“You had classes from four to eight, and then we went to the bar. You haven’t had dinner.” He sounded as if he was doing the mental math in his head.
“Oh, yeah, no, I haven’t.” She was used to that, though, and she’d had a few sweet potato fries at JT’s.
“What can I make you?”
“What?”
“To eat, you must be starving. What can I make you?” Niko walked to the kitchen with urgency and opened the fridge. She watched the way the cotton on his t-shirt stretched against his back as he leaned over and began to rattle off options.
A dam broke, and a deluge of feelings flooded through Tiana, making it impossible to hear the words he was saying. She was not an emotional multitasker.
She cut him off with a light, “Surprise me,” hoping her voice masked the turmoil going on inside of her.
Niko glanced over his shoulder, the interior light illuminating his strong profile, and the smile that spread on his face nearly caused her to faint. Her knees instantly became the noodles she’d typically be cooking for herself.
She took in a shaky breath, hoping Niko didn’t notice the emotional grenade his gesture had just detonated in her. She’d never had a man, other than Pops, offer to cook for her. Or a woman, for that matter. And Pops, bless him, was not really handy in the kitchen, so his “cooking” involved microwaves, and the work was mostly done by Chef Swanson, who packaged meals to be eaten in front of TVs. Not that she was complaining. Some of her best memories were eating TV dinners at Pops after work when she was emancipated and lived on her own. It was the first time she actually felt the semblance of a family.
Instead of sitting on the stools or the kitchen table, she hopped up onto the island, trying to keep the feeling more casual, not so…real. She liked Niko more than she’d ever let herself admit before tonight, and the more time she spent with him, the more her feelings were expanded, ballooning dangerously in her chest.
He pulled out two waters.
“Thank you,” she said softly as he handed one to her.
He nodded and then began grabbing ingredients, humming softly as he worked. “You’re getting my signature grilled cheese,” he announced, “but I’m elevating it.”
“Elevating it,” Tiana repeated after taking a drink. “Should I be nervous?”
He glanced over his shoulder and grinned. “Don’t worry, you’re ingood hands.”
Whether or not he meant his statement as a double entendre, that was how her lady parts took it. Hearing the gruffness in his tone as he said, good hands, was the equivalent of getting three sevens in a slot machine, and her entire body lit up screaming,jackpot.
Tiana watched as he lined up thick slices of sourdough and a pat of butter, then pulled out a block of aged cheddar from the crisper. She liked this, seeing him inthiselement, domestic. She wondered what all the tabloids would think if they saw him now. Or if they saw him with those kids he sponsors. Not just the photo ops but the relationships. She was getting the feeling that no one had ever bothered to see how remarkable the man Niko was beyond the womanizing and occasional bar and paparazzi fights.
He opened the pantry and pulled out a tiny jar of Demerara sugar, shaking it like a magic wand. “You ever had caramelized grilled cheese?”
“Is that legal in this state?” she shot back.
“I got licensed to caramelize,” he deadpanned without missing a beat.
“Youhave alicenseto caramelize?” She pretended to swoon. “Oh my.”
He glanced over his shoulder, his half-grin revealing his deep dimple. “I don’t like to brag.”
She chuckled as he began to assemble the sandwich. This scene was out of her dream life book. Going out with friends, coming home, and joking around in the kitchen. She wondered if maybethiswas the Hope Falls Effect, that subtle tilt of the universe that everyone talked about but nobody quite believed in. A place where the impossible sometimes just… happened.
There was something almost reverent about the way Niko worked, he buttered the bread, layered the cheese, then sprinkled sugar over the outside before pressing the sandwich onto the griddle, the hiss and aroma adding to the ambiance.
She couldn’t take her eyes off of him. He was mesmerizing, the curve of his mouth as he concentrated, and the way his hands moved with certainty. He looked happy, truly happy, in a way she hadn’t seen before. It made her want to memorize the image.
“So you’re a big Love Island fan, huh?” she asked, trying to do anything to distract herself so she wouldn’t start drooling.
The corners of his mouth turned up. “I was wondering if you were gonna let that slide or not.”
“Not,” she replied, but the truth was she’d actually forgotten once he kissed her. She’d only remembered now because she was grabbing at straws for something to say so she didn’t blurt out,you are the sexiest man alive, and I want to have your babies.
“G used to watch it when we were together.”
Bringing up his ex helped. “Oh, so you watched it with her?”
