I had told him the story. I nodded.
“Well, the very next day after Marissa Bane gave birth to you is when she…killed our parents. We make my mother’s cookie recipe to remember my parents by.”
My entire body flushed with dread for a moment. They invited me to their parents’ remembrance day?
“I…shouldn’t be here,” I said. Was that why Ariyon was drinking yesterday? It was coming up on the day he became an orphan.
Ayden reached out and grasped my covered shoulders. “Fallon, why can’t you see in yourself what I see in you?”
That knocked the air from my lungs, and I met his steel-eyed gaze.
“You arenotyour mother, and you are not responsible for what she did. Ariyon and I do not hold this over you. So, just…let it go,” he said.
Let it go.It was easier said than done, especially now that I knew she was still alive. That was something I didn’t even want to think about, so I locked those thoughts deep inside of me. A problem for future Fallon to worry about.
His gaze then fell to my lips in this close proximity, and I sighed.
Oh, how I wished I could kiss him. Just to see if it would cause me pain or if I would feel pleasure like when Ariyon touched me. Everything would be so clear then, of who I should be with. Ayden wanted me, he was kind, and if we could touch, I was sure I would choose him.
But even as I thought it, I wasn’t sure it was true. There was something deeper with Ariyon that I couldn’t explain, something that made all of the sweet things Ayden said pale in comparison. I hated myself in this moment, thinking these thoughts about both brothers. It was pointless anyway because Ariyon had clearly chosen Blair. His flirting with me or whatever yesterday was at his art studio was because he was drunk and depressed.
I stared at Ayden’s lips, and he licked them, squeezing my shoulders hard. “Do you have any idea how much I wish I could kiss you?” he admitted, and my knees went weak.
I wet my lips as well. “Maybe you can. Maybe whatever Ariyon has is also in you.”
He nodded. “Maybe.” Then he released my shoulders with a disappointed look. “Or maybe not.”
“Bro, I am burning these!” Ariyon’s panicked voice came from the kitchen and Eden erupted into laughter.
The smell of smoke filled the space and Ayden hobbled off to the kitchen.
Their kitchen was nothing like ours. It had long, clean, white stone counters and matching white cabinets, along with a gas cooking stove and oven. Ariyon was bent over the oven, fanning it with a flat metal baking tray, while Eden used gloves to pull out the blackened circles. Ayden hobbled over to the window and cranked it open as I coughed, trying to avoid getting smoke in my lungs.
Ariyon looked up at me, exasperated, holding the burnt cookies out to me. “This is the first year we’ve done it without Ilana. Do you know how to cook?”
“Bake, not cook, and yes I do.” I was my father’s daughter after all, and he was a great baker.
“Do you have the recipe?” I asked as the smoke cleared.
Ariyon chucked the cookies into the trash bin and brought me a delicate piece of paper inside of a protective clear sleeve.
The paper was torn at the corner and covered in fingerprints and smudge marks, but there in a beautiful scrolling script was her recipe.
Rune’s famous cookies
3 cups oats
1 cup sifted flour
1 cup of softened butter
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup brown sugar
Half cup white sugar
