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* * *
“I need to inquire further about your ideas before I agree,” Samkiel said with a huff.
I leaned over, digging through the cabinet. An array of every item needed to make whatever I wished lay frozen in the icebox. I smiled, the cool air brushing against my legs as I popped up, placing my arms across the short metal table.
“What do you want, handsome?” I asked, leaning through the window and pointing toward the menu on the side of the food truck.
His grin was dangerous, his pleasure at the compliment easy to see. “This is stealing. You do realize that?”
I waved my hand. “Eh, I call it borrowing, and technically, you’re an accomplice. You broke the lock, then started the truck. So…” My voice trailed off.
He shrugged. “I’m innocent. You coerced me.”
“Barely.” I snickered.
He bit the inside of his cheek, stifling his laugh, before looking at the colorful menu hanging from the side of the truck. “Can you actually make what they have here?”
I placed a hand on my chest. “You doubt my abilities?”
“You’re insufferable.” He grinned and pointed at one of the items pictured on the menu. “Okay, how about this?”
I blew a small whistle through my teeth. “A god with a sweet tooth.”
He chuckled as I retreated into the truck to gather the ingredients, the sound wrapping me in warmth.
* * *
We sat at a small table outside, bundled up in our jackets and sitting close. Music spilled from the truck, low enough not to disturb. There were five dishes between us. After my first two failed attempts, Samkiel climbed into the truck with me, and together we worked until we got it right. We had fun. For the first time in so long, I’d been able to relax enough to enjoy myself, and it didn’t feel like he was avoiding me. I would be okay if I could just have him alone like this.
“You’re doing it again,” he said, nudging me with his shoulder before taking a bite of the sweet dessert.
I tipped my head and licked my spoon. “Doing what?”
“Disappearing,” he murmured, his eyes going hot as he watched me.
I smirked at him and stabbed the circular frozen orb until it burst, chocolate dripping out in a mist of steam. “I was just thinking.”
“About?”
“These last few days have been the first time I’ve had fun since…” My words trailed off. I didn’t need to say anything further.
“Me too.”
“I’m surprised you agreed to today.” I leaned forward and took a bite.
“Why?”
I didn’t want to mention the growing tension between us, so I skipped over it.
“The last time I was in Onuna didn’t go so well. Aren’t you afraid Kaden will show up to drag me back?”
“He was not in Yejedin, and I doubt he would show up. He seems to want to stay hidden.”
My spoon stopped halfway to my mouth, and I stared at him. I felt the color drain from my face, my stomach rolling.
“You went to Yejedin?” My heart stilled in my chest. “Is that where you’ve been? Why you left me for six days?”
He sighed and lowered his spoon to rub his hand across his jaw as if he hadn’t meant to tell me.
