Page 77 of Bite Me

There’s an extra bounce in her step as she completes her design, adding a dusting of edible glitter.

I grab a knife and a serving spatula. “Do you want to do the honors, or should I?”

“You can. You’re the first person I’ve ever let help me with her cake. I’ll have to tell her . . . I, uh . . . write to her literally every thought that comes through my head.”

“I bet she loves that.”

“I’m not sure about that.” Her laughter settles me.

Emma’s music plays in the background as we each take a bite of her cake. It’s . . . perfect. Not too dry, with a good balance of flavor to the buttercream. A little bit of almond extract.

“What do you think?”

“I think . . . you’re talented, Emma. Really talented.”

“Your humanity is showing. Be careful. I might expect you to be nice to me from now on. Can you stop calling me a thief now? I’m sorry about the notebook. I shouldn’t have taken it. You were right. I was being selfish.”

“You sure you’re feeling okay?” I ask.

“I just want you to keep calling me by my name . . . And I don’t like it when you ignore me.”

“You’ve been the one ignoring me this week.”

“Because I’m ignoring you before you ignore me. Isn’t that obvious? Keep up.”

I smile, and she does too. This is a bad idea, but I don’t think I can stay away from her anymore.

“I don’t know how to process you being nice to me, but please don’t stop.”

“I’ll be nice to you, Em. I promise.”

“So this is being friends?”

“I don’t have friends.”

“I would ask why, but I’m going to wait on the answer that I know I’ll have to wear you down to get.”

“Fine.”

I take another bite of cake, knowing without a doubt that it’s the best I’ve ever had.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Dacre

“I need to talk to you.” I manage to get a moment alone with Parker the morning before we leave for the culinary club trip. “It’s about Emma.”

We’re standing in the hallway right outside the dining room doors. The location is intentional on my part: it’s not a wide-open space, so there are fewer eyes, no cameras. The air is rich with the smell of freshly baked croissants and ham, with the faintest hint of coffee.

“Figured. She told me you guys had a moment the other night with the cake.” Parker’s talking but scanning the room for something or someone behind me. “It meant a lot to her, you know.”

Does this family have boundaries?

“I have a task that I’m going to ask you to do, and I’m not going to tell you why.”

“I’m listening.” He crosses his arms, nearly bursting out of his blazer.

“You need to find someone capable of hacking. Not just anyone, someone who can do deep digging. If they’re cheap, they’re not good enough.”