Page 34 of Hell House
“You must be one of the new girls.” Sloan says yawning at the end. He looks like a raccoon in human form, all scruffy and adorable.
“I’m Skye.” I go to the sink washing the egg off of my hands.
Sloan gives me a lazy smile, grabbing a bag of chips and a container of cookies out of the cabinet before he heads back downstairs.
“So you want to combine these eggs with the milk and give it a good stir.” Graham says walking me through the rest of the steps. He already had dinner cooking by the time I got back from classes, so he offered to make a desert with me. He didn’t even seem to mind that I had no idea what I was doing, instead taking the time to walk me through each step. It made my heart melt a little. Graham’s company felt easy and fun, even if I found myself wanting to poke him right in the dimples the entire time.
“We combine the dry ingredients with the wet ones.” Graham says pointing at my bowl. I bring it over and pour the contents into the one he’s holding. As I pour, I accidentally get part of it on Graham’s shirt.
“The one time I don’t wear an apron!” He laughs.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” My cheeks flame with embarrassment.
“No, it’s fine.” We set our bowls down, and before I have a moment to start stirring, Graham is taking his ruined shirt off. Holy shit- abs.
“See, no problem.”
“Mmhm. Yep. I see.” Oh my god, Skye- keep it together.
“You okay, amore?” Oh dear baby Jesus, that accent.
“Yep, fine. Just a little overheated.” My face feels like it’s on fire. I’m trying not to stare at Graham’s sculpted chest.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Lukas’ voice cuts in.
“We’re making cake.” Graham answers, picking up a large wooden spoon and begins stirring. The image of this chiseled man stirring cake batter should not be such a turn on, but it’s doing all kinds of things to my insides.
“And you don’t need a shirt for that?” Lukas says getting a drink out of the stainless-steel fridge.
“It’s my fault, I splashed ingredients all over him.”
Lukas raises his eyebrow ring.
“What’s for dinner? Whatever it is, it smells amazing.” Salem says breezing into the kitchen. “Oh, wow. What’s with the shirtless chef?”
“Skye decided to relieve Graham of his shirt.”
“Nice job, Skye.” Salem winks.
“It was an accident.”
“Happy accident.” Salem says for only me to hear.
“Alright, alright. Too many people in my kitchen. Out. Out. Out.” Graham says.
“You’re acting like your mom again, Graham.” Lukas says, taking a swig of his pop as he leaves the kitchen, but not before I catch his furious glare he casts in my direction. I stare after the mind-fuck that is Lukas Ledger before returning to my sloppy cake batter bowl.
Graham slides up next to me, his dimples on full display as he hands me a spatula.
“Now, for this type of cake you want to use gentle movements. None of that beating nonsense the fancy gadgets that splatter this masterpiece everywhere.”
I feel myself leaning into him as he shows me how to spin the mixture.
“Here.” He comes around me, his large hand swallowing mine as we churn the batter. He moves my hand with his as his free hand holds onto my waist. I grip the handle of the spatula tightly trying to calm myself down. “There. Perfecto.” I turn around and smile, he looks down at me, mirroring my joy.
We stand there for a beat, his eyes trailing down to my lips before he backs away checking the clock timer.
He gathers a cake pan and I struggle to not stare at his shirtless chest again, picturing myself painting some of this chocolate cake batter all down his abs while I lick it off.
