Page 52 of Test the Ice
He raises his eyebrows. “Donut?”
I stare into the box and pause when I see that some are missing. “How many did you eat on the way?”
The box is big enough to hold a dozen donuts, yet there are only four inside.
Malaki shrugs. “I only had three. Your sister took the rest.”
“What?”Zoe!
Malaki places the box on the table but leaves the lid open. “Yeah, and I let her take my car too.”
I gape at him. “Did she ask to take it? Oh my god.”
He moved us into this nice house, and now he’s letting my sister take his expensive car? What’s next? A pony for Charleigh?
Malaki gives me a strange look. “No. But I would rather her not take the bus to the university. It’s not the safest, plus I have my own personal Uber driver.” He winks at me.
“You don’t have to go out of your way to take care of us,” I stress. “And if you don’t want Zoe living here too, that’s okay. She can always move back into the dorms. She was only living with me because it was easier with her watching Charleigh.”
It was part of the deal: I co-sign for her student loans, she watches Charleigh for me.
Malaki pulls out a chair and gestures to it. “Sit.”
I want to argue, but I don’t. Instead, I sink down into the seat while keeping an eye on Charleigh crawling around.
The donut box is shoved toward me. “Eat.”
“I’m not really hung–”
My stomach growls, and Malaki glares at me.
Fine.
I reach forward and grab a donut with pink icing. He smirks and closes the lid.
“What?” I ask.
“I knew you’d grab that one.”
“How?”
“Because red Skittles are your favorite. You clearly like the taste of strawberries.” He sniffs the air. “You smell like strawberries too.”
“My shampoo is strawberry scented.” My teeth sink into the donut, and I almost moan.God, that’s good.
Malaki leans back in his chair and watches me chew. “And here I thought you just smelled of Skittles because of how many you’ve eaten since I’ve met you.” He flashes me a teasing smile, so I tear a tiny piece of my donut off and throw it at him.
To my surprise, he catches it with his mouth.
He chews it slowly while keeping his sights set on me. A swallow works against his throat, and my stomach dips, which reminds me…
I clear my throat and eye the paper I spent an hour on this morning while giving Charleigh her bottle.
Boundaries.
I slide it over to him and hastily remove my fingers so he doesn’t accidentally graze them with his.
“What is this?” he asks in a low tone.
