Free Lost in Time (Forever and Always #20) by E. L. Todd

Cade was a chef. Cade was home all day, so I
wondered if he was working. I didn’t see how. Flynn and I still had
no idea what was going on with him. After Flynn asked him a few
times, he just gave up.
    “Another day at the office?” he asked as he
sat across from me.
    I stiffened at his closeness. I hoped he
didn’t notice. “Yep.” I was wearing my pencil skirt and blouse with
my hair pulled back. I definitely didn’t look like a dancer
anymore, but at least my feet didn’t hurt.
    “You look nice.”
    Did I hear him right? “Uh,
thanks.”
    He ate his hash browns then moved onto his
eggs. “You never eat breakfast so I thought I would entice
you.”
    “Why are you being so nice to me?” I blurted.
The words flew out before I could stop them. I assumed this
behavior would end after the sun rose, but Cade was exactly the
same way as he was yesterday. He treated me like I was a friend,
someone he actually liked and respected. I couldn’t understand what
had changed him so much and so suddenly.
    He flinched at my words then played with his
eggs with his fork. “I just…I don’t know. I’d like it if we could
be friends.”
    “Do you want something from me?” I hated to
be cold, but Cade was a jerk to me for a really long time. I
couldn’t imagine him being sweet to me just because. It didn’t seem
real.
    “No…” He stopped eating altogether. He put
down his fork. “I just…a lot has happened in my life and I’ve had a
lot of reflection. I regret the way I treated you and how I
behaved. It was wrong.”
    I was speechless.
    “I see the way you are with my brother, and I
know he really loves you. And, I see how good you are to him. You
do little things that really make his day. You always put him first
and make him smile. You don’t deserve to be treated like dirt.”
    Was this really happening? I hoped
Cade would change but I didn’t expect it to happen in this way.
Since we hadn’t been speaking for months, I assumed no change had
happened. He hated me in silence and I felt the same way. I guess
there was more going on behind that rough exterior.
    “My brother has been good to me even when he
shouldn’t be. When my world had fallen apart, he was the only one
who was still there for me. I owe him a lot more than what I’ve
been giving him lately.”
    Again, I didn’t know what to say.
    “And you clearly mean a lot to him, so you
mean a lot to me too.”
    I felt warm inside. The awkwardness stretched
between us for a while. I played with my toast but didn’t take a
bite.
    “You want to have dinner with me tonight?” he
asked.
    “Sure,” I said quietly.
    “Cool.”
    I finished my breakfast then put my plate in
the sink. “Thanks for the meal.”
    “Anytime,” he said.
    After I waved, I walked out and headed to
work.
     
    I replayed my conversation with Cade
repeatedly. So much had happened and it was hard to believe. Was
this really the new him? What happened? When he said his world fell
apart, what did that mean?
    When I came home, he was reading on the
couch.
    “How was work?” he asked.
    I would never get used to this normalcy.
“Good. How was your day?”
    He shrugged. “Fine.”
    “I’m going to shower then we can go.”
    “Okay.” He kept reading.
    After I changed and got ready, we left the
apartment.
    “Are you craving anything?” he asked.
    “No. I eat everything.”
    “Well, that makes it easy,” he said with a
laugh. It reminded me of Flynn’s.
    We walked into an Indian restaurant. The
curry immediately reached into my nostrils.
    After we sat down, we both looked through our
menus. With just a single glance, I knew what I wanted. We both
ordered and waited for the food.
    Cade rested his elbows on the table and
looked out the window.
    I stared at him and studied his face. “Cade,
can I ask you something?”
    “Sure.”
    “Why have you been living with us for
months?”
    He sighed. “I guess I have to come clean
about it eventually…”
    I waited for him to