her face. “You’re right. I’ve gotta go.”
She walks out, not saying bye to anyone. Beckett starts to get up, but I stop him. “You don’t have to leave. I’m sure Mia wouldn’t mind bringing you back to my place.”
“Absolutely,” she says before smirking. “Besides if he wins, I need to be able to con him out of the prize money.”
Beckett laughs, rolling his eyes at her. “I’m good to stay. I’ll see you back at your place.”
When we pull into the lot, Emmaline lets me know she wants to go to her apartment, alone, because she needs to decompress. But she won’t make eye contact with me as she says it, leaving me to think she means she needs time with her thoughts. I know fighting with her mom is taking a toll on her.
Instead of trying to convince her to talk to me about it, I gently kiss her. “I understand. I’ll see you in the morning.”
