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She frowned harder, like the force of the frown would fill in the rest of the missing information.
Did she leave the book on the stairs and he’d picked it up?
Also, why was he in the kitchen? Not that she wasn’t happy to see him. But they’d just spent some quality time together the daybefore. And going by his previous behavior, Asa usually avoided her right after that.
So many questions.
“What…?” She didn’t know which one she wanted to ask first.
His eyes drifted to her hair and his lips twitched.
“It’s a little early to be electrocuting yourself, isn’t it?” he asked.
“Hilarious,” she deadpanned. She touched her hair, still staring at him, then let her hand drop to her side. “What are you doing?”
“Having breakfast,” he answered.
“Right.” Taking a deep breath that she hoped would shove more oxygen into her foggy brain, she shuffled over to the coffee maker. “Do you work today?” she asked, popping in a coffee pod and closing the lid.
“Nope,” he replied.
She glanced over her shoulder. His head was dipped to read from the aged book on the counter in front of him. He flipped a page, his eyes tracking up to the top. He was really reading.
Reaching for a mug out of the cupboard above the coffee maker, she wondered what his plans were. Maybe he wanted to hang out again? Was that why he was in the kitchen? Had he been waiting for her?
She shoved aside the little bit of delight that slid through her at the idea.
Yesterday had been awesome. A little awkward for her, internally anyway, but she could tell he was trying and thatmeant… Well, it meant more than she could really say at the moment.
“Can I ask you a really weird personal question?”
She darted him a look but he seemed to be speaking directly to his cereal.
“Go for it.”
“Why did you pick this place to live?”
She frowned, watching the coffee sputter from its spout and fill the cup below. “Like, why Chicago?” she asked, taking the full cup and turning around to face him.
He shook his head and finished chewing. “No. I mean this house. Why here and not like a penthouse downtown or, I don’t know, something with more security? Like where Hannah and Sunshine live?”
She narrowed one eye at him. “Have you been talking to Cas?”
He chuckled.
Where was the half and half? She’d gotten it out of the fridge, right?
“Um,” she blinked against the heavy feeling in her eyelids and opened the fridge again. There it was. “I didn’t want to draw a lot of attention. But I also didn’t want to feel so…” She wagged her head back and forth, pouring the cream into her coffee. “Awayfrom everyone. I love Chicago, you know? The energy and the people and even the light is different here. Being hidden away in a fortress or a tower?” She shook her head and screwed the lid back on and returned the carton to the fridge. “I feel like that would defeat the purpose of coming here.”
He didn’t say anything for a long time as he frowned in thought. His spoon held aloft but the cereal forgotten.
“You have an opinion about that,” she said. It wasn’t a question.
“You’re trying to live like a regular person,” he said but it sounded like an accusation.
Irritation ran down her spine and her left eye twitched. “I am a regular person.”
He tipped his head to the side and made a noise in his throat. “You’re not though.”
