Page 28 of Pitcher Perfect

The open floorplan and low rent were what had sold me on the place. Plus, the month-to-month lease offered me freedom in case I found a restaurant with an attached apartment or needed to move somewhere cheaper to free up cash.

“I’d never thought about it, but yeah, I guess I am. I don’t travel much, but when I do, I like to visit breweries in the area and bring some flavors home.”

I moved a few things around in my fridge and placed the bag in there. Seeing all the food in the fridge reminded me of how much I had left to cook for our taste testing.

“Did the fridge offend your family?”

I looked over my shoulder at him. “Huh?”

He smiled wryly and pointed to my right hand. “You’re white-knuckling the door while cooling the neighborhood.”

I let out a strained laugh and dropped my head forward between my shoulders. “Sorry. I had a stressful talk with my sister, which threw off my cooking and schedule. I’m behind, and nothing’s finished. I’m wasting your time.”

I felt Austin approach before I saw his shadow over my fridge.

He gently squeezed my shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I’ve got nowhere else to be tonight. How about you teach me how to make some of this stuff? I’m sure the guys would love you forever if I knew how to cook more than spaghetti or roast chicken and vegetables in a pan.”

The tension in my shoulders evaporated under his fingers. I noticed that we naturally gravitated toward each other with casual touches.Is he like that with everyone?I wasn’t.

“Thanks. Sorry.” I’d made a detailed schedule for the five dishes with a specific order for each of the steps so they would finish at an even pace over a couple of hours, but that was all out the window.

“It’s more fun this way. Anyway, stop apologizing, and start teaching me something.”

I lost myself in the depths of his eyes for a moment. With a little shake of my head and a few blinks, I turned toward where I’d left off earlier.

While I showed him a few things for the tuna tartare, I began rolling out the pasta dough I’d let rest.

“The guys are going to shit their pants when they hear I helped with tuna tartare. That’s fancy as fuck.” He smiled at me like a kid who just learned how to bait his own fishing hook.

“You didn’t learn to cook growing up?” I asked.

Austin’s expression darkened. “No. My dad was the cook in the family, and he was too busy to teach me how. Once I moved in with Ty’s family, I wanted nothing to do with cooking. I only picked up a few skills during college purely for survival.”

I wanted to ask a million questions but sensed it wasn’t a good time to push, so I decided to keep it light. “Didn’t want to live on Kraft mac and cheese?”

“I tried but learned quickly I couldn’t.” He flashed a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

He seemed to relax as we continued cooking. Working side by side was easy. Between him telling me how the guys had met in college and how they’d decided to begin working toward their dream of owning a brewery together a few years ago, I gave him directions to help me with the dishes. Being around him was so damn easy, too easy. I already couldn’t wait to spend time with him again.

CHAPTER9

AUSTIN

“Isit weird living with and working with the guys every day?”

I carefully whisked the pasta sauce while I added splashes of chicken broth. I hoped my additions were in the ballpark of a splash.Is that like a liquid dash? Or maybe that’s a dollop. Could liquid be measured by dollop?

“Not as weird as I thought it would be,” I said.

I paused after adding another splash and looked at Caleb questioningly. He gave me an encouraging nod and returned to folding his tortellini with practiced ease. I loved watching his deft fingers work with food. It was quickly becoming a kink.

“After college, I lived with Ethan for a couple of years, and Ty and Dom came over to hang out all the time. We kept hanging out regularly as our living situations changed, so I guess moving back in together didn’t feel that different. I was worried it would be like college all over again, but our years of living apart through the rest of our twenties and into our thirties taught us a lot.”

“Like how to properly clean toilets and decorate with tasteful landscape photography instead of movie posters?”

I laughed. “Thank god for our new cleaning skills. I don’t think I could live through the college filth again. It’s amazing how low our standards were back then.”

Our conversation naturally shifted from me talking about the guys to Caleb’s time in Portland. His entire body lit up as he told stories about wild things that had happened at his pod, celebrities he’d met, and his former neighbors’ shenanigans. I loved the vibrancy in him but couldn’t help wondering if living in the small, rural community would dim it.

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