Page 75 of The Pushy Pixies Are Going Down
“Thanks. I’m glad you like it.”
A few minutes later, Aeson hummed, eating a bite of macaroni salad. “Holy crap, this is so good too.”
Miles smiled slightly. “Thanks.”
Aeson pointed at his full plate with his fork. “Did you two go to culinary school or something? Were you a chef before the exterminator thing?”
Miles snorted. “Definitely not. I’ve just been cooking for a long time.”
I tried to keep a smile on my face at that, but I was pretty sure it turned into a grimace.
The reason Miles had been cooking for so long was that his parents made him take care of himself when he was still a kid. I was pretty sure he was cooking his own dinners at age ten, possibly even younger. And after he got kicked out at eighteen, he’d been all alone.
And he hadn’t had anyone since. Not really. Not in the sense of having a partner or even a roommate to share the load with.
The poor guy had been taking care of himself his entire life, and all he wanted to do now was take care of animals, faeries, and clearly, other people too.
My boyfriend with the biggest heart.
Chaos said, “I can cook easy things, but nothing like all of that.” He gestured to the table, and I was relieved he was joining in on the conversation and not going to just sit there and brood like the broody teenager he was.
“Well, if you ever want a recipe or even want me to help you learn how to cook something, just let me know.” Miles shot him a smile, then went back to making his plate.
He seemed a little, tiny, itty bit less stressed now, so that was good.
Hopefully, he’d keep calming down the longer we hung out.
Hopefully, my stress would go down too.
Aeson asked Lyric, “What about you? Can you cook?”
They shrugged. “I’m alright. It’s not my favorite thing in the world to do, but I get by.”
I added, “I like their food.”
Lyric winked at me. “Thanks, babes.”
I snorted and put a big heaping of taco salad on my plate, excited to try it now that I was allowed. I’d wanted a bite of the ziti earlier, but Miles wouldn’t let me eat anything until the others arrived. He’d threatened me with a spatula—it was hilarious and made us both crack up. But now, I was starving.
Even my nerves about my sister not being here yet couldn’t stop me from inhaling some of this deliciousness.
Miles and I settled down in a pair of chairs in the corner, and I dug into my food with vigor. Mm. It was as delicious as I’d suspected and well worth the wait.
Lyric asked the kids, “How’s school going this year? What are you guys? Juniors?” They’d tried asking them at the museum, but the kids had changed the subject, so I wasn’t surprised they were bringing it up again.
The kids exchanged a look before Chaos said, “Yep, juniors. It’s going okay. The classes are kinda boring.”
Aeson nodded his head in agreement but didn’t reply out loud. His eyes were shifting around, and he kept looking down at his plate, like he didn’t want to meet anyone’s eyes. Even Chaos wasn’t meeting our eyes.
Hmm. They definitely looked suspicious.
From the look Miles was shooting them, he thought so too.
“You don’t like any of your classes?” Lyric asked. I couldn’t tell if they were pushing because they too were suspicious, or if they were just trying to keep the conversation going.
“Not really.” Chaos shrugged, and Aeson nodded his head in agreement.
Lyric turned to me and raised their brow. So. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed.
