Page 13 of Shrouded in the Dark
My eye twitched slightly. “What does being taller have to do with checking the temperature of a barbeque?”
Seth set the top down as he stepped back, his arm leaving my waist. “We have longer arms than you do. Hence, less chance to get burned if the flames go up for some reason.” The corner of his lip moved a little like he was fighting a smile.
My annoyance deflated. “Oh. Well. I guess that makes sense.” I turned away from him with my face on fire and went back into the house quickly. “I’ll put together the salad and be right out.”
The guys were all talking but their voices were muffled by the time I was in the kitchen again. The salad only took a few minutes to put together. I pulled out the ranch, but didn’t see the Italian dressing I’d bought. I went through several cabinets, wondering if I’d accidently placed it somewhere else. The only other place it could be is in the truck. It could have fallen out when I’d brought in all the bags in one trip because I was one of those people. All or nothing with grocery bags.
“Hey, I left the other dressing in the truck. I’m going to go grab it!” I yelled out before going out the front door to go to the garage.
I’d backed the truck into the garage instead of just pulling in this time. Before I looked for the dressing, I noticed the trash around the floor from earlier. I sighed as I started picking it up before throwing the food wrappers away in the trash. There’d even been a rotten leg of some kind meat. I had no idea how I didn’t smell it when I’d come in here earlier. I’d need to wash my hands when I got back inside. The Italian dressing was under the passenger side seat, I had to dig around to grab it.
After closing the garage door, I thought I heard a noise behind the building but when I looked around, I didn’t see anything. I just shrugged and went back inside. I washed my hands quickly before bringing out the salad with the different dressings. The guys had finished setting up the table and had even brought out the French bread I’d left on the counter.
Cody smiled at me as I set the salad down. He winked as he started to dish the salad out on the plates. “If we don’t force them to eat it, they’ll not touch it.” He paused for a brief moment as our hands briefly touched before moving on.
Axel just grunted when Cody plopped some salad on the plate in front of him. He was playing a game on his phone.
“Have you talked to Felicity?” I sat at the table across from him, grabbing my beer.
He looked up to meet my eyes. “Not yet. I know she was traveling somewhere with her family. Didn’t want to bug her.”
“I think it’s awesome we have service out here. I actually get bars in the cabin,” I chuckled before looking over to where Jasper and Seth were talking at the grill. “Can I do anything?” I spoke up loudly enough so they could hear me.
Jasper looked over at me and winked. “No way. You bought most of the food. Let us make the meat. It’ll be ready in just a few minutes.”
Cody sat next to me. “You go to the same school as Jasper and Axel, I take it?” He draped his arms across my chair and the other chair beside him.
As long as he didn’t touch me suddenly, my anxiety didn’t rear its ugly head.
I nodded. “Yeah, what about you? You don’t?” I grabbed a chip before dipping it.
Cody looked out onto the backyard and the pond. “Kinda. I’m taking online courses and working. Haven’t really decided what I want.” He shrugged before tipping his head back. “Jasper says you’re in the art program?”
“Yeah. I’ve got an internship for next semester too.”
“You gonna show us some?” Cody looked back at me, tilting his head. That gesture reminded me of my mom’s dog for some odd reason.
I cleared my throat as I finished my beer. “We’ll see. What are you guys going to do while you’re up here?”
“Hiking, more barbeques,” Cody smirked at Axel, “and Axel will be doing a lot of fishing. It’s one of his favorite things.”
Axel didn’t even look up from his phone but Cody yelped next to me as he pulled away from the table rubbing his left shin. I snorted suddenly but tried to cover it up with a cough.
“You just snorted!” Cody stopped rubbing his shin and laughed.
“And you just got your shin kicked for being an ass,” Axel drawled and velvet rolled over me. “Leave her be.”
I grabbed a soda, opened it, and took a sip to distract myself. “Thanks.”
Axel nodded at me before looking back at his phone.
“Food’s ready!” Jasper announced loudly as he and Seth brought the two plates with the hamburgers and steaks.
It smelled mouthwatering. There was more lemon smell mixed with some spices. Seth grabbed the top steak with the tongs and put it on my plate. His face was straight but his azure eyes had a warmth in them.
“Alright, guys, plate up.” Seth sat across from me as he grabbed some of the food before the others did. The rest of them dived on the food like they were starving. Axel grabbed two hamburgers on top of the steak. He grabbed the ketchup as Jasper was reaching for it. Jasper scoffed at him but loaded up his plate without a word.
Dinner was mostly silent as we all dug in. The steak was cooked just the way I liked it. There wasn’t any blue in the meat, but it was as rare as it could be. I tried to be quiet as I ate but a small hum of appreciation here and there slipped out but I was too busy eating to care. It wasn’t until I’d finished my steak that I looked up.
