Page 8 of Gatling
Over the years, I had cultivated many skills. Cooking was not one of them.
I could shoot an egg clean through, without breaking the shell, from over two hundred yards away.
I could survive in the woods for months at a time, with nothing more than a hunting knife and the clothes on my back.
I could make mouth-watering beef jerky, and I could roast deer meat over a campfire to juicy perfection.
But I was utterly useless in the kitchen. Even a simple task like making toast—which required no cooking skills whatsoever—still resulted in blackened bread capable of breaking a few teeth.
Kelsie shrugged with a small smile that made my heart squeeze. No one had a right to look that cute first thing in the morning.
“I think you can handle toast, Ryker,” she said, amused. “I have faith in you.”
Her words hit me square in the chest. I watched her turn away, busying herself with making eggs and hash browns.
Don’t do that,I wanted to say.Don’t put your faith in me.
I’m just a man—a weak man, fucked in the head. If she knew the thoughts I had about her while she slept, if she knew I had stolen a pair of her panties and slept with them under my pillow…she wouldn’t have faith in me anymore.
As Kelsie and I moved around the kitchen together, it felt domestic in a way that I wasn’t used to. In my cabin, I didn’t share my living space with anyone else. On rare occasions, Noah paid a visit for the weekend and we went hunting together, or shared a few beers.
But I never brought a girl home. And I didn’t make breakfast with anyone like this.
Tugging the refrigerator door open, I reached in to grab the butter and grunted in dismay at the sight I found instead.
“Why the fuck do you have three boxes of blue raspberry Jell-O in here?”
Kelsie didn’t even bat an eye, dividing the eggs onto two plates.
“It’s the only flavor Noah doesn’t like,” she replied. “Otherwise, he would eat me out of house and home. And don’t get me started on Girl Scout cookies. I have those things under lock and key when Noah is around.”
I held up a Jell-O cup, examining the contents with a grimace.
“I’ve never seen anything that shade of blue before. It’s practically radioactive.”
Kelsie waved her spatula at me with a playfully stern look.
“Don’t poke fun at my food choices, mister. You live on beef jerky and black coffee.”
“And burnt toast,” I added, tossing the Jell-O back into the refrigerator. “Maybe we could both benefit from adding a few vegetables into our diet.”
Kelsie took a breath to speak when a knock at the door cut her off.
“Rise and shine, Kels,” Noah called. “Open up. I brought lattes and donuts.”
“Shit.” She glanced at me, wide-eyed.
I wasn’t supposed to be here, not this early in the morning. Noah would ask a thousand questions if he found out that I spent the night at his little sister’s place. It didn’t look good, with Kelsie only half-dressed in her robe while we ate breakfast together in her kitchen.
Fuck, Noah could not see us like this. He would immediately assume Kelsie and I slept together.
“Go. Go!”
She made frantic shooing motions in my direction. I frowned and refused to budge.
“What do you expect me to do? I’m too old to be sneaking out the window like a guilty teenager.”
“Ryker,please—” she hissed.
