I blink. “I know?”
He takes a breath. “I apologize,” he says stiffly.
I watch him for a moment and then nod, heading into the house. “Okay. You’re clearly having big feelings. Let’s try your bread.”
He follows on my heels. “It’s not—”
“Kovan!” I whirl, jabbing him in the chest. “Look at it! You got it to rise and not collapse on just your second try! That’s amazing! Why in the world are you mad?”
“Because it stilltastesbad,” he tells me testily. “You gave meonetask—”
“—which I havestruggledwith and in no way expected you to resolve in one day havingliterally never cooked before—”
“—I haveone wayto ease the burden I am placing on you, and I tried another and thatalsohas made things worse for you—”
“I’m really surprised that a sage of resolve seems to think that things are only worthwhile if they’re done immediately? There isn’t a time limit on figuring out how to make bread.”
”Iresolved,” Kovan practically snarls, “to not add further burden toyou, and I have donethe exact opposite.”
I grab his face in my hands, which seems to short-circuit his brain.
It will probably short-circuit mine too if I stop to think about what I’m doing for longer than a second, so I don’t.
“Kovan, look at me. This morning I got to eat bread in my own home for the first time in weeks.You made bread. And then you madebetterbread. Two whole loaves! Do you have any idea how many batches I’ve had to scrap because I flat out forgot about them? As far as I’m concerned, right now you’re made of magic, and not the sage kind. I don’t even remember what’s in the ice house, Kovan.”
He frowns. “Is it not ice?”
I open my mouth; close it. “I mean, there is also ice, which is now going to have to last a lot longer, but that’s not the point. Thepointis that you are being unreasonably hard on yourself—no, don’t argue with me, are you going to stand there and tell me that ifIhad baked that bread my first time that you’d be giving me shit about it?”
Kovan closes his mouth.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
He... keeps staring at me.
Oops, still holding his face in my hands. I yank them back like they’re too close to the fire—and maybe, given what kind of heat he makes me feel, they are.
Something flashes in his gaze, but I’m already turning away so my flush isn’t as obvious.
Then I turn back and inform him, “I’m going to eat a piece.”
A muscle in his jaw ticks, but he nods.
I cut a piece for me, and one for him.
Kovan’s gaze is intent on mine as I take a bite, making me blush for reasons I don’t fully understand. I’m eatingbread, for gods’ sake.
Once I swallow, I raise my eyebrows. “Are you going to eat too, or just watch me?”
“It’s bad.”
“Who knew sages were so picky?” I tease. “So hard, not having your life fully catered to.”
Kovan narrows his eyes at me.
Then he stuffs a bite in his mouth.
Ha, got him. And judging by the way his gaze never leaves mine, he knows it.
