Page 69 of The Shots You Take

It was then that Riley noticed the cookbook Adam was working from:Out of Old Nova Scotia Kitchens. “I mostly just have that for decoration. It’s super old.”

“That’s a relief. There’s some very gross-sounding stuff in there. I was going to make lobster stew, but I had no idea what a rolled cream soda is.”

“Me neither.” Riley crossed the kitchen to peek in the pot. “Wow, that looks really good, actually.”

Adam’s smile grew. “Right? I think I nailed it. I used bacon instead of whatever salt pork is.”

“That’s fine.”

“Do you have paprika? I’m supposed to sprinkle paprika on it before serving.”

“I do.”

“A woman named Janet who works at the grocery store was very helpful. She told me the right kind of potatoes to use.”

“Janet’s nice, yeah.”

“I did create a bit of a scene there, though. Everyone in the store wanted to give me their opinions on how to make fish chowder properly. Things got a bit heated between them.”

Riley laughed. “It’s a controversial subject.” He glanced at the recipe. “You used crackers to thicken it? Nice. That’s what Mom does.”

Adam was standing so close to him, and he was unfairly handsome, even with his hair a mess and what appeared to be cracker crumbs around his lips.

“I picked up some rolls from Paula’s too. And a pie. You like strawberry rhubarb?”

Unfair. This was all horribly unfair. How was Riley supposed to deal with any of this? A man he absolutely did notwant to be in love with making him dinner and buying him flowers andpie? Hisfavoritepie?

“Yeah,” he said, “I like it.” Then, as if his hand was controlled by someone else, he reached out a thumb and brushed the cracker crumbs from the corner of Adam’s mouth.

Adam’s lips parted slightly, his eyes widening in surprise. Riley snapped out of it and pulled his thumb away. “Sorry. You had…crumbs.” He turned away, his face burning with embarrassment. “I don’t know why I did that.”

“It’s okay.” Adam wrapped a hand around Riley’s wrist and tugged gently, urging him to turn back around. “It was sweet.”

Riley did turn around and wished he hadn’t. Adam’s eyes were dark and intense, as if the simple brush of Riley’s thumb had ignited him.

Oh god. Riley was in trouble. He closed his eyes in an attempt to put up some sort of defense. Adam was using his own thumb now, rubbing gentle circles on the inside of Riley’s wrist and turning his legs to jelly.

Riley stepped away. The steam from the soup was too hot. Everything was too hot. He left the kitchen, unbuttoning the top of his shirt as he walked.

He wouldn’t ruin this. He would eat the lovely dinner Adam had made and he wouldn’t be weird. He sat on the couch and took a few slow breaths, grateful that Adam hadn’t followed him to the living room.

Lucky found him and pressed his body against his legs. Riley rubbed his soft fur while he waited for his own heart rate to slow.

A few minutes later, Adam joined him on the couch. He’d taken the apron off, and Riley did his best to ignore the way his gray T-shirt clung to him perfectly. It had probably cost a fortune.

“You wanted to talk,” Adam said as he stroked Lucky’s back.

Riley had said that, but now he had no idea what to say.

“Maybe I should start,” Adam suggested.

Riley nodded. Adam had always been the talker.

Adam turned slightly toward Riley, bumping their knees together. “I’m hoping for a chance to do things better.”

Riley’s heart trembled. “I don’t know what that means.”

“It means…” Adam’s brow furrowed as if he wasn’t sure either. “Well. I guess I’m hoping we can figure that out together. But to start, it means I made dinner.”

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