Page 127 of Knot Baked Out For This
I think maybe I'm ready for social media after all.
But first, I need to get the paint out of Levi's hair before it dries.
And maybe kiss Luca again when no one's watching.
And definitely make sure Rowan gets the same temple kiss treatment because fair is fair.
And then probably make more cookies because stress baking is still my primary coping mechanism and this is a lot of feelings before noon.
My life is chaos now. Beautiful, paint-covered, Alpha-scented chaos.
And I wouldn't change a single thing.
CHAPTER 23
Days Off And Confessions
~HAZEL~
Having a day off is like being handed a foreign object and being told it's valuable but not given instructions on what to do with it.
I wake at the ungodly hour of 8 AM, which for me might as well be noon. No alarm, no panic about orders, no mental list of seventeen things that need to be baked before the sun properly rises. Just... quiet.
The tea Levi insisted I drink last night—some herbal blend that smelled like lawn clippings and tasted like disappointment—actually worked. I slept like the dead, or at least like someone who doesn't have anxiety-induced insomnia and a tendency to dream about burnt croissants.
Now what?
I stare at my ceiling, counting the cracks I've been meaning to fix for two years, trying to remember what normal people do with free time. Read? Exercise? Have hobbies that don't involve butter and flour?
The smell of something burning motivates me out of bed.
Please don't let Levi be cooking. Please don't let Levi be cooking. Please?—
I rush out of my bedroom to find Levi in my kitchen, spatula in hand, looking far too proud of himself while smoke wisps from a pan.
"Should I find the fire extinguisher?" I ask, already moving toward it.
He laughs, that sunshine sound that makes mornings bearable.
"I'm not actually cooking! I ordered breakfast. Just warming it up."
The exact moment he says this, a piece of bacon in the pan literally catches fire.
"LEVI!"
"It's fine! It's supposed to do that!"
"BACON IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ON FIRE!"
I lunge for the pan, turning off the heat and moving it to a cold burner while Levi stands there looking betrayed by the concept of heat transfer.
"I followed the instructions," he protests. "The delivery guy said 'just warm it up.'"
"Warm, not incinerate!"
"There's a fine line."
"There's really not!"
