Page 24 of Séance

Gunner hesitates for a moment, then he hands me a brush and a bowl with some tangy sauce that teases my nose. “You can put the BBQ sauce on the meat.”

I nibble on my lip as I look up at him, then my eyes drop to his chest, and a hunger of a different sort roars through me as I imagine painting him with the brush then licking it off him. “Um…”

Completely oblivious, Gunner sticks his pinky into the bowl, then holds it up. “Taste.”

I’m a dolt, so instead of copying him and putting my finger in the bowl, I lean forward to suck the digit in my mouth, running my tongue over the tip of his pinky. Flavors explode on my palate—the spicy taste of the sauce and the even more delicious taste of him.

When he stills, I realize my blunder, and I hastily pull away, completely mortified by my actions. I struggle to contain my panic. “I?—”

“Good?” His gruff question cuts me off, and my gaze snaps up. His dark blue eyes are intense as he stares at my mouth like he’s craving a taste. I nod and hastily lick my lips, thinking I have sauce smeared across my face.

A tortured groan rumbles from his chest, which is swiftly cut off as he spins to face the grill. I follow his lead, watching him from the corner of my eye. Wanting to put him at ease, I dip the brush in the sauce and begin spreading it over the food—I can no longer call it meat without thinking of him. “Am I doing this right?”

Like he’s glad for something to do, he looks over, then nods. “Yup.” He roughly clears his throat, and a lock of dark hair falls over his forehead. There is a curl to it that gives him a boyishlook, or as much as he can look boyish being giant sized. “Repeat that over all the pieces until you run out of sauce.”

Pleased to have something to do, I give a happy hum. Standing shoulder to shoulder with him feels peaceful, and I find myself shuffling closer. He smells of grease, smoke, and clean man. It’s very distracting. He remains still, like I’m an animal he might frighten away, and I bite my lip to keep from smiling.

He absently nudges the food, doing nothing other than watching me.

It’s…peaceful.

When the bowl is empty, I’m disappointed. I don’t want the magic to end. “That was fun. Maybe we can do it again sometime? Cooking is a survival skill I really need to learn.”

“You don’t know how to cook? At all?” He looks appalled at the thought.

Suddenly feeling inadequate, I shake my head and look away, wanting to be anywhere else. “Nah, I never got the chance. The cook would chase me out of the kitchen if I dared enter his domain.”

As the silence stretches out just a little too long, I blink back tears and take a step away, ready to flee.

“I can teach you…uh…if you…um…want.” Gunner runs a hand down the back of his head, then scratches his neck. He purposely doesn’t look at me, a slight blush darkening his cheeks that I don’t think comes from the heat of the grill. His offer seems like it was made against his will, but I refuse to let him back out now.

I want to know how to cook, and I’d love to spend more time with him in a way that doesn’t make me sound too needy. “Yes, I’d like that.” Not wanting him to back out or make excuses, I quickly confirm a time. “Tomorrow?”

He turns to look at me, a scowl on his face as he studies me. I stand up straighter under his perusal, hoping I measure up. It’s almost like he’s trying to judge if I’m being sincere.

When he takes a beat too long, I can’t stifle my disappointment. “If you don’t want?—”

“No, tomorrow is fine.” His stoic expression doesn’t change. “Your place?”

I nibble on my bottom lip, desperately trying to remember what Nan has in the fridge. “Um, sure, but I don’t know if we’ll be able to find anything to cook in the house. While I love Nan, she’s not the greatest in the kitchen. Everything is prepackaged or takeout.”

My answer seems to please him. The tension in his shoulders finally melts away, and he snorts. “Yeah, we can pick up some supplies first. Your nan can burn water. We can smell burned food and hear her fire alarms when she tries to cook.”

I wince, unable to suppress my chuckle. “Yeah, dinner my first night in the house was…an experience.” I grimace at the memory, still sometimes able to smell the charred odor of burned onions when I enter the kitchen. “I didn’t know anything was wrong until smoke started billowing out of the oven. The food was burnt on the outside and still frozen on the inside. I’m still not sure what she was trying to make.”

Gunner turns back to the food and begins putting items on a platter. “I work until noon, but if you can wait, I can pick you up afterward.”

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to take up your free time. I forgot tomorrow was Saturday. You probably already have plans.” I can’t seem to stop babbling as I struggle to contain my disappointment.

“Nah, I was only going to hang out with these assholes. Spending the day cooking will be nice.” He sets the tongs aside,shuts the grill, then picks up the large platter. “Should we join the others?”

I smile up at him, then my eyes widen when I see the amount of food. “Th-That’s enough to feed an army,” I sputter, completely awed by the massive mound of meat.

“Or just a bunch of teenage boys,” Gunner mutters, then he leans down as if to share a secret. “Just wait. A mouse will be lucky to find a crumb once these guys are done.”

As we head toward the table, the rest of the guys begin to gather. Gunner places the food in the center. From his description, I almost expect the guys to fall onto the food, but they seem to be waiting for something.

Ellis pulls out a chair for me. I go to him with a smile and take a seat. There is a slight scuffle, but when I look up, the boys are busy settling themselves around the table, although Ellis is scowling at Jameson. I glance at them suspiciously, but they only begin passing around the food.

---