But to my utter shock, there were notes in the margins, measurements crossed out and rewritten in, added ingredients to a few of the recipes, substitutions, a red splotch on a page, like a drop of wine or spaghetti sauce had landed there.
Breathless, I slammed the book shut.
This had to be part of an elaborate trick.Because no universe existed where Tristan Hawthorne, the mastermind behind the absolute worst day of my life, was now a culinary genius.
Nope. It was all part of his lying. And that was a fact.
If he wanted me to believe he could actually cook, I'd have to see him in the kitchen with my own two eyes.
There were noises above me, snapping me back to the situation I was in and the rest of the night ahead of me.
I had to wonder how the clean-up was going and, even more importantly, what would happen when they were done. The unexpected mess and snowfall had forced us inside and interrupted whatever Tristan had planned for us upstairs.
A few minutes later, Tristan strode back into the room, his suit gone, replaced by casual clothes and... excuse me, were those gray sweatpants? Had the man done that on purpose?
Oh, that was just cruel.
While I sat there trying not to stare at his groin area, Archie rushed in, looking back and forth between us. "So what now? Want to play some videogames?"
Tristan laughed.
"Oh, wait, shit," Archie suddenly said. "I have to clean up all your dirty dishes."
Tristan shot him a look.
"Sorry for swearing," Archie said, not sounding at all sorry. "It's just that it's snowing now. Like a lot, dude."
We all glanced out the windows to see that the snow was indeed falling more heavily, not just flurries anymore.
Tristan let out a sigh. "I'll help you, kid. But we're using the damn tray this time."
"Hello, swearing."
Bickering as usual, they disappeared while I sat there wondering what was next again.Please don't make me have toplay videogames. That was above and beyond what I was willing to do for my petty little revenge scheme.
That little bit of nagging guilt that I was swiftly becoming familiar with suddenly resurfaced. Because it dawned on me that this thing I was doing wasn't just between Tristan and me anymore. A young thirteen-year-old kid had become involved, and that didn't sit well with me at all.
Unlike my sisters, I obviously wasn't cut out for this sort of thing. Annalise was right... my heart was way too soft.
A minute later, the hushed silence of the snowfall outside was shattered when they came back in, Archie talking about some meme he'd seen that was popular among his friends.
The faint clatter of dishes and conversation drifted from another part of the penthouse, and then they were back in front of me, Tristan's gaze tracing over me.
"How do you feel about watching a movie here?" he asked.
I sighed with relief. "A movie sounds perfect."
Archie bounced on his heels. "What are we watching?"
Tristan, standing behind him, shot me a helpless look—half-apologetic, half-resigned—like he wanted to protest but couldn't bring himself to say no.
It was definitely not adorable or cute in any way.
Without saying it explicitly, I tried my best to convey to Tristan that I was more than okay with Archie joining us. "I'm up for anything. What doyouwant to watch?" I asked, staring straight at the teenager.
Archie lit up. "There's a zombie movie I've been wanting to see where everyone dies a horrible death." He paused. "I mean, if that's cool? It's probably not your thing, though."
I cracked up laughing.No, it was certainly not my thing. At all. But just like Tristan, how could I say no? I was actually kind of shocked that Archie would even want to hang out with us. Weren't we both super lame in the eyes of a young teen?
