Monsters' Gift (Crude Hill High #2) - Sam Crescent Page 0,65
so much more. I could never be without her. Didn’t want to and I knew as soon as our fathers were gone, we’d all finally be free.
Chapter Sixteen
Emily
Another new day.
Still stuck inside their home.
Well, I guessed it was my home now as well. It still seemed surreal to me to think of this place as my home, but this was how I was supposed to view it.
“Could you pass me the cumin?” Ashley asked.
I ran my gaze across the jars of spices.
After last night in the office, we’d all slept in the same bedroom, but when I woke, none of my men were to be seen, and I had Ashley’s pretty face smiling at me. I loved her, but not enough for her to be that close, or to see me naked.
Back in London, I’d rarely slept naked because of Ashley bombarding into my room at any point, offering me up spoonfuls of food.
“I don’t think we have cumin,” I said, noting coriander, cardamon, cinnamon, and a few I couldn’t even pronounce.
“Nope, it’s here. I asked Earl to get it.”
“And you don’t think he screws up?”
“I know he doesn’t screw up.”
“He’s a lot older than you.”
Ashley laughed. “Is that what bothers you? The fact I don’t want to run off and he’s a much older guy?”
Before Ashley had taken over the kitchen, I’d given her the chance to run away. Drake would have helped, at least I think he would have. I wasn’t sure. I still wasn’t entirely sure if he was as loyal as he claimed. I just wasn’t very good at believing people, and well, I guessed I needed to learn to have a little faith.
Ashley came over and instantly picked out a jar, holding it up for me to see. “Cumin.”
“Wow, you’re like a kitchen warrior or something.”
“I like to think of myself as more of a goddess.” She offered me a smile, taking her teaspoon to measure out.
“What are you cooking, anyway?”
“Not a clue. Earl offered to buy me whatever I wanted and seeing as money isn’t a question right now, I figure to have some fun and to just cook.”
“It looks like a curry.”
“It may be one.”
I loved Ashley’s curries, especially the coconut ones she did. Not too hot, but so much flavor. Just thinking about them back at her apartment made my mouth salivate.
“So, are you going to tell me all about Earl and your time with him?”
Ashley sighed. “So long as you tell me about you and your boys.”
This made me pause. “What exactly would you like to know?”
She winked at me. “How about this, you ask a question, I ask a question. Deal? We’ve got to be open and honest with each other.”
I wasn’t so sure about this, but I agreed.
“You can go first,” she said.
“What’s Earl like?” I asked.
“He’s … I don’t know. There’s nothing I can’t have. Even when I suggest it, or make you know, wishes, he always finds a way of making it happen.”
“How do you mean?”
“Nope. You don’t get to ask that. One question at a time.”
I groaned to which she giggled. “Are you sleeping with all four men?”
I stared at her. “That makes me sound like a slut.”
“Is that a yes or no?”
“Does that class as two questions?”
“You didn’t answer the first one. Come on, no avoiding. That’s cheating.”
Running fingers through my hair, I nodded. “Yes, I’m sleeping with four men.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, tell me about it.” I honestly couldn’t believe I was either. It sounded exhausting and yet here I was, more than capable of keeping up. “My turn.”
“You already asked your next question.”
“Right, but you didn’t answer.”
“Easy, I told Earl that I wanted to eat dinner while the sun set. To be out on the main boat thing. What’s that called?” she asked. “You know where you can sit on the dock? Is it a dock?”
I shrugged. I didn’t have any idea.
“Well, one night after I suggested that, I hadn’t been allowed outside, but as the sun was setting, he brought me out, and as you can imagine, it was beautiful. We had some of the nicest food, and it felt like a real date.”
“It sounds wonderful,” I said, meaning every single word.
“It was. I think it may have been the first time I didn’t see him as a monster.” She shrugged. “My turn to question you.”