Page 56 of Still Yours
“Raw?” I can’t help it despite Noa’s warning expression to be quiet. “That’s a perfect medium rare. I’ve been to a lot of places where chefs like you take charge, and every single upper-crust elite that dines in places like that would accept this breast as a fucking beautiful one.”
The room goes silent. Heating saucepans continue to sizzle, the pop and spit of fat seemingly louder than normal.
“Stone,” Noa hisses. “If he says it’s undercooked, then it’s undercooked.”
Saint crooks an eyebrow at me. “Anything more to add, Mr. Williams?”
“It’s clear your talent is not wasted by coming to Falcon Haven.”
There’s an audible gasp from Rad.
Saint rubs his lips together. “I could say the same to you. Consider me properly belittled, just as you will be when you realize this is your last class.”
“He didn’t mean it.” Noa’s voice takes on a squeak of desperation. “Stone’s hotheaded, but he’s here for me. His mother couldn’t be with me like we planned, and I didn’t want to lose my spot, so he graciously accepted to be my partner for these classes. Mysilentpartner.”
That last part is directed at me.
The puff in my chest deflates at the shattered look in her eye, like I’m about to destroy her dreams once again.
It’s with her expression in mind and not any chagrin on my part that I turn to Saint and agree. “I’ll refrain from voicing my opinions. Mostly. Don’t kick her out of the class.”
After a pregnant pause where I’m almost sure he’s going to kick her out anyway, Saint says, “I bet that hurt to say.”
I grit my teeth in an attempt not to rise to his bait. Noa trembles beside me.
“Consider that your last chance,” Saint says. He turns to Noa, his eyelids softening slightly—such a small tic that I’m almost sure I imagined it. It makes me want to leap at him. “Do the duck again, but correctly this time.”
“Yes, chef.”
Noa gets back to work, refusing to look at me.
For the rest of the evening, the only conversation I receive from her are curt words and brief instructions, and even then, it’s not much. I’m relegated to stirring duty, as I can’t be trusted to cut vegetables evenly or work meat properly. They sufficiently wound my ego as each minute passes with vague glances from Saint and pointed dismissal from Noa.
When the dish is finished and Saint approves of all but one, I know I’m in deep shit.
“The fat on the duck is charred along the edges, dry, and under seasoned,” Saint says to Noa. “While the sauce is delicious, it will break by the time I’m finished this sentence. You didn’t stir it enough.”
I slant a look at him.
“Relax your murder face,” Noa hisses.
“Can’t,” I say under my breath. “I’m picturing all the ways I can turnhiminto a duck breast.”
“That being said,” Saint says, “I’ll allow you back next week because I see talent in your knife cuts and you’ve formed a perfect, delicious crust on top. You have potential, Miss…?”
“Shaw. Noa-Lynn Shaw.”
Noa smiles despite the cutting criticism he’d wielded seconds before. Apparently, all this man has to do is add one compliment to five insults, and he’s back to her good graces.
“Who is currently and forever unavailable,” I add. Noa cuts a glare in my direction and I meet it. “I only state facts,” I say, before returning to scut duty and cleaning our station.
“It’s lovely to meet you, Noa-Lynn. I look forward to seeing you rise to more challenges.”
Saint finishes by gifting her with a closed-mouthed, dimpled smile before turning his attention to the other couples. To my utter disgust, Noa grows a bashful flush under his attention. I pause in wiping down the counter, glaring at the back of his head while a continues his natural criticism of the other tables.
“How is this meant to be a date night activity?” I ask. “I think it’s more like if you’re into masochism outside the bedroom.”
“If you would stop excreting your big dick energy all over the place,” Noa retorts, “you’d understand that he isyouin the chef world. A James Beard award winner, one of the youngest in the nation, and a man who garnered critical attention by the age of eighteen. It’s a privilege to work under him, never mind be taught by him, and you of all people should not judge his success simply because he’s currently living in a small town.”
