Page 79 of Please Open Me
“Yeah—but that’s not what I asked,” Mattie said. “I got her breakfast.”
Fuck. Yes.
“I’m right here,” I scooted past Cameron, ignoring the glare he shot me.
Right now, I was getting breakfast, and later I was getting spanked. Today couldn’t get better.
Mattie lit up when she saw me, her whole face brightening like the sun had come up just for her.
My eyes, however, zeroed in on the plastic takeout bag slung over her arm.
Sebastian stood just behind her. Close enough to keep an eye on her. Far enough to make it clear he didn’t want to be anywhere near her if he could help it.
“Are you sick?” I asked.
He shook his head, stifling a yawn and rubbing his eyes like it hurt to be awake. “Your daughter decided sleep was optional.”
I winced. “She’s teething.”
“Yeah, I figured that out around hour four.” He bent down and kissed me. “If you need me, I’m going to bed.”
Sebastian walked past me and Cameron, headed directly for Cam’s room.
“Wait—don’t you work in a few hours?” Cameron turnedto face him.
“Tell Lucian to fucking fire me,” Seb said without turning around. “I don’t care.”
That was enough to send Cameron marching after him, already grumbling under his breath, leaving me and Mattie alone.
“Thanks for breakfast,” I said, leaning in to kiss her cheek before heading toward the dining table. She was my only partner who didn’t tower over me, and I liked that. “I hope you got grits, I've been craving them for, like, two days.”
The words slipped easily from my lips, but the weight still felt foreign.Craving. But maybe I was just reading too far into it. After all, Mattie didn’t seem to notice.
She practically skipped after me, a smug smile playing on her lips as she pulled out the first of many to-go containers with a flourish.
“I did. And biscuits, and potatoes, and pancakes, and a fruit cup for balance.”
A feast hidden in white styrofoam. I reached for one of the cups. We got breakfast from this place a lot, so I knew their containers by heart.
“You’re my personal trainer, shouldn’t you tell menotto eat like this?” I asked, pulling it closer.
My fingers twitched around the lid with barely concealed anticipation.
“That’s why I got the fruit cup.” She pointed to another container. “Plus, you know I like watching you suffer at the gym.”
“Sadist,” I muttered, grinning as I peeled off the lid.
She watched me with this almost smug little smile like she knew exactly what she was doing. I stirred the grits, expecting that buttery, cheesy smell I loved. Only… it wasn’t there.
I looked down, expecting the yellow mush Cameron made anytime I asked, but these were lumpy and white. I lifted the container and brought it to my nose before giving it a tentative sniff.
My stomach knotted at the smell of sugar and maple syrup.
“What is this?” I asked, swallowing down the bile creeping up my throat.
“Grits,” Mattie explained as she turned the chair closed to me backward before sitting down.
Her arms rested on the back of the chair, and she cradled her chin, looking at me with a level of adoration she never held for anyone else.
