Page 57 of The Obvious Check
He chuckles, flipping another pancake. “Gotta be honest, waking up and making you breakfast every morning sounds like a pretty solid way to start the day.”
My face flushes even though he’s not looking at me because it’s the first time he’s really flirted with me. Sure, he’s asked me out before, but this feels different because we’ve kissed now. “You’re dressed already. Have you got practice?”
“Yeah.” He moves the last pancake to the stack on the kitchen island and heads to the coffee machine, pours a cup, then sets it in front of me. “It’s not too long. Just a couple of hours.”
He leans his elbows on the counter, waffling his fingers and twiddling his thumbs. “You will be here when I get back, right? You aren’t going to run out on me again, are you?” He raises a brow and I can see the tiniest hint of a smirk coming through.
He’s being playful, and I feel like I can be too. Edging forward, I wrap my hands around the mug, letting the heat seep into my skin. “Are you sure you still want me here? Aren’t you worried I’ll steal something?” I joke, but part of me means it.
“Like my heart?” He leans closer to me. Our noses touch ever so slightly. “Too late, Sav. You took that the minute I saw you dancing like a newborn giraffe at Luke’s the first time.”
I still, my heart stopping slightly at his words. My throat goes dry, and I have no idea what to say to that. Does that mean he’s felt the same thing as I have all this time?
He leans back and throws me a lazy grin. “Relax. I’m messing with you. Unless you’ve got some weird obsession with stick tape and plan to steal that, I think I’m safe.” He shrugs, letting his gaze drift over me, and my skin tingles everywhere his eyes land. “Besides, I don’t think you get it. Even if I didn’t know your license plate number by heart, I’d still find you.”
If he weren’t delivering it with that flirty glint in his eyes, it might actually sound like a threat. I roll my eyes, biting back the smile tugging at my lips. “Wow. That’s a little creepy.”
“Like I said, Sav. You need someone to be on your side. Why can’t that be me?”
I gulp, hating how forthright he is about helping me. Even the way he’s looking at me now, like I’m someone worth saving, confuses me.
“Seriously, though,” he says, his tone softening. “Stanley could use the company today.” He tilts his head, lifting his eyebrows. “Or you could always bring him to practice and watch me.”
“Practice?” The words come out choked and surprised. “You want us to come to the rink?”
He grins. “Yeah, Stanley watches me all the time. Sometimes he’ll come out onto the ice and do a few zoomies.” He twirls his fingers to emphasize the point. “He even does this cute little belly bloop thing that helps him stop.” As if on cue, Stanley’s tail brushes across my leg, and I instinctively drop my hand to scratch his head. “Be nice to have you there since you couldn’t make it to the game I invited you to.”
It wasn’t supposed to be a dig, but as he looks at me, I can’t help but feel like it was. I blush, dropping my gaze to the steam coming off my mug.
“I’m sorry about that. I really did want to go.”
“Oh, yeah?”
I nod. “Yeah. Do you remember Chloe from last night? She found the tickets and encouraged me to go. She knew how much I—” I pause, my face flushing.
“How much you…” Cade isn’t going to let me off that easy, is he?
“I liked you.” It came out quiet, and a little less confident than I wanted it to. My cheeks are aflame now as I wait for Cade to mock me. He doesn’t, though. He just smiles softly to himself.
“Damn, if I’d known Chloe was my wing woman, I would’ve left her a bigger tip last night.” He places his hands on the counter, leaning over. “So what do you say? Let’s make up for lost time.”
“I’d love to, but I promised I’d call my sister.”
“Your sister…” His words slow as he pouts his bottom lip out, contemplating. “Adley, right?”
Hearing him say her name does something to me. It’s strange, almost intimate, the way it rolls off his tongue.
I’ve said it a million times before, whispered it into the phone late at night, written it in crumpled notebooks as I tried to plan a future for her, but hearing him say it feels different. Almost like he’s acknowledging more than just her name, and he sees the weight it carries for me.
Adley isn’t just my sister. She’s my reason. She’s my past, my present, my responsibility, and the fact that he remembers the most important person in the world to me makes me happier than it probably should.
Nodding, I say, “Yeah. We hardly ever get to talk because her foster parents monitor her calls, and they don’t really like me.”
“Why not?”
“They think I’m a little troubled, which isn’t surprising.” It’s then all the guilt about my decisions starts to haunt me. What if I had been smart and stayed in my dorms, saving money? Would I be in a better position for my sister? Even if I don’t get to give her the teen years she deserves, would it have been better to save up all that money and wait?
Cade takes my hand, pulling me out of my thoughts. “Hey, you aren’t troubled, not now I’m here.”
