Page 116 of Trade Deadline

He takes a step back and grabs the loofah, squirting some shower gel on it before handing it to me.

We manage to keep our hands to ourselves in the shower and then get dressed in contented silence. Blaine makes us some coffee to go, and when we’re just parking outside of the shop, we see the light flicker on.

The bell chimes above the door as we step inside, and I walk over to greet my brother with a hug.

“Good morning… I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” he says to Blaine.

“Mornin’,” Blaine returns the smile, shoving his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. “I’ve come to help out; hope that’s okay.”

Jacob’s eyebrows rise slightly in surprise. “Oh, thank you, you didn't have to.”

Blaine shrugs, “Nowhere else I’d rather be than spending time with Alex and maybe getting some of those delicious raspberry ripple cupcakes.”

Jacob chuckles with a shake of his head. “I’m sure we can sort something out.”

I laugh when Blaine fist bumps the air. “Let's go get you an apron.”

Jacob heads into the kitchen while I find a clean apron for Blaine, and once he’s tied the strings behind his back, he twists his baseball cap backward and whispers gleefully, “Did you see that? I think he likes me.”

I laugh, pinching his ass. “Keep up the good work, big boy. You’ll win him over soon enough.”

Fetching my own apron, I lead Blaine into the kitchen, where Jacob’s already starting on the cake mixture.

“What do you need me to do?”

“How good are you at measuring? Want to help me get started on the cookies?” I ask.

Blaine looks a little apprehensive but nods. “Can’t be hard, right?”

Jacob scoffs.

“I’ll show you,” I say.

He follows me to the sink to wash our hands, then I retrieve a bowl from the shelf, along with the ingredients we need.

“I tend to mix a batch of cookie dough, then split it into portions before adding the different mix-ins, so we use the same cookie dough base, but I’ll add milk chocolate chips to one, white chocolate to another, M&Ms to another, peanut butter, etc.”

He nods. “I think I follow…”

Placing the digital scales in front of him, I write down how much of each ingredient I need. Once the cookie dough base is done, I split it into different bowls and add the ingredients Blaine’s weighed out.

“Okay, onto the M&M’s…” I look up just as he’s throwing some of the chocolate into his mouth.

“You’re not supposed to eat it all!” I laugh.

He flashes a toothy grin, colorful pieces of M&M shell still stuck in his teeth.

I pry the bowl of chopped-up chocolate from his hands and mix it into the cookie dough.

“Can you help me carry these to the fridge, please? We let them chill for a while before baking.”

Blaine helps carry the mixing bowls over to the fridge before getting started on the donuts. I’m in awe of Blaine’s excitement and enthusiasm as he drops the rings into the oil, and a few hours later, we’re sliding the tray of finished donuts and cookies onto the glass counter.

Blaine takes to serving customers with ease, and when the door opens and Nate waltzes in, he gives my best friend a bright smile. “Hey there, Nate, what can I get for you?”

Nate stops dead in his tracks, his eyes wide in alarm. “What are you doing here, hot hockey player?”

Blaine laughs. “I’m helping Alex out.”

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