Page 52 of Crescendo

I held out the cup I was carrying. “I got you this. And this,” I said, handing her a small paper bag.

“What is it?” she asked, stifling her curiosity at whatever she was reading on my face.

“Tiramisu.”

Her face lit up. “Are you serious?”

“Completely. And it’s coffee in the cup, not tea,” I said, teasingly.

She looked at me like I was an angel descending from the heavens.

“I know it’s late, but I had a feeling you’ve only been drinking tea because of me and you might be more of a coffee drinker.”

“Excuse me, I’m drinking tea because I’m in England and that’s what you do.”

I laughed and collapsed onto the couch, still holding the gift from Sian. I probably should have put it down somewhere. “We have coffee too, you know?”

“Clearly.” She took a sip and while I’d heard the coffee there was good, it probably wasn’t quite good enough to give her the religious experience she seemed to be having.

“Good?”

“Exquisite.”

“Just like you,” I said softly.

She opened her eyes and looked at me, narrowing them only a tiny bit. “Good night?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. It was really nice seeing them and just… spending some time together.”

“But?”

She really could just see right through me, couldn’t she?

I hated that my brain wouldn’t stop buzzing, that it was there, at the edges of my lungs, making breathing more uncomfortable than it should be.

I shook my head. “It’s nothing. Just… something I don’t want to be dealing with right now.”

She looked like she wanted to push, to know what was going on with me, but I prayed that she wouldn’t.

She sipped her coffee and nodded at the bag. “What’s that?”

I smiled gratefully at her, trying to convey more than I was able to say. “Sian got me a… gift.”

“Oh?” She lit up, watching me eagerly.

“Yeah…” It hit me as if the idea hadn’t been bouncing around my head since I’d opened the box and seen its contents. “Lydia?”

“Yes, Ella?”

“Would you…” Why was it so embarrassing after everything we’d already done?

She shot me a look. “Probably, yes. Not a lot of things I won’t do. Especially with you.”

I blushed, my whole body heating up. I loved the way she just shut the rest of the world out. Still, it felt wrong to ask without explaining a little bit why I needed it.

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