Once I was about halfway, I snuck a crispy chip and shoved it into my mouth. It was the perfect combination of fried crunchy deliciousness that tempted you to take another and another. I reached for another, and he smacked my hand.
I looked up at him, mouth wide open as I tugged my hand back. He didn't take his eyes off his cooking chips, but I saw the wiry smile on his face. "My mom used to do that to me."
Both of us stiffened at his admission. It was small, just a slip of the tongue, but I knew the significance. I remembered what I had read and what had happened to his family. I wondered if he was happy with how it all ended for them?
There was an instant rage that filled the room fast, like a sinking ship. I felt the vibrations of not only his explosive anger but also his wolf inside of him chomping his jaw, mimicking his human side at the memories that flooded him.
The only thing that snapped me out of this overwhelming feeling was the burning smell, and I looked at his pan. The tortillas were turning an ugly shade of black and dark brown, burning all the way through, but he was staring straight, lost in his own thoughts. I didn't want him to snap out of it and be embarrassed, so I quickly scooped them out and placed them on my sheet.
He snapped out of it as soon as I pulled my arm across his face, placing the burnt ones on my sheet. He looked down at his pan and then over to my sheet, connecting the dots as his face flushed. He gritted his teeth, and anger flared into his eyes, but, for once, the anger didn't seem to be pointed at me. He opened his mouth, ready to spew some kind of venom to ease the sting of embarrassment I was sure he felt, but I beat him to it.
"Don't worry! I like them burnt." I plucked one off the sheet and stuck it into my mouth. I regretted it instantly when it turned to straight-up ash, but I made the motions of chewing to keep up the facade. "See." I almost puked. "It's perfect! Thank you."
The scrutiny in his eyes was overwhelming, but I didn't waver. I went to grab another one to double down on my lie when he leaned over and stopped my hand, his face inches away from mine as he said, "Then save them for later."
On the inside, I was screaming no, wishing I could scrape my tongue with a knife, but I smiled and nodded. "Great idea."
I turned to grab another handful of tortillas when I thought I heard him take a sniff of my hair, but as soon as I turned my head, he was already putting a new batch of tortillas into his own pan. I must've been wrong.
We worked quickly after that and finished in no time. After that, he showed me how he spread all the chips out, spread cheese, red sauce, and avocado chunks all over. Then he quickly cooked some sunny-side-up eggs and put them on top.
By the time we brought out the two trays filled to the brim with its mouthwatering ingredients, all the guys were sitting around the table looking just as starved as I felt.
We sat down and ate it all up, family style, scooping up heaps onto each of our plates and chowing down on its eggy, cheesy, crunchy goodness. I even told Dino that this meal had made it to my top five best breakfast dishes, but I wouldn't tell him the actual rank. He growled at my refusal, but I just leaned back and enjoyed my full belly and the sounds of Duce and Dino fighting over the last scraps.
Man, I'm going to miss this.
Chapter 19
Assoonasbreakfastwas done, and everyone started to pick up their plates, we heard a familiar voice call from the front door.
“It's me! I'm coming in! I have my eyes covered so I don't see any swinging dicks in the hallway!”
Duce’s chair scraped against the hardwood as he shot up at Emma’s voice and yelled back. “That was only one time seven years ago. When are you going to let that go?”
Emma whipped around the corner, her eyes still covered, but I could see her looking through the slits of her fingers. When she saw Celine sitting there, smiling wide, she dropped her hand from her eyes and waved. “Oh! Hey, girl!”
Celine lifted her own hand and wiggled her fingers towards Emma. “Hey, Emma. Now what was this about dicks swinging?”
The whole room groaned as Emma’s lips turned up with a devious glint to her eyes. “Well, you see, it all started with my craving for some popcorn. I came here, planning to raid their cabinets, when all of a sudden, they all walked in through the front door naked and sweaty.” She started to make gagging noises as Celine’s eyes flared with heat.
When Emma saw she wasn’t getting the reaction she wanted, she lamented, “These guys are like big annoying overprotective brother pests. I don't want to see that shit. That's like seeing old people fuck.” She pushed Dino out of his seat and turned fully towards Celine. “Like, you know that shit exists, that it’s life, but you don't want to see the show. Grody.”
“I don't know.” Celine looked around at all of us as she bit her lip. “I might watch that show.”
Emma’s head fell back as she cackled. “Yeah, you're the wrong audience for this story. That gives you one negative point, but since you are at a hundred already, it's not that much of a drop.” Celine stuck out her lip, making a sad face at Emma.
I watched as everyone shifted closer to Celine, all of us drawn to her, compelled to make that frown go away. It made me sure that Celine was our mate, even if some of them didn't know it yet. Only our mate could make a simple pretend sad face that had us compelled to change it.
“Buuuuttt,” Emma sang out as she leaned towards Celine, “you can climb back up if you spend the day with me.”
“Emma-”
“Sister-”
“Hey! Demon baby-”
The vocal ones of our group started as Gears, and I kept quiet, trying to see how this was going to play out. When Emma was involved, it was always a toss-up on who won.
