Sebastian

She smelled cheap. Like a man's three-in-one soap. Way different than all the other times I've been around her. She usually smelled expensive. Like flowers. Flowers you couldn't smell on a daily basis. It was like she was her very own exotic flower.

There wasn't even a hint of her signature scent today. Just cheap soap. I first smelled it when I walked in after her, and now that I was sitting next to her, it smelled a lot stronger. I caught a whiff of it every time she moved her hair too quickly.

My brows dipped. She didn't seem like the type to be so careless about her hair care. Was she in a rush to get here?

For some reason the idea that it most likely wasn't her dad's soap bothered me.

I looked for any hints on her face as she talked to baby Brit. Any hints as to where she was before she came here. I got nothing.

Her green eyes snapped to me as if she sensed me staring and my breath caught in my throat. I didn't want to look away abruptly when I was already caught, so I smiled before looking back down at the cinnamon roll on my plate.

This time I got to watch her make the cinnamon rolls from start to finish, and I realized she made everything from scratch. Just like my mom. There was something a lot more special about something being made completely from scratch, all their love going into their creation.

Love.

I risked another glance at her and quickly realized she hadn't looked away from me. Unlike me, she blushed and looked away when she saw my eyes again. I smiled.

Seeing her on my own like this made me realize she was a lot more shy than she let on. It was cute.

"Can I have another?" Brit asked no one in particular as she licked the remaining icing off her fingers. Aleah and I locked eyes again and I was interested to see how quick she'd look away from me if I kept staring at her.

I watched as her eyes bounced between both of mine, not seeming to stay still for a second. And I wasn't sure if I imagined it, but they bounced down to look at my lips before looking away.

She grabbed Brit's empty plate and answered her question by plucking a second cinnamon roll from the pan to serve it to her.

Instead of sitting back down, she busied herself with the dirty dishes, as if trying to avoid my gaze. I wondered if she could still feel it on her as I watched her scrub plate after plate.

Finishing the last of my roll in one bite, I stood up and carried my plate over to her, still chewing. I could tell she was doing her best to avoid my eyes as she looked up to focus on something outside the kitchen window. I followed her line of sight, seeing nothing but grass and an empty street. I couldn't help but smile a little.

Her wet hand took a hold of my plate, but I didn't let go. I wanted her to look at me again.

Her brows furrowed as her eyes met mine, both of us still holding onto the plate. She opened her mouth to say something, but I let go before she could utter a word, satisfied just by having another look into the beautiful green hue of her eyes.

I swallowed the cinnamon roll as I walked back to the table to kiss the top of Brit's head. I should really head out, before I made her babysitter uncomfortable.

But before I could say goodbye, Brit beamed up at me. "Wanna watch Frozen and Frozen 2 with us?"

It was hard not to notice the way Aleah tensed at the sink, at the idea of me staying for more than three hours. I already felt like I overstayed my welcome. And although I usually did stay for ten hours at a time sometimes, that was when Nathan was home.

"I can't, princess." The immediate frown squeezed my heart. I hated telling her no. "Maybe next time?"

Aleah turned to see Brit pouting, and she walked over, wiping her hands dry with a kitchen towel. Brit was on a stool that she didn't bother to pull out, so the only way to get to her was from behind. And since I was already behind her, Aleah pushed her way between us and I froze when her ass rubbed up against me when she bent down slightly to talk to her.

Whether she did it on purpose or not, I still felt like my whole fucking groin was on fire. Not risking her feeling my blood travel to my dick, I backed away and pushed my sleeves further up my arms.

The whole house felt hot.

"He can stay, right, Aleah?" Brit's soft voice practically begged.

Aleah tried to soothe her by petting her head, smoothing down her hair. "If he could, he would, baby. He's probably busy."

Brit looked up at me with teary blue eyes and I cursed under my breath. I don't know what I expected. I always gave in to her. "Fine, I'll stay for one movie. Okay?"

Beaming, she jumped off her seat and ran up the stairs.

I looked up at the clock on the wall and realized she was probably getting ready to go straight to bed after the movies ended.

Aleah continued to get busy cleaning the kitchen and I felt bad just standing there, so I grabbed some of the dishes in the kitchen island and carried them over to the sink.

She noticed and waved me off. "You don't need to help me, it's okay."

"I'd feel useless if I didn't."

"That's fair."

We both worked in silence, our habit of meeting each other's eyes continuing. Every now and then she'd look up and I looked down in time to catch her.

At one point I checked if the oven was still on, because the kitchen was getting too hot to stand in.

"Aleah! Sebby!" Brit called out from the top of the stairs and we both looked up to see her holding up two pairs of slippers. One of them were in the shape of Olaf and the others had the head of Sven at the front. "Which ones?"

For what felt like the hundredth time today, Aleah and I looked at one another. We both debated our answer in silence, before shouting back at Brit two completely different responses. I went for Sven while Aleah voted Olaf.

Giddily, Brit ran back into her room to finish getting ready for the night, happy with our answers. I wondered which one she'd go for since we didn't give a solid choice.

"Guess we'll see who she prefers when she walks back out, right?" Aleah pointed out, an amused smile grazing her lips. "For some reason I doubt she's walking out in white slippers."

"I didn't think of it that way." I chuckled. "She loves both Sven and Olaf equally. Maybe it's the same with us."

She paused to think about it, bending down to pick up some toys scattered on the ground, walking over to the living room to drop them in Brit's toy bin.

It wasn't long after when Brit ran down the stairs, and the first thing both Aleah and I did when she stood in front of us, was to look down at her feet.

I smiled over at Aleah, and she laughed to herself. Brit had one of each slipper. Rocking Olaf on her left foot and Sven on her right foot.

Brit seemed proud of herself and her choices. I picked her up and sat her on my hip, holding her up with one arm.

"Alright, I'll get some popcorn ready while you guys start the movie. Sound good?" She was asking both of us, but she was looking at me. I nodded. She smiled, her eyes briefly looking down at my lips again before she turned.

Throughout the movie, both Aleah and I would reach into the popcorn bowl at the same time, and each time our fingers grazed one another, she'd pull away as if burned.

To avoid it, I'd take my eyes off the movie when I went for more popcorn, pausing and waiting my turn when I'd see her hand reach as well. She was focused on the movie, not looking away. Not even when a popcorn missed her mouth and fell onto her lap. Instead, she patted around for it and plucked it out from between her thighs before dropping it in her mouth.

Feeling eyes on me, I looked down and saw Brit smiling at me. Shit. She noticed me staring at her babysitter like an idiot.

Giggling softly, she bent her knees up to her chest and hugged both of her slippers.

I couldn't help but notice she had us sitting on the side with the slipper we picked. I was on her right side, while Aleah was on her left.

Was that her way of hugging us both just now?

Not giving it further thought, I made sure the bowl of popcorn was free for me to grab my last handful before focusing on the movie.

Why did it suddenly feel like Brit was playing Cupid?