Chapter Ten Zenovia
The game was filled with action. We were all under the blanket, but soon we were all jumping up and down cheering for the Hounds.
They won the game by a lot, and the cheerleaders are handing out the cookies right now.
Even though they wanted to do it at half time, I think doing it at the end worked better for them.
Jaylen had to take a call, and Jordan had to head home. She has an early morning. This leaves me with my sexy teacher boyfriend. I love teasing him about being a sexy young teacher. With him, I can be myself and he never once judges me.
A redhead girl runs up to us with a smile.
She holds out two cookies to us. “Thank you, Evy,” Cassian says as he takes the cookies.
I don’t think I can eat any more cookies.
“Baby, this is Evy, one of my senior students.”
He introduces us. He never says they’re his best or anything like that.
He feels that all his students are great and do the best they can. He’ll always cheer all of them on.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, ma’am.” She waves at me.
“Please, none of that. Call me Zenovia.” I hold my hand out to her, and she shakes it.
She looks from me to Cassian. She’s a little nervous, that much I can tell. Luckily, I know what this is about. Cassian already told me.
“I was wondering if you need part-time help at the bakery.”
She bites her bottom lip with a little frown between her eyes.
“I love baking, and it’s the only thing I have left of my real mom. I just want to live out my dream before Dad sends me off to college to become a lawyer, as he wants me to do.”
She rambles, and I think it’s bittersweet that she wants to do something that reminds her of her mother.
I take her hands in mine to stop her from rambling on. “I would love the help. When do you want to help out?”
“I was hoping on weekends and Wednesdays. Those are the only days I have open.”
“Sounds good to me. I’ll draft something for you, and then you can come by the bakery tomorrow. We can discuss the details.”
She pulls me into a hug before she walks back to her friends.
Cassian cups my face in his hands and kisses me softly.
I don’t work weekends, but there’s always something to do, and I’m sure she’ll be able to do it.
“You’re incredible. You just made her day.” He kisses the top of my head. I lean into him as he wraps the blanket around me to keep me warm.
“I love that she wants to do this as a remembrance of her mother. I’ll teach her what I can.”
I kiss his cheek and notice Valerie staring at us.
She hasn’t been near Cassian, but I’ve been noticing the looks she’s been giving us.
I’m sure she doesn’t like that I’m this close to Cassian.
“Valerie is watching,” I whisper as I keep my cheek against his.
She glares at me, and it makes me feel a little uneasy.
Cassian covers me as he leads me toward another part of the bleachers. He doesn’t say anything until we’re with Jaylen.
“What’s going on?” Jaylen looks between me and Cassian. “He looks about ready to kill someone.” He holds his hands up. “I’ll have to take a step back and not be here.” He laughs, but Cassian just shakes his head.
“You know what the last letter said. I don’t like the way she looks at Zenovia,” Cassian says with bitterness in his voice.
“Let’s get out of here. You’re not doing the dance, right?” Jaylen asks.
“No, I’m doing the Halloween dance.”
Jaylen nods at us to come with him. He leads us to Cassian’s truck but keeps us from getting in. “Cass, scan and see if she followed us.” Cassian leans his head on my shoulder as if he is hugging me, but I know he’s checking if she’s here.
Cassian pulls back. “No, she’s not here.” He states as he unlocks his truck. He opens the door for me and helps me into the truck. He moves to pat Jaylen and says something to him, but I can’t hear what he’s saying.
He gets into the truck and pulls out of the parking lot. As he drives off, he puts his hand on my thigh, and I put my hand on top of his. He squeezes my leg softly, and I smile.
His phone goes off, and he lets go of my thigh to check what it is. He answers the call on the hands-free kit. “Jaylen?”
“Dude, something fucked up is going on. We have at least four dozen kids and parents who fainted. It seems like it was something in the cookies.” My eyes snap to Cassian’s. I know I used the same recipe as what I did the previous time.
“What? How?” Cassian pulls over to the side of the road. “How are the others?”
“We aren’t sure how. The rest of the kids and parents are fine, but there’s no more cookies for us to test.”
“Wait, I have two. A jersey and a football.” I say as I search for the cookies we were given.
Jaylen sighs before he speaks again. “Meet me at the house. I need those cookies.”
“We’ll be there in a few minutes.” Cassian ends the call and drives off again.
This can’t be happening. It will ruin my bakery. I hope they find out what happened. I’m sure I didn’t add anything that expired or anything like that.