Page 108 of After All This Time

Oh God, not the lip bite. It’s making me want to bite his lip with my teeth until it swells up like a balloon.

“We could if you want to, but I think it’d be better for our health if we don’t do that.”

I escape the forcefield he brought upon us, opening the fridge to search for the ingredients that are a part of my brilliant idea.

Pesto. Grated parmesan cheese. Greek yogurt. Cream cheese.

I haven’t made this in months, so I hope this comes out good.

If it comes out like shit, we might be having eggs for dinner.

Or maybe we might be skipping straight to dessert.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

noah

I have no idea what’s going on. I’m just rolling with the punches here.

“What are you doing there, Picasso?”

“Don’t you trust me, Heart Eyes?”

More than you'll ever know. Wait, did she just call me Heart Eyes? The nickname gives me whiplash. She pulled that one out of her fine ass.

“Of course I do.” I scan over the ingredients sitting out on the counter next to the stove. “You’re making a pesto cream sauce, aren’t you?”

She claps her hands together, mocking me. “Good job. You figured it out. Can you take out the large nonstick pan that’s in the bottom cabinet near the stove?”

“Is it on my left or right?” I gesture with my hands.

“On your left.” She shows me with her hand which bottom cabinet the pan is in.

I open the cabinet door, grab the pan, and leave behind a conglomeration of loud noises which make my ears hurt.

“Sorry.” I shrug my shoulders, sticking my hands out with my palms facing up.

She wets her lips with the tip of her tongue and grabs all the ingredients with her hands, placing them all on the countertop next to the stove.

“Do you need any assistance, Chef Dani?”

Her lips sway to the side of her mouth. “Are you actually going to help or are you just going to stand over me the entire time and supervise?”

Sweat is building on my forehead and other places I won't name.

“Tell me what you need me to do and I’ll do it.”

God, I love it when she bosses me around.

There’s no doubt in my mind she gets off on bossing me around because her eyes sparkle like a freshly clean countertop when she does it.

“I need you to get garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasoning from the pantry.”

I give her a military hand salute. “You got it, Boss.”

Walking over to the pantry, I’m immediately overwhelmed by the shelves on the inside of the door. They’re filled to the brim with dried herbs and spices. I’m searching for the shit she told me to find, but I can’t find them.

A finger taps on my shoulder. I turn around to see Dani smirking at me. She finds all the ingredients seasoning within seconds.

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