Page 12 of Intolerable Bishop

“Oh yeah? Don’t touch my spices. They’re lined up the way I like them. You’re cooking that too fast. Those mashed potatoes aren’t smooth enough. Get out of the way so I can fix them. The gravy is too runny. Don’t you dare touch the oven. If you make my souffle fall, I’ll have to kill you,” Blake mocked, and we all laughed at the perfect imitation of his brother. “Face it, you’re a tyrant in the kitchen. Mom won’t even cook with you. That says it all.”

“Whatever.” He unplugged the griddle, walked over with the leaning tower of pancakes, and plopped them down on the table.

“Where did you even get the ingredients for all this? Anything in the cupboards would be old by now.”

“I threw all that out,” Theo said, sitting down. “Then I booked a ride and went shopping all before any of your eyes were even open.”

“Well, thank you. This looks fabulous…oh my god, is that strawberry puree and fresh whipped cream?”

“Of course, how else are you supposed to eat pancakes,” Theo said, offering me the maple syrup. If it had been anyone else to say that, I would’ve said they were being facetious, but this was Theo, and I knew he genuinely felt that way.

“Good morning, Snowflake,” Myles said as cheerily as the sunny day when he walked inside. He kissed me as he sat down, and his hand gripped my thigh, setting off little fireworks in my body.

“Good morning,” I whispered against his lips.

“Ugh, you two are seriously too much. Nash is right,” Theo complained.

“Don’t tell me yer as jealous as Nash, now,” Myles said, and Theo rolled his eyes as he stabbed a piece of pancake. I was positive he was thinking of using the fork on Myles instead.

I took two of the pancakes off the plate for myself and held the pile out to Myles. As soon as everyone was busy eating, I ran my finger through the whipped cream and looked at Myles as I sucked my finger into my mouth. He stopped chewing, his eyes trained on my mouth and finger as he licked his lips.

Picking up some more, I caught Blake’s eye and repeated the process until they were both sitting, not eating, and only staring at me. See, two could play that game…well, technically three, but the meaning of the saying still held.

“Please stop that before I lay ya out on the table and eat you for breakfast instead,” Myles growled, and everyone looked at us.

“For the love of God. You’re not ruining my breakfast. Do I need to separate the three of you?” Theo fumed.

“Okay, Mom, we’ll stop,” Blake mocked.

Before the fight could get going, Ivy’s phone rang. “It’s my dad,” she said, and we all fell silent as she answered and walked away from the table.

“What do you think Morrison wants,” Blake asked, and we all shrugged.

“She didn’t even see him before we left, so I have no clue,” I whispered.

We quietly ate and caught little bits of the conversation, but Ivy was talking so softly it made it hard to hear her without making it obvious that we were trying to eavesdrop. She hung up and leaned against the counter.

“What’s going on,” I asked, standing up, ready to rush to her if she needed me.

“My dad’s gone into rehab. He just called to say he would be out of service for the next six weeks, and he didn’t want me to worry. He says he’s going to get clean and that he is sorry for being such a shitty dad. I…I…I don’t know what to say.” Her eyes filled with tears. “He’s never even attempted before.” She wiped away a tear rolling down her cheek.

Neither did any of us as we looked at one another. Was this a good thing or a bad thing? It was hard to tell with someone who was all cozy with Lawrence, but my bigger concern was if this was good for Ivy. If he stopped treating her like dirt, then it had to be a good thing.

Theo shocked me as he walked over to her and guided her back to the table. “Eat. We can worry about the why later.” He gave her a genuinely warm smile, and I could see a glimpse of what I saw last night under the hard shell. Theo might be a dick, but under it, he was as sweet and considerate as his brother. For some unknown reason, he didn’t want anyone to know.

MAY 15 – MONDAY 1:13 PM

Theo

Walking into the garage, I whistled low as I stared at the pair of cars. Who knew that Neil had the kind of money to purchase a Lamborghini Veneno? This was a limited-edition car. I circled the silver car and stared at the sleek design. The other vehicle was a GMC Yukon, which was more realistic for all of us to get around. I checked the Yukon door, and it was unlocked, so I pulled out the paperwork to see if the insurance was still valid.

“What are you doing,” Ren asked as she stepped into the garage.

“Checking to see if we can use this to get around.” I held up the paperwork. “The insurance is valid, and I’m guessing you’d be on it.” She walked around the black vehicle, and the look on her face told me this was her mom’s, not that I was surprised. From what she’d told me about her parents, her mom didn’t seem like the type who wanted to be driving around in a limited-edition car. “You good with that?”

“Yeah, there’s no point in it just sitting here, but I don’t know when it was serviced last.”

I shrugged. “All good. It’ll give me something to do.” I pointed to the Veneno. “Your father’s?”