Halfway through it, he winced. Then, with the kind of dramatic flair only he could get away with, he dropped onto the sofa with a heavy huff. "I swear to God, everything's sore."
A smirk tugged at my lips as I returned my attention to the stove. "Good. That means I did it right."
He let out a strangled noise that turned into a groan. "You – "
He went quiet after that. I didn't turn around, but I could feel his glare bore into my back from across the room. My grin widened as I pictured the sharp edge of his scowl and the faintred creeping up his neck.
Without warning, something thumped hard against the back of my head. I jerked forward, barely catching myself against the cupboard before I fell into it. The spatula clattered onto the counter as I looked down.
Lying innocently by my feet, I found one of the throw pillows from the sofa. I blinked at it, then turned to make a face at Rowan.
He sat frozen, face flushed to his ears. And he also held another pillow like he wasn't sure whether to throw it or use it as a shield. His mouth twitched with suppressed laughter, but there was a flicker of real hesitation in his eyes as I narrowed mine.
I stepped away from the stove. "Oh, you're dead."
He bolted.
I was faster.
I caught him around the waist before he could scramble away. He shrieked when I tackled him back onto the cushions and pinned him under my weight. To his credit, he fought valiantly, squirming and kicking in protest. But I had the upper hand, and he knew it.
“No – Eli – !” He gasped between fits of breathless laughter, twisting away as I dug my fingers into his sides.
“You thought you’d get away with that?”
His only answer was a choked, wheezing laugh as he thrashed beneath me. "Not – notfair– !"
I found that one spot just under his ribs. The one I knew would do him in.
His laughter turned desperate. "Ack! Okay, okay! I give up!"
I eased off to let him breathe but kept him pinned. Red-faced and grinning, his chest heaved beneath me as he caught his breath.
I leaned down to brush my nose against his. "That was amistake, love."
Rowan gave an indignant huff. He opened his mouth as if to fire back, but instead, he grabbed the remaining pillow and whipped it straight across my face.
I wasn't going to letthatstand.
We barely made it two seconds before we collided again in a mess of limbs and cushions, both of us wrestling and laughing hard. He wriggled and twisted under me until my knee slipped off the edge of the sofa – and we lost our balance entirely.
I hit the floor first, landing flat on my back with Rowan tumbling after me. He landed right on top of my chest and knocked the wind out of me, and my head hit the floor with a mutedthunk.
"Shit." He scrambled to sit up to get some of his weight off of me. "Are you alright?"
I blinked up at him, momentarily stunned, but my lips twitched the second I saw the lingering flush that still dusted his cheeks. "I think I'll survive," I said dramatically.
He looked vaguely horrified and halfway to laughing again. "You sure? That was a solid hit."
I sat up a little, rubbing the back of my head. "Kiss it better?'
He stiffened, then immediately relaxed with a groan and a laugh. "You menace." He sat up straighter, and in the process, he ended up straddling my hips. His hand rested lightly on my chest for balance, and the heat of him settled right over me.
My breath caught. Just a little.
He looked down at me with that new quiet confidence of his that made my pulse skip. Still flushed, still smiling, but there was a glint behind it now. Teasing, knowing, and just a tiny bit cocky.
Then he leaned in.
