Page 96 of Pucking Them
I don’t do that.
Cody’s expression falls when he notices my slumped shoulders.
“See, experimenting? But you learn from your mistakes.” Cody nudges my shoulder. “What did we…?”
“We set the oven temperature too high.” The words burn my throat.
Cody’s smile gentles. “You meanIdid, right? Well, I’m impressed. I created something freaky. That takes skill.”
I side-eye him. “Skill?”
Cody grins, and his cheeks dimple. “You know what takes even more skill…? Inventing something new.”
Cody ducks away from me, banging open drawers and dragging out a large plate withTRUST ME, I’M A DOCTOR, followed by a winking emoji face on it.
I don’t understand Michael’s dry, dark humor.
Or emojis.
Cody copies the winking face, however, before upending the sunken cake onto the plate.
I yell out in horror, as Cody gleefully smashes the cake into broken pieces.
“What are you doing?” I demand.
Cody blows his hair out of his face, before wiggling his sticky fingers at me. “Magic.” He snatches up the icing and shakes it over the gooey chocolate pieces like snow. Then he lifts the plate to show me, excitedly, “Tada!”
I stare at the chocolate balls. “What am I looking at?”
Cody dances the plate under my nose, swinging his hips like the performance will somehow make the chunks of cake look any better. “How about a naming ceremony? What about E & S’s Sugar-Coated Balls?”
“No.”
“Iced in Overtime? Big Cocoa Energy? Fudge Happens?”
“Eat.” I push Cody back to the stools at the counter.
Cody happily settles himself on the stool, placing the plate down and picking up a sticky chocolate ball.
AFudge Happens.
I sit next to Cody, glancing out of the cottage’s window.
The beach outside is remote with sea stacks that rise from the swelling waves. Sunlight ripples across the sea.
My attention is drawn back to Cody by his deep moan.
“I should have called it Happy Ending Balls.” He licks a smear of icing off his lips. “Thanks for sharing that recipe, Dee. I messed it up, but these bites are yummy. I mean, they look like a mess but they taste delicious. Like me most of the time.”
I peer at the plate, dubiously.
“Stop looking like they’re going to explode. They’re not bombs.” Cody pushes the plate closer to me. “Go on, try a Happy Ending Ball.”
“I’m not calling them that.”
I still grab one and force the sticky mess into my mouth, licking the icing off my fingers.
My eyes open.
