“Are we celebrating or commiserating?” Nadia asked when she let them in.
“I was just frustrated with something that happened at work over the last couple of days, and I needed to bake.”
Mia and Nadia nodded. They knew how Rosie’s brain worked. The timer went off and Rosie slipped on an oven mitt, retrieved the brownies, and turned off the oven.
“They’ll be cool enough to touch in a few.” She laid the pan on her cooling rack and turned on the fan over the dining room table. “This helps.”
Caleb leaned over from his seat and inhaled deeply. “It’s a good thing I’m not dating you, Rosie, or I’d piss you off all the time just to make you bake.”
Caleb laughed when Rosie pretended to whip her oven mitt at his head. “If that was the case, you wouldn’t get to eat any of it!” She was becoming more relaxed around her friends’ boyfriends.
Nadia playfully smacked him with the back of her hand. “Stop flirting with my friends, jerk.”
Caleb just cocked an eyebrow at her. “Darlin’, if I was flirting with her, you’d know.”
Laughing, Rosie pulled out plates and glasses. She set them on the table with the milk. Mia poured a glass for her and herself, then passed it to Nadia.
Testing the brownies with the tip of her finger, Rosie found they were just on the cool side of scorching. She served them up as best she could. Warm brownies tended to fall apart. But dang, they were good.
Moans and groans were the only sounds at her table while her friends ate their treats. Warm, gooey brownie chased with cold milk was the ultimate decadence. Caleb was the first to find his words.
“If this thing with Nadia goes south, Rosie, I’m gonna knock down your door. Damn.”
Rosie crossed her arms and mustered her best glare. “Sisters before misters, Caleb. If Nadia breaks up with you, you’re off-limits.” She snickered when he pouted. “But I’ll send you the link to the recipe.”
“That’ll work.”
Nadia patted his shoulder. “Just don’t burn your dad’s shop down.”
“Geez. The smoke detector goes offone timeand suddenly I need supervision.”
Rosie grinned watching her friends pretend to bicker. This was the perfect distraction to take her mind off her troubles.
“Nadia, why do you fight with him so much?”
“We’re hardly fighting,” Caleb interjected.
Rosie winked. She’d been joking. But Nadia smirked. “Clearly you’ve never had make-up sex.”
Color rose to her cheeks, and she served up seconds. Now the joke was on Nadia. She’d never had sex, period.
Chapter 5
Acoupleofweeksbefore the tournament, Matt got a group text from Evan.
Evan: Hey, Legendary Squadron! I have good news, and I have bad news.
Keith: Hit us with the bad news first, dude.
Evan: I can’t do the tournament anymore.
Damir: What? But this was all your idea!
Matt: What happened?
Evan: The guy playing Malvolio in that production of Twelfth Night fell playing hockey and broke his arm.
Keith: What’s the good news?
