Well, that’s what I thought until this morning. We’d been seeing each other for almost a month now, and Ash made a decision that threatened all of that.
Instead of having toast, he opted for cereal.
It wasn’t the change that bothered me. Nor was it the choice of cereal. Cornflakes were a British breakfast staple.
No, it was the fact he poured the milk into the bowlfirst.
My jaw was agape as I watched Ash in horror. He hadn’t stopped talking, rattling off about his co-worker and utterly unaware that he was shattering my image of him, he continued filling his bowl.
“She wouldn’t stop crying. I told herJulie, it’s just a job. You can’t be a bitch just because you feel threatened. I mean, I get it. She’s twenty years younger than you and far more competent but-”
“What are you doing?”
Ash looked up in surprise. I hadn’t meant to interrupt it, but I couldn’t take it any longer. “What?”
I pointed at the milk that he’d just stopped pouring. “There. That.”
“Umm…making cereal?”
“By putting the milk infirst?”
Ash’s smirk spread slowly across his lips. “It’s actually very logical if you think about it. If I did the cereal first, I might add too much milk. It’s much easier to control the pour of the cornflakes than it is of the milk.”
I clapped my hands to my face in mock horror. “Just when I thought you were perfect! So sad that I have to end it now.”
Ash clutched at his chest dramatically. “Who knew cereal would be this divisive?”
“Wait,” I exclaimed, fighting to contain my laughter. “Maybe we can save this. What about tea? Do you add the milk first?”
“Are you mad?” Ash brandished his spoon at me. “I have standards, Sir!”
The sight of him in his tattered green dressing gown, waving his cutlery like a sword, had me breaking.
Laughter bubbled out of me as I tugged Ash in for a hug. Tears streamed down my face as I roared with mirth, Ash giggling against my chest.
That was the thing I was learning about being around Ash. He wasfun.And even better?
He mademefun.
He was bringing out a side of me I hadn’t even realised existed before. I liked it.
I liked the person I was around Ash.
Ash’s phone buzzed on the table, I gave him a peck before releasing him to get my own breakfast. I headed for the fruit bowl. Definitely safer there.
Grabbing an orange, I turned to find Ash staring down at his phone.
His smile was gone, his face more ashen than usual. He was frowning down at his phone, his muscles tense like he was about to strike.
Or flee.
“Ash?” I squeezed his shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
He flinched away from my touch, putting his phone screen to sleep. His lips were thin, his face harder than I’d ever seen it. “Nothing. I’m going to get dressed.”
My stomach twisted as I watched Ash stalk away from me. What the fuck had just happened?
Clearly, Ash had seen something on his phone that’d upset him. The question was, what?