Page 29 of In a Pinch

“Bullshit, let me try.” I wonder if the sauce separated from the cheese. I used freshly grated, so it should have melted into the béchamel just fine.

“Damn, do you get your panties in a wad over being the next Iron Chef of Maine, or what?”

I scoot her over with a bump of my hips and take a bite off her plate.

“You asshole, I thought I fucked this up,” I say, before she stumbles into me after bouncing off the stove. I grab her forearms as she comes to a stop in front of me.

Face-to-face like this, the tension between us crackles like a flame. I’m trying to come up with a good reason to not kiss her, but as her full lips part open—practically begging for my attention—I lose the willpower and slowly lean in. Her body gravitates closer to mine, until we are chest to chest. She rises to her toes just as the door in the back slams closed. We both jump and separate as quickly as possible.

When I see who it is, I can’t help but groan. Can’t a man catch a fucking break?

The bane of my existence—Linsey.

“OMG, Sam! There you are. I was texting you, and you weren’t answering. So, I figured I’d find you here. Whatcha doing?” Her smile slips from her face when she sees Addie’s body slip out from mine to stand behind me. “Oh. Who do we have here?”

“This is my friend, Addie. Addie, this is Linsey.”

She gives Addie the most pathetic head nod and looks back my way. “I’m glad I finally tracked you down. I was texting you to see if you wanted to go out and get some drinks tonight.” She reaches over and puts a hand on my arm.

Oh no. This is not going to look good.

Shrugging her touch off—mostly because it makes my skin feel creepy and crawly, and I don’t want Addie to get the wrong idea—I reply: “I’m good, but thanks for the offer. We are a little busy here.” I gesture to the pans of food.

“No, you should go, Sam. I can head out. Thanks for the extra cooking lesson. It was helpful.” Her smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes, and I hate it.

“I drove you here. It’s okay, I don’t need to go.”

“Really, it’s not a problem. I already ordered a ride.” She waves her phone, and I can see the app open on it. "I’ll see you at next week’s lesson. Pleasure meeting you.” She waves to Linsey and quickly walks off. The urge to follow her has me taking a step forward, but she’s out of sight before I can blink.

Well, shit.

“Who was that?” My eyes roll at Linsey’s question.

Crossing my arms, I roll my neck and whip back around to face her. “I told you; Addie.”

“But, like, who is she?” The furrow to her brow and annoyance in her tone just add to my irritation.

“She's my brother’s fiancée's best friend. She’s been taking my cooking class.” My head drops and I drag my feet across the tiled floor to start picking up our dinner. I look at Addie’s plate, with only a bite taken out. Not only did she have a shit day, but I also added to it. Somehow, that makes me feel even worse.

“Oh, good. I was worried you might have been seeing someone. Especially with you playing all hard to get.” She puts her hand on my shoulder, attempting to flirt, but the motion causes me to recoil.

I throw my hands up in defeat. “For the love of all things holy, I was not playing hard to get. I am impossible for you to get. For the last time, I am not interested.” My face feels hot as my irritation turns to anger.

“You don’t have to be an ass about it.”

Fucking hell. Scrubbing my hands across my stubbled face, I try and gain some composure. My hands grip the edge of the table and my head hangs so I can look at the floor, because if I look at her face, I’m going to lose it. “I was nice about it the first twenty-four times. I am out of nice; I was nicer to you than I was to most people.”

“Well, have fun being miserable and alone. Guess I won’t be seeing you out tonight.”

“I guess not.” I wouldn’t be alone if she hadn’t been a cockblock. Or kiss block. But that doesn’t sound as good.

Cleaning up our mess, I think of ways to explain this to Addie that don’t make me look like a total asshat. Not that she will believe me. I feel like I just blew it before I could even have the chance to start it.

Chapter Fourteen

Addie

Creeping down the stairs, I try not to wake the rest of the house. Just because my body betrayed me and woke me up at the ass crack of dawn this morning, doesn’t mean everyone else should join me in my misery. How rude. As if waking up at 5:30 a.m. every other day of the week isn’t exhausting enough, apparently, I need to wake up at 6 a.m. on the weekends, too.

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