Page 56 of Come Back to Me

“Um, if I win, you have to be in one of my Instagram posts.” She breaks into laughter, echoing against the concrete walls.

“Hell no, not happening.”

“Rules are rules. You can’t back out of this now.”

I shut my eyes. “Do I at least get to find out what post I’m going to be a part of?”

She sucks her lips in. “Nope, it’s a surprise.”

“Ugh, you’re such a pain in the ass.” I grab a knife and open the plastic container of parsley, grabbing a few sprigs and placing them onto the cutting board. When I start chopping, I feel Violet’s blue eyes staring at me. “Can I help you?”

“I forgot how mesmerizing you are in the kitchen.”

If she keeps saying things like this to me, this friendship isn’t going to last long at all. I know I sound like a broken record, but it’s true. My heart aches for her in a way that’s making me all-out flustered.

“I never knew you thought that.”

“Well, now you do.”

After the parsley is chopped, I move it over to the top corner of the cutting board with the knife. “Can you open the stick of butter, cut a quarter of it, and place it into the small bowl you took out?”

She doesn’t answer and simply follows my instructions. Once the butter is in the small bowl, she places it on the microwave-safe plate. “Where are your?—”

I hand her a lid, so the butter doesn’t splatter all over the microwave.

“Lids for the microwave,” she finishes her thought. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.” I bow, causing her to laugh. “Oh, shit. We need bread. Can you get the loaf of wheat bread out of the freezer?”

“Why do you keep your bread in the freezer?” she asks, opening the freezer door.

“It’s something Laura taught me. She told me it keeps it fresher longer.”

“Noah’s mom taught you that?”

“She taught me a lot of things.”

“I know. I was there for most of those lessons.” She takes out four slices of bread, laying them on two paper plates. She rests her elbows on the counter, her eyelashes fluttering. “What now?”

“The butter needs to be softened.”

“Okay, how do I do that?”

“I can show you.” I gesture for her to come over to the microwave, opening the door to put the butter and lid inside. “See this?” I point to thesoften buttersetting.

She nods. “Yeah.”

“That’s what you press.”

“Oh, that’s cool!”

“You’re like a kid in a candy store.”

“It’s always an exciting experience when it comes to learning new things for me. I learn new things every single day.”

“So do I.”

“Tell me something new you learned today,” she politely demands.