"Not your fault," he responds. "I should have known better than to hold out food in front of her rather than giving it to her in a bowl."
"Yes."
He laughs. "No need to be so blunt."
"Am I not allowed to say what I think with you anymore?"
"Of course you are, I was just teasing."
"Oh." I look away. Things weren't like this when he came back from Wafeland, but maybe that's because I hadn't realised that I love him at that point. That's complicating things more than I thought.
We're closer together than I realised, and I can hear his breathing. I look up and meet his gaze, captivated by the way his eyelashes brush against his skin as he blinks.
I don't know how long we stand like that, but it feels like no time at all, and an age at the same time.
Nate clears his throat and pulls away. "Shall we return to making pastry?" He gestures to the table where the pastry is sitting abandoned.
I look over, surprised that I've been able to forget about it so easily when that's why we're here. "Is your hand going to be all right to bake?"
He raises an eyebrow. "What if I say no?"
"You could give me instructions," I respond. "Or we could do something else."
"There's no need for that," he assures me. "I've had worse burns. Hopefully, the butter hasn't warmed up too much."
"It wasn't subjected to dragon fire."
He laughs. "True. All right, pass it to me?"
I pick up the small bowl of butter cubes and hand them to him. He tips it into his mixing bowl and gives it a few turns before tipping it onto the side before it's properly combined. A puff of flour rises as he begins to press into it.
I frown as I watch him work. "It's almost as if you're making puff pastry, but not."
"It's a rough puff," he responds. "And it's perfect for impatient princesses."
"I'm better than I was," I counter. "At least with pastry. I've learned some lessons there. Veronica even said that my croissants were excellent, though I thought they could still have done with some adjustments, and she'll think yours are better when you make them."
He picks up a rolling pin and starts rolling out the pastry into a sheet. "Do you spend a lot of time telling your sister about how good my baking is?"
A flush rises to my cheeks, and I look away from him. "It's come up a few times."
"It's all right, I know that. I'm just always surprised when your siblings say something that makes it clear you've talked about me."
"Why wouldn't I talk about you?" I ask, turning to face him instead of the pastry, not realising until I do that it's brought us very close together. "You're my best friend, Nate. I want to talk about you." My heart squeezes tightly as I say the words. Maybe because they don't quite encompass all of the feelings I have for Nate. I can't unhear Veronica's insistence that I can't keep the fact I love him quiet either. But am I really supposed to tell him randomly? I can't do that.
For some reason, Nate looks as conflicted as I do, though I don't know why that might be, considering he doesn't have secret feelings for me. This is a one-sided thing that I either need to tell him about or get over.
"I like that you talk about me," he says quietly, reminding me that we're in the middle of a conversation.
"I'm glad, because I imagine that I'm going to have even more reason to now that you're back." I reach out and place a hand on his chest, feeling his heart race under my palm.
I'm about to pull it back when he puts his over it and holds it in place.
Even though it's only the two of us and Ember in the kitchen anyway, it feels like the whole world vanishes, and the only thing I can think of is that Nate's here. He's close enough for me to touch, and he's not going to disappear in a couple of weeks. He's going to be here.
"We should finish the pastry," he says.
"Right, yes." I pull my hand away, regretting the loss of physical touch between us. It's a strange thing for me to want with someone. I don't even like it when my family touch me, and I only tolerate my lady's maid because Betsy has become an expert at dealing with my sensitivity issues, and I know there are certain things that are expected of me as a princess.
