Page 32 of (Un)Expected

No! That was the worst place my brain could go. I was supposed to decide if I wanted to fake date Adam, not date his friend for real. Not that it was even on the table—Cole might have turned off his asshole-ness for one night, but that was a far cry from being someone I wanted to date. Besides that, there were plenty of other reasons why it would be the worst idea.

Feeling settled on the topic, I quickly rinsed my hair, jumping out of the shower before the hot water dried up. As I scrambled into my closet to get changed, an odd smell caught my attention.

Smoke.

“Fuck,” I hissed, throwing on the first clothes I could find before running out of my bedroom. By the time I reached the kitchen, all the smoke detectors were blaring, earning a string of stronger curses from my lips. “Motherfucker. Fucking shit-balls alarm.”

“Damn, sweetheart,” Cole chuckled from the front of theoven, fanning it with one of my baking sheets. “Didn’t know you had such a mouth on you.”

“What the fuck did you do?” I screamed, shoving him to the side. “Are you trying to burn my goddamn house down?”

He turned to the window, cracking it open wider before he resumed fanning the smoke detector. “I wastryingto make you some breakfast before work. How was I supposed to know that you hadn’t cleaned your oven in a decade?”

As the alarm stopped blaring, I let out a sigh of relief, dropping my head down to the counter. “It’s mostly ornamental,” I said from under my arms. “I don’t think I’ve ever turned it on.”

“Seriously?” Cole laughs. “You’ve got this big kitchen, and you don’t even use it?”

“I use the microwave,” I objected. “And the coffee pot lives here, so it’s one of my favorite rooms.” I lifted my head to glare at him. “Which is why I’m really pissed you almost set it on fire.”

He rolled his eyes, trying to hide his shit-eating grin. “Relax, Alex. There weren’t any flames. I cut the gas before there was too much smoke.”

I was about to argue more when my front door was suddenly smashed open. Marta and Curt bolted inside without a single knock, barreling into the kitchen. I’d have been pissed, but the sight was almost comical. Marta held an oversized watering can while Curt dragged a fire extinguisher that was as old as me.

“Where’s the fire?” Marta yelled.

“Nowhere,” I said, trying to hold back my laughter. “My friend got a little overenthusiastic and tried to use my oven.”

“Big mistake, son,” Curt chuckled. “This girl can’t cook for shit. You’re lucky the damned thing didn’t explode.”

“Hey!” I objected. It was true, but only I was allowed to mock my terrible culinary skills.

Curt playfully grinned at me. “No offense, darling, but we allknow it.”

“Remember when you tried to thank us for the flowers by making lemon bars?” Marta piled on.

My whole body grimaced. “In my defense, sugar and salt look very similar.”

Cole barked a loud laugh behind me, turning all the attention in the room to him. The sound made my heart beat a little faster, not having seen him this relaxed before. It was intoxicating, much like his smile. Marta gave me an appreciative wink while Curt studied him like Cole was picking up his daughter on prom night.

Curt straightened to his full height. “And who is this?”

To my surprise, Cole didn’t miss a beat as he stepped up to my neighbors, offering them a hearty handshake. “Cole Campbell. I gave Alex a ride home last night, and she graciously offered up her couch so I wouldn’t get lost driving back to the hotel.”

“Is that what the kids are calling it these days?” Marta smirked.

“Okay, well, as you can see, nothing is on fire,” I said, hastily guiding them toward the door. “So you two can get back to whatever it is you were doing,”

“That is one fine man,” Curt whispered. Marta glared at him, and he shrugged. “What? You’d have to be blind not to notice.”

“That might be true, but he’s a giant pain in the ass,” I quipped.

“The best ones always are,” Marta said, earning a mock scowl from her husband. “Good luck with him, dear. I can tell he’ll be trouble in thebestway.”

As soon as they left, I shut the door, making sure it was locked this time. But instead of returning to the kitchen, I slumped against it, not used to starting my day with such chaos. It was bullshit, especially before caffeine had hit my bloodstream.

“So…” Cole called out from the other room. “Those are your neighbors.”

“Yup,” I answered, skulking back to the kitchen to find him rooting through my cabinets. “They’re basically the overbearing parents I never asked for, but I love them anyways.”

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