Page 52 of Little Sunshine

“You’re eating.”

“I’m fine with a floor?—”

I didn’t get the chance to finish when he carefully lifted me and sat my ass right on the flawless island countertop.

“Why did you bother asking if you were just going to do what you wanted anyway?”

“I was trying to be polite.” He gave me his back as he opened the fridge.

“I think you failed,” I muttered.

I’m being a cranky bitch.

Before I could apologize, he shot a small smile over his shoulder. “It’s a work in progress.”

Ash pulled a stack of glass containers from the fridge and set them to the side. He grabbed the smallest one and opened a drawer to get a fork before passing both to me.

“Eat that…” he started, but I was already tearing the lid off.

A salad.

It looked even better than the one I’d had at Moonlight.

I dumped the enclosed cup of ranch on before I dug in.

Ash took another container and opened a drawer, setting it in.

“Uhhh, whatcha doing?” I asked, wondering if he was more sleep-deprived than he let on. Not that he looked it. There were no bags under his eyes, and he wasn’t yawning.

Not even a single wrinkle in his pristine clothes.

I didn’t know how I looked, and I didn’t care.

Much.

So long as I repressed any thought of it.

“Heating up dinner.” There were a couple of beeping buttons before the quiet hum filled the silence.

I looked down at what I thought was ordinary cabinetry. “Your microwave is a drawer?”

He lifted his chin like a cabinet microwave was a totally normal thing.

Not wanting to see any more of my surroundings, I stared down at the bowl while I picked at my salad. It was delicious, but my appetite was lost to the discomfort that sat heavily in my stomach. I felt caught between the uncontrollable impulse to scrub my hands so I didn’t dirty everything I touched and the need to flee from the house altogether.

I didn’t belong in that kitchen. I didn’t belong in that house.

I sure as hell didn’t belong anywhere near the behemoth in shining armor.

I was there because he felt pity for me.

I was charity.

I have to get out of here.

Only I have nowhere else to go.

Nowhere safe, at least.

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