CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“Remind me again why we’re cooking some type of pasta shells that I’ve never had before.” I say, frowning at Nathan as I take in the ingredients lined up on my counter.
He smiles, looking over his shoulder as he washes his hands. “Because Emmet let Tanner play around on Pinterest and he saw it and said he wanted it.”
“And you couldn’t have told him no?” I ask, skeptically eyeing the spinach on the counter. Green foods definitely don’t belong in my kitchen.
They’re far too healthy for my liking.
“No, because Emmet is currently his favorite and we can’t have that.”
“No, not you too, Nathan, I thought that you wouldn’t fall to the child blackmail going on.” The only thing making Tanner feel better about being on punishment is finding ways to leverage the guys into becoming his favorite. That includes letting him play games on their phones when they think I’m not looking, loading him up on his favorite snacks, and now -apparently- cooking what he wants.
Nathan shakes his head, but there’s a smile on his face and his crow’s feet at the corner of his eyes make an appearance. “I can’t stand the thought of being in last place, so I gave in,” he admits. “Chase has taken to gloating around the house when he’s in first place.”
“And how do you guys know who’s winning?” I question because I’m not aware of how the rest of the process, other than the bribes, works.
“Well, whoever Tanner gives the first fist bump to is usually a good indicator.”
My mouth drops open. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I wish I was.” He lets out a soft laugh and I shake my head.
“Fine, it doesn’t look like I’ll be convincing you to just fix me a pizza any time soon, huh?”
He shakes his head and leans over to give me a kiss on the forehead as he dries his hand. “No, plus I’m not the only one doing the cooking, you’re going to help me.”
I let out a groan at that. “I thought that I’d just lean against the counter and watch you.”
He grabs my hips and pushes me gently toward the sink. “No ma’am.” He places a kiss on my neck that heats my body and threatens to delay dinner. “You’re helping.” He moves away.
“Fine, but if you kiss me like that again, I can’t promise that I’ll be able to focus on cooking and I’m already bad at it, so…” I turn and lift a brow at him. He only lets out a laugh and I turn to the sink with a smile on my face.
I wash my hands and take my time, hoping that Nathan will get started without me but when I turn, he’s patiently waiting as he leans against the counter, letting me know that he’s definitely aware of my tactics.
“Okay, what are we doing first?” I ask, trying to feign an enthusiasm that I don’t feel. Me and cooking have never gone together and not even the hot man standing across from me can make me excited about it.
“We need to boil the shells, so can you pass me a pot?”
I raise a brow at that. “Uh…” I move over to the cabinets, knowing that grandma stocked me up on cooking ware when she came to visit, but I don’t know where she put everything. After a couple of tries, I find it in the last cabinet on the bottom and pull it out. I rinse it out, positive it’s collected dust before turning to Nathan. “How much water do we need?”
He moves over and turns on the sink and the water fills the pot. He turns it off when he’s satisfied and I move it over to the stove.
“Okay and now we need to put some salt and oil in the water to break up the starch.”
“That seems a little extra,” I can’t help the sarcasm in my voice as I grab the salt.
“It’s the little things that make a big difference,” he reassures me. “Just give it a couple of shakes and we should be good.”
I follow his instructions. “You know, I thought this was a team thing, but I feel like I’m doing all the heavy lifting.”
He laughs and moves around the counter to stand beside me. “You consider boiling water and sprinkling salt in it heavy lifting?”
“Queen of ramen, remember,” I remind him but I can’t help the smile that forms on my face.
He only laughs and moves to pour the oil in the water. “Okay, we’re going to let that boil while we get the oven set so we can preheat it.” He opens the oven and peeps inside. “I always make sure that there’s nothing in the oven first, just in case. Emmet nearly burned down the house once because, somehow, one of Charlie’s toys ended up in the oven and he turned it on without checking.”
I let out a chuckle. “Why does that not surprise me?”