Page 14 of The Best Friend Power Play

"Hey. I am. My only skills in the kitchen seem to be either burning food or undercooking it. I've subjected those two to years of food-related trauma."

"Hey. They never went hungry."

She opens her mouth to argue.

"You will not out hey me on this," I interject, not giving her the chance. "And to your second question." Our fingers brush as I take the sauce from her, scanning the back label. "Cheap ingredients and filled with plenty of nasty additives. I can make a way better-tasting and healthier sauce from scratch. Trust me. Why were you looking at this anyway?"

"I wanted to make them something special for their last meal."

"Oh." That makes total sense. I don't want to overstep, so I check, "Are you okay if I make them something special for their last meal?"

Her clear-blue eyes light up. "That would be amazing. Not only are you unlikely to over- or undercook anything, your food will also have the one thing mine never does."

"And what's that?"

"Flavor."

I roll my eyes and take the basket from her. She's not the best at cooking, but she's not as bad as she's making herself out to be.

As if reading my thoughts, she asks, "Remember the time you came over for one of our binge-watching marathons, and I ruined mac and cheese?"

On second thought, maybe she is as bad as she thinks she is. Still, I say, "In Italy, they'd call it macaroni al dente."

"Well, in Italy, they must all be idiots if they go around eating uncooked pasta."

We chat away as I collect the ingredients I need for the meal.

I like the way our friendship has evolved over the years. It feels natural.

We've known each other all our lives, and for the longest time, I felt protective of her and Katie and Chester.

Even when my family moved two towns over to Starlight Cove after Trevor died, our families remained close.

I always kept an extra-close eye on Hannah. I couldn't imagine losing Ma at thirteen, and my heart broke for the kids who were even younger. Chester reminds me so much of Trevor. Maybe that's why I've always had a soft spot for him.

When I went away to play in the juniors, I made sure to keep in touch with Hannah—mainly through texts and social media.

But it was after she finished high school, and we were at a birthday party for one of my brothers, that I realized just how grown up she had become. Despite there being a four year age gap between us, she was way more mature than her years.

Hannah has always been super organized and structured. She loves lists and planning everything out. Part of that is borne of necessity—raising two teenagers is hard work—but part of that is innate. It's who she is, and I love that about her.

Her friendship really is the most precious thing in my life.

It doesn't take long for me to gather everything I need to make dinner.

"Hey, Doyle," I say as I place the basket on the counter.

"Hello, Culver. It's good to see you." His normally booming voice dips. "Even if the season didn't end on the best note. So sorry about that."

"Thanks. There's always next year."

He starts ringing up our total. "Exactly. So, are you back for the whole summer?"

"Yep. The plan is to lay low and spend some quality time with Hannah."

Doyle's eyes shift to Hannah, then back to me. "That's what I assumed. It's all Hannah's been talking about these past few weeks."

Hannah blushes. "He's exaggerating."

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