Page 28 of Drown My Sorrow

So, I smile, and I do my best because we’re all each other has.

PresentDay

“Aspyn, your boy toys are here.”

Nat fluffs her hair and winks at me. “I’m off to see a man about a cock.”

I roll my eyes. “Cow.”

“I don’t want to touch his cow, darling.”

“Wash your hands!” I shout after her.

She cackles and disappears out the door, leaving it open for Beau, Shale, Keagan, and, to my surprise, Gael. I stop what I’m doing, watching as he checks out my home with quick, nonjudgmental glances.

“Uh, hi.” I flick a glance at the Daane, then return it to Gael. “What are you doing here?”

With my cheeks scorching, I send a desperate look around the house, hoping it will magically transform into something less humiliating. The house is a mess. I was in the middle of trying to make another batch of biscuits that wouldn’t break teeth. These ones somehow turned out harder. I’ve got half rolled out dough and flour everywhere, dirty bowls are piled up, and the previous batch of biscuits are in the sink.

Keagan comes in and picks up a biscuit. He pauses, looking at me. I blush and look at the floor. Please don’t eat it. He lifts it to his mouth, then pauses and sniffs it.

“What flavour are these?”

I wrack my brains. “They’re dog biscuits. Not for people. Give them to me.” I snatch the biscuit away from him.

Keagan frowns and tries to grab another, but I lunge at the table, throwing my body over the biscuits. I hiss when my leg twinges, but Beau is there immediately, pushing Keagan away and yanking me up.

“Don’t play rough with Keagan, tell me, and I'll knock him out for you.”

I smile up at him, entranced by the softness of his eyes and the way his lips curl in that smile that melts me. All those black tattoos just frame his gorgeous face. His ginger scent is something I can never replicate in my baking. I adore it.

Shale sweeps all my biscuits into the bin, walks over to the sink, and starts organising to do my dishes.

“I can do it!”

Shale hums and glances over his shoulder. “What was the discussion we had last week?”

My cheeks burst into flames, and I sigh heavily and look up at the ceiling. “Friends let friends help them, even when they are pigheaded mules.”

“And?”

I glare at him. “And you’ve already seen me naked in my nest, so what’s a few dishes between friends?”

And that’s when I remember Gael.

I glance at him and freeze, half tempted to shift until I’m hiding behind Keagan, who is leaning on my table and chewing the corner of a biscuit.

“Hey!” I snatch the biscuit out of his hand, limp to the bin, and drop it in.

Keagan shrugs. “They weren’t terrible.”

I narrow my eyes. “They were awful. I don’t understand it. I followed the recipe exactly.”

Beau looks at the biscuits in the bin. “My love, I think you missed something. Biscuits aren’t meant to be green and that hard.”

I snarl at him and then squeak when he lifts me up and spins me around. I grab hold of his shoulders and try to hold back the giggles.

“Ah, there’s my smile. I needed my smile this morning.”

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