Where The Ice Gives Way (Charlotte and Blake) novel Chapter 122

Chapter 122 Let Me Have This

Blaba

I don’t think Par mani sawmind that fast in my life. I wash the sweat from practice off my skin, drag my fingers through my hair, and puls on sale and a jumper while the mirror is still fogged. My hair is damp at the ends, water dripping down the back of my neck, but I don’t care. The whole house smells like dinner, sugar, garlic, warm cream, and Charlotte. Strawberries and cream. Only sweeter today

I pause at the top of the stairs with one hand on the rail, breathing her in. The scent curls through the house, soft and bright, threaded through Mum’s cooking and the chocolate still lingering from whatever they made earlier. Lex lifts his head inside me and goes still. Happy, he says. Yeah. I feel it too. There’s warmth in my chest that wasn’t there this morning. It’s settled deeper now, easier to hold. Charlotte is downstairs, and she’s sate, and she’s happy. I was right to leave her with Mum today. I hated every second of walking out the door, but I was right. She needed this.

I take the stairs two at a time. The kitchen is full when I reach it. Mum is setting bowls on the table. Charlie is talking with his hands, telling her something about practice while pretending he isn’t watching the food like a starving man, Charlotte stands near the counter with a serving spoon in her hand, hair a little messy around her face, cheeks rosy from the heat of the stove, her mouth curved in a smile. My feet stop for half a second. Then I move. She turns just as I reach her, and her eyes widen. “Blake-” I scoop her up.

She squeals, one hand flying to my shoulder, the other grabbing at my jumper as I lift her clean off the floor. “Blake,” she laughs,

breathless. “Put me down.”

“No.” Her laugh breaks brighter, and it goes straight through me.

“I’m serious,” she says, but I can hear her smiling so hard it ruins the threat.

“I haven’t seen you all day.” I carry her toward the table, arms locked around her. “Let me have this.”

Mum laughs under her breath as I sit and pull Charlotte onto my lap. Charlie freezes across the table, fork already in hand. His face twists in disgust. He looks at Mum. “Can we tell Blake no girlfriends on his lap at the dinner table?”

Mum presses her lips together, trying to look stern, but she fails. “Blake.”

I tighten my arms around Charlotte’s waist and rest my chin near her shoulder. “Good thing she’s my mate, not my girlfriend then.”

Charlotte giggles, soft and embarrassed, and ducks her face like she’s trying to hide from everyone while sitting directly on me.

Charlie points his fork at me. “That’s a bloody loophole.”

“It is,” I say. Theo would be proud of that answer.

Mum shakes her head, but she’s smiling as she places the last bowl on the table. Dad comes in from the living room, takes one look at Charlotte on my lap, and gives me the kind of look that says I’m pushing my luck. I smile at him, and he looks away first, which means I

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Chapter 122 Let Me Have Thes

“I can feed

the Anid te gier. I can win an an de wey then

130

houlders share with another laugh, and Lex gratches et inside me at fed or eng

spot betade muse, so I wear around her and pull doser Creamy pasta samghs on the wwf sem er form

1 pack up my burk, twirl some pesta around it, and lift is toward her mouth fear thesis go pins. “Blake”

“I know.” I hold the fork there. Her eyes flick to Charlie, then Wum, then back to me. The bites her lip, and for a second, I think the going to refuse just to prove a point. Then she leans forward and lets me feed her. My chest goes stupidly tight. It’s such a small thing bite of pasta. Her hand resting against my arm. The way her lathes lower as she tastes it.

But after everything she’s had to carry alone, after every meal the shipped, every plate the made for someone else first, something in me settles when I get to feed her. She chews, then her eyes lift. “That’s really good. Mun beams, and I pick up more pasta and put it in my own mouth. The sauce is creamy and rich, with garlic and herbs and just enough salt. I groan before I can stop myself. This is great, Mum. Thank you.”

Mum sits down across from us, pleased. “Well, your mate now knows the recipe, so you can thank me for that too when she’s making it at

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