Page 120 of Pretend You Love Me

I swear he’s turned green. Well, join the club, it’s been my permanent hue for about 10 weeks.

I storm past him and call over my shoulder, “Don’t follow me.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Kip

I don’t follow her. I go to my room, sit on the bed, and stare at the wall for a full five minutes. I deserve every second of that and more.

“Goddammit.” I run my hand through the air. I couldn’t have fucked this up more if I’d tried. I came here to apologize, but I’m not sure I should stay. I need to find Will and talk this over.

I walk up to the kitchen and scan the room for Will. It’s full of people, but I don’t see him.

Keene and Juno are standing over a plate of cookies. She's breaking off small pieces of each variety and taking a little bite, and then he’s eating the rest.

“Oh, this one is really good.” Her eyes light up as she puts it in her mouth.

Keene doesn’t wait to finish chewing to agree. “Yeah. It tastes like a brownie but...”

“It’s the texture of a cookie,” Juno finishes his sentence.

“What about that one?” Keene points to a small cookie with a chocolate kiss in the center.

“Ugh. I don’t like those.” Juno wrinkles her nose.

Keene picks it up and pops the whole thing in his mouth.

“They are hard to eat. Either you have to eat the whole thing at once and that’s a really big bite, or you have to eat around the chocolate and then eat it by itself. What’s the point?”

“I see no problem.” Keene happily chews away.

“What is thisTop Chef?” Zadie calls from the kitchen.

“I really liked the subtle notes of coffee in that chocolate.” Keene pops another cookie in his mouth.

“Yes. The undertones really brought out the flavor of the chocolate,” Juno agrees.

Zadie’s just shaking her head.

Brooklyn’s sitting at the end of the table, watching them silently.

“Wanna try one?” Juno says, looking at Brooklyn.

Brooklyn hesitates and then says, “Let me have one of those ginger ones.”

“Oh...those are my favorites,” Zadie calls from the other room. “I put three different types of ginger in them.”

Brooklyn takes the cookie and sniffs it first. She doesn’t know I’m in the room, that I’m watching her. She takes a little nibble and then groans.

“Oh, my god, Zadie.”

She takes a big bite. Her head drops back, and she groans loudly. I think she’s literally orgasming right now. “That’s the best thing I’ve eaten in months.”

As soon as she finishes the cookie, she grabs two more.

“I don’t think cutting out meat and replacing it with cookies is healthy,” Keene says.

“Shut up. I’m not listening to any healthy eating tips from you. I’ve seen you eat ice cream for breakfast.”