Chapter 20 - Cooking together

Jude

I entered her tiny kitchen like I was about to perform miracles and my wolf was still humming contentedly in my chest from waking up with our mate wrapped around us. I was desperate to impress her, wanted to show her I could take care of her, and make her a perfect breakfast after she’d comforted me last night.

Which was unfortunate because I couldn’t cook to save my life.

Had I known, I’d have put in an effort.

Well, cooking was supposed to be easy, right? I have seen my mom cooking a lot.... I could do it, right?

I opened her fridge and stared at the contents then pulled out eggs and decided to start simple. How hard could eggs be? People made them every day, even idiots could make eggs.

Apparently, I was worse than an idiot.

I cracked the eggs into the pan and watched them sizzle, feeling proud of myself for about thirty seconds before the smell hit me. Burning. I was burning the eggs already and I’d literally just put them in the pan.

“Shit,” I muttered while frantically trying to flip them but they stuck to the pan in a blackened mess and I could feel Rosie’s eyes on me from where she sat at the counter.

My mom made everything easy when she was doing it but damn!

“Everything okay?” she asked and I could hear the barely suppressed laughter in her voice.

“Fine, totally fine,” I lied while scraping the charred eggs onto a plate and hiding it behind the toaster. I could hear her snort and my cheeks burned but I was determined now. Eggs were a fluke, I’d do better with pancakes.

Pancakes were easy.

I found a box of pancake mix in her cabinet and followed the directions exactly, whisking the batter with intense concentration, my brow furrowed. I mustn’t flop this. The first pancake went into the pan and actually looked decent and I felt hope rising in my chest.

When it was time to flip, I slid the spatula under it and flipped it hard to make it look impressive.

And heaven staring down at its son made beautiful nonsense, the pancake flew through the air in a perfect arc and smacked against the wall with a wet splat before sliding down slowly and landing on the floor. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Dead silence.

Then Rosie made this choked sound and when I turned around her hand was clamped over her mouth and her shoulders were shaking with suppressed laughter, her eyes watering with the effort of not bursting out.

“That was—” I started but I didn’t even know what to say, staring at the pancake on the floor. “I think I flipped too hard.”

“You think?” Rosie gasped out and then she lost it, dissolving into giggles that made her whole body shake and I felt my face burning hot with embarrassment but something in my chest melted at the sound. She was really laughing, open and free and happy, not the shy quiet laughs she usually gave but real full laughter that lit up her whole face.

My wolf rumbled happily in my chest, practically purring at the sound of our mate’s joy.

“Okay, pancakes are clearly not my thing,” I admitted while picking the sad pancake off the floor and tossing it in the trash. “But bacon, I can definitely do bacon.”

“You’ve tried, lemme take over.” Rosie walked forward.

“I didn’t think I’d be so useless like this,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

“You aren’t useless,” Rosie chided lightly as she moved to the pan.

“I mostly watch my mom cook, and I thought I’d be able to because I saw it but I may have overestimated my cooking abilities,” I grumbled.

Rosie smiled, “It’s normal. I remembered baking a cake one day because I was confident I could make it because my mom always baked cakes most of the weekend,” she laughed, her eyes twinkling, “but I just know how it’s done because I watched her every day not doing it.” She turned to me and I raised my head, feeling like she was consoling me not to get dejected.

Mate is sweet.

“Next time, I’ll make you a perfect breakfast,” I grumbled, making a fighting sign.

And Rosie nodded, biting her lower lip to stop herself not laughing while amusement danced in her eyes. I was enchanted by that expression and those giggles she tried to hide.

The sound was alluring and I could listen to it all day. And I wanted to continue hearing the sound.

Rosie moved to bring out fresh eggs when our arms brushed as she moved past me and my wolf perked up immediately at the contact, wanting more as I gripped the counter to stop myself from pulling her against me and burying my face in her neck as my wolf demanded.

She started cracking them into a bowl while humming softly under her breath and the domestic closeness was intoxicating, making my head spin. Her hair kept brushing my jaw when she moved, her scent surrounding me, the fact that we were making breakfast together in her tiny kitchen like we’d done it a thousand times before instead of this being the first time.

“Can you grab the cheese from the fridge?” Rosie asked and I nodded, grateful for something to do with my hands that wasn’t grabbing her.

I got the cheese and brought it back, standing close to her as she whisked the eggs and added seasonings, her movements fluid and easy.

“You’re really good at this,” I said quietly and she smiled without looking up.

“I like cooking...” she trailed off looking at the distance before she gave me a small smile. And I wanted to smack my head to dampen the mood.

When Rosie reached across me for a bowl on the counter, she accidentally bumped into my chest and stumbled slightly. My hands shot out instinctively to steady her by the waist and she froze, her body going completely still under my hands.

I froze too, my wolf pushing forward eagerly because our mate was so close, right there, and all I had to do was lean down and I could scent her neck properly, mark her, claim her.

Our eyes locked and the air thickened between us, charged with something electric that made my skin tingle. Rosie’s pupils dilated and her breath hitched and she was looking at my mouth and I could feel my control slipping, my wolf snarling at me to close the distance, to stop being a coward.

My head lowered a fraction, drawn to her like a magnet, and my wolf rumbled so loud I knew she could feel it through my hands on her waist.

Then reality crashed back in and I jerked back at the last second, dropping my hands as she’d burned me. “Sorry,” I mumbled while stepping away and running a hand through my hair, my heart pounding and my wolf howling in protest. “I didn’t mean to—sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Rosie whispered but her cheeks were flushed and she wouldn’t quite meet my eyes, turning back to the eggs with shaking hands.

The moment lingered between us, while we finished making breakfast in peaceful silence.

After Rosie made scrambled eggs and toast, I set the tray and we ate together at her small table and it felt so normal, so domestic, so right that I never wanted it to end.

But eventually it had to and I found myself at her door again, not wanting to leave but knowing I should.

“Thanks for breakfast,” Rosie said softly with that small smile that was just for me. “Or for trying to make breakfast at least.”

“I’ll get better,” I promised and I meant it, I’d learn to cook properly if it meant I could do this with her again. “Next time I won’t flop.”

“Next time,” she repeated and the words sounded like a promise and my heart soared.

I left her cottage and walked to my bike, my wolf calmer than it had ever been, settled and content from a morning with our mate.

But I was the one spiraling because I was falling, falling so fast it terrified me.

Or maybe I’d already fallen and was just now realizing it, standing in her driveway with the taste of her cooking on my tongue and the memory of her waist under my hands and the sound of her laughter echoing in my head.

I was completely, utterly, hopelessly gone for her.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

***

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