The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

Chapter 187

Sasha grinned widely, showing off her perfect white teeth, and then went ahead and piled more food onto my plate.

Seeing that, Zane wasn't about to back down, either.

Before long, there was more and more food being piled onto my plate. It soon looked like a small tower.

I could see they were still trying to outdo each other, so I couldn't help but ask, "Do you two really have to play Jenga with food on my plate?"

That made Zane pause, but Sasha still wasn't satisfied and dropped two more pieces of meat onto my plate.

I laughed helplessly. "Do you think I can eat all of this?"

Sasha smiled encouragingly. "I believe in you. You can do it!"

I crushed her enthusiasm with a smile. "You can believe in me all you want, but I'm not turning into a bottomless pit!"

Zane calmly said, "You can ignore the food she gave you, but you'd better finish what I gave you."

Zane-the grown man-to show

frustration clear, they both reluctantly retrieved some of the food from

it was clear she still felt dissatisfied and hadn't given up. However, I shot

the tactful one, Zane noticed Sasha had backed down and

...

chair, a thoughtful frown crossing his face. With Jessica gone, he

all said he hated Annalise,

Annalise had always felt so... grounded. He never felt uneasy around her. In fact, he didn't mind any of the intimate moments they shared. Nothing about it bothered him, not even sharing a bed at night. Whether his eyes

his feelings

about to take a moment to reflect-really think about

It was Jessica.

answered the call absentmindedly, and her cries of

but he knew he

alone at home,

flickered back to Annalise, a

midnight. He remembered that Annalise had always seemed so stable and

a

"Can I visit