Page 86 of Go Cook Yourself

I shake my head. “Not before you. I want to make you happy.”

“This makes me happy,” she says, pulling me in deeper with her foot pressing against my bum. I don’t know if it’s the way her hands grip my shoulders like I’m her world, the abandoned desire across her face, or the commanding way she speaks, but the next time she says, “Come in me, baby. I want to watch you come,” I do just that.

“Yes, Rubes, yes,” I reply between gasps and grunts as I come hard. A cold sheen of sweat covers my skin as I shake against her. She holds me close as my body threatens to collapse from the intensity of my orgasm.

“We need to go,” she demands as she brushes kisses to my lips and forehead, soothing me from the moment that still leaves me trembling.

“But you didn’t come.”

She smoothes my forehead lines away with her lips.

“Garett, it’s like two degrees, and frost is already on the ground. If we do it like I want, my nipples will fall off with frostbite. Let’s get home and do it somewhere warm. I’ll let you make me come at least three times before you do again.”

I chuckle as I bury my head in the crook of her neck. “Deal.”

Chapter Forty-Three

Ruby

“You’re ready,” Garett says as he brackets my body with those beautiful forearms.

It’s my last practice session before Christmas. Tomorrow will be our annual Christmas Cloud Burst, also known as the Cloud Family Christmas Meal at the cookery school, and the competition is the next day.

“Are you sure?” I ask, too scared to meet Garett’s gaze. He turns my chin and sweeps a kiss across my lips.

“You will win the competition with this creation. You’ll be pushed for time, but you’ll do it. It’s stunning.”

We stare at my cannelés de Bordeaux lining my velvety spiced orange ganache layer cake. The spun sugar creates a protective dome over the top, and the tiny orange flowers peeking out around them make it ostentatious. I’m proud—no, more than that. I’m in love.

Garett beams. Shit. It’s not just the cake giving me this weird, shaky reaction. It’s him. But I can’t say anything. I promised my family would remain the most important people in my life, and that hasn’t changed.

I extract myself from Garett and his delicious forearms. “We’d best tidy up if we want to get home before ten tonight.” It’stheGreat British Bake OffChristmas special, and we promised each other we’d watch it before we “sleep.” We’ve had sex every night because that’s what fuck buddies do. The night we stop doing this, I shouldn’t stay over, because that means this is a relationship. I can’t destroy my family and break Jem in the process.

I want Garett every second of the day. Even when I’m leading a class, which I did today with him acting as my kitchen assistant, I have flashbacks of what we’ve done before and consider what I still want. I love falling asleep in his arms, too.

“I’ve already tidied up.”

“But there were so many bowls, and I used every piece of equipment in this place.”

He shrugs in a way that makes me want to elbow and kiss him all at once. “I’m your kitchen assistant today.”

“But that was just for class.” Why is he so infuriatingly lovely?

“Which you were brilliant at, by the way. Soon, they won’t need me to lead classes because you’ll be able to do it all.” There’s an edge to the sentence.

I push his compliment away with the sweep of my hand. “Either way, you didn’t have to tidy everything up.”

He leans against the countertop in a way that makes me want to press my hands against his hard biceps. “I have plans for us tonight—that include Bake Off, of course,” he adds before I argue. “And I wanted us to have a nice night and lots of time. I created a banquet for you while you were cooking.”

I was so in my world that I didn’t notice. This competition means everything to me. I look at him, my mouth squeezed tightly, and realise that the competition meansnearlyeverything. “But not a date. It won’t be a date.”

“Obviously not because dates go against the fuck buddy rules.” His voice is tight. Hearing him say that makes me bite theflesh inside my cheek, although they’re as much my rules as they are his. “We’re two friends hanging out.”

“With sex because there has to be sex as per sex buddy etiquette.”

He smiles, but his lips are tight, and it doesn’t reach his beautiful brown eyes. “If you insist, Rubes. If I must have sex with you, then I will. My life is such a trial.”

I laugh, but it’s not genuine.

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