Page 27 of Legal

I took a deep breath and opened the fridge. No. As far as plans went, it was a halfway decent one. The problem wasn’t with Perry’s idea; it was with me. I just had to get back to that place when I thought he was gay. Free-flowing conversation with zero possibility of getting naked.

Easy-peasy.

I pulled out a couple beers and handed him one, knowing I’d better savor mine because it was the only one I was having. At least until Perry arrived.

All I had to do was open my mouth and expel some words. “Dinner?” See, that wasn’t so hard. Who cared if it was only a one-word sentence? It was a start.

“Fajitas okay?” Chase dipped his hand into the bag and pulled out a bag of peppers, plunking them next to my coffee maker. “You said you liked Mexican.”

“Yes, but”—I took a large guzzle from the bottle—“I thought we were going to order in.” At least that’s what I remembered talking about when I updated him on the change of plans. He’d been so accommodating when I’d mentioned it, but now things were veering off course.

He set down a glass container filled with liquid. “I want to cook instead. Does that bother you?” I shook my head. I needed to lighten up. The entire night wasn’t going to blow up in my face just because the dinner menu changed. We were still eating in. “Good. I started marinating these steaks right away. I usually like to give them overnight, but it’ll still work.”

I watched him unload the rest of the stuff as I took another deep sip, nearly finishing it. The alcohol pooled in my empty belly, and if I shimmied fast enough, I’d be able to hear it slosh.

“Let me pay for half of this.” I squatted down, pulled out a cast iron skillet from the lower cupboard, and showed it to him.

He nodded, taking it from me. “Naw, you’ve got the beer. It’s even.”

I doubted that. My entire counter was covered. “Then how can I help?” My stomach rumbled, and I stood up and finished off my beer, trying to quiet it down. I already felt looser. I had this night in the bag.

“You can cut up some veggies.”

“Done.” I brought out the cutting board, then carried over a plateful of red and yellow peppers to the sink. Sliding open the window, a strong breeze blew over my face, cooling me. At least the temperature had dropped to a comfortable degree. I could turn off the fans and open all the windows instead.

“Do anything special to celebrate the Fourth?” he asked.

I took the peppers back to the counter, placing them next to the onions. “It depends. Not sure about this year since they’re calling for storms all day, but I usually spend the holiday with family.”

I heard the sizzle of oil; then Chase sidled up beside me. Despite the strength of my pulse coinciding with the heavy chop of the knife, I was holding it together pretty damn well.

“I have a confession to make.”

My hand stilled for a moment before I resumed slicing. Fuck, this was it. He was going to tell me something horrendously disturbing, like that steak he was cooking up was really his ex-girlfriend or that he’d been a sixteen-year-old virgin until I made a man out of him. A shiver snaked up my spine. At least I was the one holding the knife.

“It wasn’t me who found your phone after practice. It was Hazel.”

Oh. I looked up at him. “So, you’re still twenty-three?”

He laughed. “Last time I checked.” My shoulders relaxed. Then I squashed my lips together. Since when was his age something to be relieved about?

“And you’re a well-adjusted member of society?” Unlike me, apparently.

“I believe so. They did let me out early for good behavior; that has to account for something.”

My mouth widened, and he winked. Humph. I went back to the vegetables, peeling the plastic off the mushroom container. “You said you found my phone, and that’s why I owed you one.”

“No, I said I kept it safe, and that’s why you owed me.”

“Well, if you truly believe you didn’t mislead me, then what you just told me is not really a confession, is it?”

He grasped my chin in his hand and tilted my head toward him. I dropped the knife in surprise; luckily, I didn’t slice off a finger. The near miss was soon forgotten as I got lost in a sea of green. And when his lips touched mine, everything else escaped me as well.

It ended much too quickly. The warmth continued flowing through me even after the connection was broken, and my head was left in a misty fog. I couldn’t fathom how such a gentle kiss could affect me so deeply.

“The next one will be up to you, Jillian.”

We spent the rest of the meal preparation in relative silence. I ran through the whole gamut of emotions: frustration, relief, happiness, irritation, searing arousal, frustration, frustration, frustration.

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