Chapter 18: Baking Disaster

ADDY

~Stupid shoelace!~

I’m cursing the shoelace that never stays tied. It always comes undone at the worst possible moment—like right now.

I’m sprawled out in the cereal aisle, right in front of Asher.

~Why does this always happen to me?~

“Asher,” I say, giving him a nod. He just stands there.

~Is he really not going to help me up?~

~Jerk.~

“I’m giving you a month, tops, or your secrets are out.”

My eyes go wide as I stand up after tying my shoelaces.

“What the hell?” I scrunch my face at him. “I was supposed to get more time.”

~I’m so screwed.~

“And I decided against it.”

I grab the handle of the cart, pushing it forward before pulling it back. I can’t help but notice his casual clothes.

~Why does he have to be so damn attractive?~

I lick my lips, my inner flirt threatening to say something stupid.

~I should be mad at him. I have no sense of timing.~

“Aren’t you going to tell me why?” I ask, raising my eyebrows.

“No particular reason. If you have the time to take nightly strolls with certain idiots, I don’t think you should have a hard time finding out who kissed me either,” he says casually.

My mouth falls open, my eyes narrowing in annoyance.

“Do you hear yourself? How does me walking home with Xander have anything to do with me finding the girl who stole your first kiss?” I snap at him, my grip tightening around the handle.

“You’re not even denying it!” Asher snaps back, crushing the cereal box in his hand.

~What’s gotten into him today?~

“Deny what, Asher?” I ask, losing my patience.

“That you were out with him.” I can’t help but smile at his words before bursting into laughter.

“Why do you care? You’re still looking for your dream girl—scratch that, you’re still making ~me~ look for her,” I say, teasing him.

~Is he jealous?~

“Of course I care,” he says, still looking at me.

I catch my breath, my eyes widening as I stare at him.

~Did he just say…~

“You’re my friend. I mean, we’ve known each other for months now and the guy is an asshole,” Asher continues, keeping a straight face.

I gasp.

~Jealous, my ass. Who am I kidding?~

Friends. I hate that word. I swallow the thousand curse words, along with the confessions I had for him, before pushing the cart past him.

~He doesn’t like you, idiot! Get that through your thick skull.~

I can’t help it, the tears threaten to spill down my face. I tilt my head upward, forcing them back.

~Who the hell cries over this?~

I clench my teeth and kick the cart in front of me.

~Ouch, that hurt.~

“Don’t worry. He just walked me home,” I brush off the topic before turning to him.

“You followed me here to tell me to find her faster? Or what, you’ll spill my secret?” I snort. I start to walk away from him, but he follows me.

“No, I came here to buy cereal.” He shakes the box in his hand. “Just thought I’d tell you since I saw you here.”

I force a smile before muttering, “Okay.”

“Why do you look so grumpy now?”

I kick my feet backward, hitting him in the leg.

“Hey! What was that for?” Asher’s hand curls around the handle of my cart. He bends down to inspect his leg and I can’t help but smile.

~For being clueless, jerk.~

***

“See you at school,” I tell Asher as I head toward my door when we reach our houses. When I don’t get a reply, I turn around to see Asher still casually following me.

“Asher, your house is that way.” I point in the direction of his house, but he just shrugs.

“I’m bored.” He grins at me.

“I’m not in the mood for you.” I flip him off.

~Who am I kidding?~

“I didn’t hear that quite right. You’re always in the mood for me? Damn, Buttercup. I know I’m irresistible, but not that irresistible.” He wiggles his eyebrows at me, and I can’t help but laugh, pulling out my keys.

“Bye, Asher.” I walk in and am about to close the door when a weight pushes it open again. I gape as Asher walks in as if I didn’t just tell him I wasn’t in the mood.

The place is a mess and I can’t let him see that. It would totally give him the wrong impression of me.

“Get out.” I try to push him out, but he doesn’t budge. He takes off his shoes, and I start to panic.

“It’s not like your parents are home, Buttercup. What are you stressing about? Or can’t you handle ~this~?”

I walk inside just in time to see him motioning his hands toward his body.

“You’re delusional. I didn’t want you here because of ~that~.” I gesture toward the living room before heading to the kitchen, suddenly not caring anymore.

I put the cereal on the table and grab my phone.

KAYLEE

Meet up later?

ADDY

Sure

I send the text and look up just in time to see Asher walking in. He runs his fingers through his hair and I stare—just for a moment—before looking away again.

~Why does he always seem to move in slow motion? Or is that just in my head?~

I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts.

“Messy, messy.” He shakes his head at me.

“Just zip it.” I swivel in my chair.

“What do you feel like doing?” I ask, glancing up at Asher. “Anything’s fine. How about we bake some brownies?”

I stand, checking if we have all the ingredients.

“So you can set the house on fire?” Asher teases. I whirl around to shoot him a glare.

“Hey, I know what I’m doing,” I retort, dragging a chair over to the fridge to check for more eggs. There’s one sitting on the counter, but I’m not sure if it’s the only one.

I’d taken it out earlier with the intention of boiling it, but I’d lost interest before I even got started. I’d left it on the counter, too lazy to put it back in the fridge.

Yeah, I’m that kind of lazy. If Mom were here, she’d have my head. Luckily, she’s still at work.

Balancing on the chair, I struggle to open the fridge. I should’ve opened it before climbing up here. Being short sucks.

~Do we have more eggs?~ I finally manage to open the fridge and find seven more eggs.

“Great, we have eggs.”

“Are you serious? Don’t think I’ve forgotten that Kaylee said you almost burned the kitchen down three times.”

“I can bake a cake.” I roll my eyes at him.

“Are you sure?”

I spin around to glare at him. “Say one more thing about my cooking skills and I’ll stab your eyes out with a fork.”

“Should I call Kay to double-check?” He stops talking when I hop down from the chair.

“Asher King, you’re a dead man,” I mutter, eyeing the fork on the counter.

Asher sees where I’m looking and quickly moves around the counter.

I snatch up the fork.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry!” He gives me his best puppy-dog eyes.

“You’d better be!” I grumble, still glaring at him.

“Not,” he snatches the egg from the counter, a wicked grin on his face.

“Don’t even think about it,” I warn him.

“Too late, sweetheart.” He grins and throws the egg, hitting me square in the forehead.

I stand there, stunned, as egg drips down my face and body.

~He. Did. Not.~

“HAHAHAHAHA! This is the funniest thing I’ve seen in ages,” Asher howls with laughter, doubling over to keep from falling.

“You’re a dead man, King.” My voice is icy as I brandish my fork at him. He just keeps laughing, gasping for breath.

A moment later, his laughter fills the house again.

Literally just a moment later.

“ASHER KING! I’m going to fucking kill you,” I shriek, charging at him.

He just keeps laughing as he runs around the counter.

“Get back here, you jerk!” I yell.

~I’m definitely going to be burying a body in the backyard today.~

~I hope Mom won’t mind.~