Page 269 of Safe With You
Just dinner.
Something about that made me like it more.
“What can I do?”
“Nothing.”
I looked at him.
“You invited me over here to watch you cook?”
“I invited you over here to eat.”
“I can help.”
“I know.”
He pushed away from the counter and reached around me for the spoon resting beside the stove.
“But you don’t have to.”
The words were simple enough that I almost missed them.
Almost.
I looked at him, but he was already stirring the sauce.
A few weeks ago, I probably would’ve asked again. Found something to carry or something to wipe down. Some way to make sure I wasn’t standing in somebody else’s kitchen while they did all the work.
Tonight, I let my hand fall away from the counter.
“Okay.”
Ellis glanced at me.
That was all.
No smile like I’d passed a test. No comment about how I was getting better.
He just turned back to the stove.
Mila slid the box of markers toward me.
“You can help me.”
I looked down at the paper in front of her. “With what?”
“We have to make sentences.”
“With your spelling words?”
She nodded.
I pulled out the chair beside her. “That sounds suspiciously like homework.”
“It is.”
I looked toward Ellis. “So this is why you wanted me here?”
