That sexy, scheming, motherfucking beautiful bastard—he was totally awesome. He’d obviously noticed my distress with a bunch of things during class, and this had been his way of helping to take my mind off it. In the most amusing way imaginable.
“That shirt is definitely doing the job. Looks like it’s freaking painted onto your skin, babe.” I snatched his forearm, then tugged him to me and gnawed at his bicep, earning a chuckle from him. “That’s what you get for teasing me.”
He wiped his bicep of my saliva, then snatched my shoulder to hold me steady, while he spread it over my lips. “And that’s what you get.”
“Hot damn,” I said, making a show of licking my lips back at him. “I’m down with that.”
Heat flared in his eyes.
Our gazes locked.
But then he blinked and shook his head to himself. “Stop,” he said, laughing. “We’re here to do the foodie thing, right?”
“Foodie thing? You’re adorable,” I crooned, tickling under his chin.
“Z!” he cried, batting my hand away.
I laughed and stepped aside, so he could come on in to the kitchen.
As he walked in and I closed the door behind him, I asked, “Do you need to get a quick feed in before Evira and Vax get here?”
“Huh?” he responded, distractedly, as he took in everything.
I’d set up three different stations around the room on the stone counters.
I didn’t really like the design of the place—it was deeply plain, especially for somebody like me. Beige walls, off-white linoleum floors, the cabinets taupe with pale-yellow knobs.Yeesh.But it had the space needed for this sort of thing. And it was also a kitchen I had access to myself without needing to call in any favors or jump through any hoops.
Well, maybe except for the emotional ones… of being back in this abandoned family home of mine.
Nah, even then, the kitchen aspect was still worth it.
It was about tonight, what the four of us were gonna do together, nothing else, and definitely not… that. Besides, I hadn’t ventured into any other rooms of the house, just the kitchen. I’d pulled the dusty sheets off, cleaned off the counters and freshened up the place, before setting up the groceries and the three stations.
One station was set up to help Vax find fun and pleasure in food despite his really strict Basilisk diet. I’d gone with a Venom-Stable Feast Plate that I was gonna teach him how to make.
The second station to the right of that was for Evira and Winter but could also be eaten by Vax. It was gonna be for making Savory Hand Pies. The steps were similar to what Evira was used to with her quiche-making, but also different enough to be considered branching out. They had a spiciness to them that Winter would get a kick out of too.
The third station was for dessert-making. I had two we were gonna make. Cheesecake slices with smoked honey drizzle and blackcurrant truffles.
“This is incredible,” Winter commented. “You put so much effort into it all.”
“Thanks. It’s gonna be fun, right?”
He turned back to me. “Of course. What did you ask me a second ago, before I got distracted by the cooking stations you prepared?”
“Do you need to feed before we start all of this?”
He frowned. “Why are you asking? You usually just go with it, wait for me to call or show up at your dorm room.”
Shit.“Just… felt like asking, I guess. So you didn’t have to this time.”
That frown deepened, accompanied by a whole lot of suspicion. “You think I have a problem with it.”
“That’s not what I said.”
“But it’s what you meant.”
“Win, listen—”
