Page 67 of Hushed

“Oh my God,” I say.

Levi opens his eyes and smiles at me. “Morning. I was waiting for you to wake up.”

I sit up. “Oh my God. This is not good.”

“What?” He sits up and stretches his broad shoulders.

“I was supposed to be up two hours ago to start dicing and sautéeing and…stuff.”

“What time are the guests coming?”

“Two. Is that brunch or just a late lunch?”

“Late lunch. And it’s fine.”

“No, it’s not fine. I just spent the night getting railed by my twenty-two-year-old student, every person in my department and then some are going to be eating at my table in a little less than two hours and I just put on my boyfriend’s underwear!” I pull it back down so fast I almost fall over and crash onto the bed so that I’m looking up at him.

The sentence is still sitting in the room.

“Ooh. Boyfriend. I like that.”

“That’s the only part of this you heard?”

“We don’t need that much time. Breathe. Anyway, I was up early and went out shopping for some last minute things, and the ham is already slow-cooking in the oven.”

“Which doesn’t help me, because I still don’t know if I can pull the rest of it off. Plus, you definitely have to get out before they come.”

“Baby boy, I got you,” he says, putting his hands on my biceps. “You’re going to have a great meal. Let me brush my teeth and we’ll get started.”

“Brush your teeth? How? With what?”

Levi looks significantly over to a weathered Army bag that’s sitting on the floor next to the door. “It was in my truck and it’ll go with me when I’m gone. I’m not setting up my toothbrush and razor blades here until you invite me to.”

I must look miserable because he leans forward in the bed. “It’ll be fine. I’ll get the hard parts done, I’ll leave, and when I call you I’ll walk you through the rest so that you can finish it on your own. Okay? Can you go and put the coffee on? We got this.”

I bite my lip. “Sure.”

“Come here,” he says, and when I lean forward, he meets me to kiss me. I feel him smiling at me. “It’s gonna be fine.”

I have the feeling that it won’t, but I let it go.

He picks the Army bag up on his way out of the bedroom. From the bathroom I hear the front door, and then a truck door, and then the front door again.

By the time I’m out of the bathroom and pad downstairs, Levi is standing in my kitchen, chopping potatoes. He’s barefoot, wearing just his jeans, and I take a moment to stare at his broad back.

“Coffee’s ready,” he says without turning. He slings a dishtowel over his shoulder and three new fantasies are born.

I pour myself some of it from the coffee pot I haven’t bothered to use since the instant did just as well. I take a sip and, of course, he’s done that better than I could have, too.

I lean against the counter, watching him. He’s dicing potatoes with a speed and precision that seems almost aggressive. The knife I couldn’t find yesterday moves like an extension of his hand.

“Where did you learn to do that?”

“Country club kitchens. Summers. I was the guy who did whatever needed doing.” He scrapes the potatoes into a bowl and starts on an onion. “Some days that meant dishes. Some days it meant prep. When they figured out I could actually cook, they let me help with the real stuff.”

“You never told me that.”

“It never came up. For a while I thought I wanted to have a restaurant, too. Just a place where people would get together and feel welcome.” I feel a bit of shame at it. I was so busy being charmed that I forgot to be curious.