Page 35 of Breaking the Sinner

Gen looked back at him, softness written all over her face. “Then let’s learn together.”

Cobra didn’t respond, just gently eased the books out of her arms. “Let me carry these for you, Red.”

She sent him a private smile, one that made him feel like they’d been coming to the library together for lifetimes. “Thanks, Cobra. We should try out some of these recipes tonight. Want to?”

Emotion bloomed inside him, made his throat thick. “Sure.”

“Good. One more book, then we’re done.” She led the way back to the earlier section, where all the drawing books were. She picked out the book Cobra had held in his hands only minutes before and added it to the top of the stack.

Chapter 15

She couldn’t believe it.

Next to Cobra, she was an expert in the kitchen.

“Hold it like this.” She showed him the proper grip for the onion. He rubbed his palms on his shorts, sniffing.

“I’m not crying,” he said.

“I know.” She fought a grin. He was a fish out of water, the living embodiment of how she’d been feeling for the last month. It was nice to see this confident man falter when presented with a vegetable. “Onions make you cry. Or rather,” she hurried to add, once she saw his reaction, “they make your eyes leak.”

He ran his wrist over his eyes. “Christ, it’s sostrong.”

“We have to hurry up and cut it.” She gestured to the cutting board. “That’s your job.”

Their task was simple: make a vegetarian stir-fry. She had made this once before, and it seemed approachable for Cobra’s first time in the kitchen. Sophie occasionally drifted through the living room, keeping to herself with a satisfied smile on her face.

So Cobra hadn’t ghosted after all. Sophie was probably happy to be wrong.

Cobra sniffed loudly, using his shoulder to rub away a tear that had trickled down his face. He cut the onion into long slices the way she’d shown him. She scooped the pieces up and added them to the hot oil.

“What do you normally eat if you don’t cook?” She pushed the onion pieces around with a spatula. She wasn’t skilled enough to toss veggies in the air like the Internet videos showed. Yet.

Cobra shrugged, running water over his hands. “Burger King, most days.”

“Is it good? I’ve never been there.”

A laugh huffed out of him. “No. Definitely not good. I eat there ’cuz it’s cheap.”

“But we make pretty good money at Holt’s,” Gen said, grabbing for the package of precut broccoli. “Don’t we?”

Cobra knocked his knuckles against the countertop, his gaze distant. “Yeah, I think so. I’ve been poor my whole life, so…”

“I hope you like this. Did your mom ever cook for you?”

He went stiff, as if a sheet of ice coated him. “No.”

Something told her not to probe. She wanted this to be fun, after all. Fun and educational, for both of them. “You’ll probably never go to Burger King after this again.” She pinched his arm, flitting past him to grab the stir-fry sauce she’d selected on their way home. “Now we need to add the carrots and sprouts, then toss it all in this sauce.”

“Sprouts.” He smirked, tearing open the plastic film. “This is rabbit food.”

She blinked a few times, staring at it. “Yeah, I think we used to feed this to my rabbit.”

“You had a rabbit?”

“Her name was Bunny.” Gen grimaced, shaking her head as she tore open the packaging of carrot ribbons.

“That’s original,” Cobra said.

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