Page 59 of Only Ever Yours

My smug tone falls flat at his words. He’s joking, but it hits deep. “Yeah, about that, I am going to the grocery store tomorrow once I get paid.”

“Don’t worry about it, I'm going today after work.” He winks. “So, back to my question. Why are you avoiding me?”

Ugh, he drives me insane.

I lean closer to him so Elaine doesn’t hear. “You know why, Jaydon. You basically told the whole damn bar you fucked me.” His hand quickly goes up to cover his laughter. My eyes roll on their own accord. “It’s not fucking funny.”

“No, Peachy, it’s not… but the look on that cocksucker’s face was. Why the fuck do you let him talk to you like that?”

“He didn’t say anything wrong. He just wanted to leave,” I state calmly, my face drained of any expression.He doesn’t need to know I’m not actually with Kevin.

“I can’t quite figure you out, Ellie.” His head cocks to the side, deep in thought, as his tongue runs across his bottom lip. The way his dark eyes study my face makes me uncomfortable—mostly afraid he’s going to figure out my secrets.

“Come on, Jaydon. What are you getting? The regulars will start rolling in soon.”

“Just my usual, Peachy. You know who—I mean what—I like to taste on my lips.” His smirk is my kryptonite.

I turn towards the espresso machine and close my eyes, taking a deep breath. Why does this man have to play with my emotions and be so fucking gorgeous? He’s constantly fucking with me.

This cannot be good for my mental health.

It’s my turn to make dinner tonight, but I don’t have a fucking clue as to what I’m doing. I can’t cook to save my life. Jaydon said he wanted chicken Alfredo and salad—well, we both agreed on that. I found a recipe online by searchingeasy Alfredo recipes.It’s just that I’ve never cooked it before, and I’m sure it’s going to be horrible.

Jaydon picked up all the ingredients from the grocery store a few days ago. I tried to give him money for half of the groceries, but he wouldn’t take it from me. Since then, I’ve skated around him as much as possible, trying my best to keep my distance.

So tonight, since he so thoughtfully wouldn’t let me give him anything for the grocery bill, I’m trying my best not to fuck up dinner completely. Only, he doesn’t have a clue that I can't cook to save my life. We might just end up eating salad for dinner.

I prepared everything—gathering the butter, cream, and seasonings and setting them out on the counter.

It can't bethathard.

I throw everything into the pot and begin stirring, melting the butter. I read through all the comments on the recipe earlier, and everyone says it’s easy and delicious. So, I'm feeling good about this, and I'm pretty sure I can have dinner ready by the time Jaydon gets home from work. Well… that’s my goal.

I want to show him that I can do this, that I can get something right in my life. Cooking a nice dinner for the both of us is surely a way to prove something to him. What—I’m not exactly sure of. But I need to do this. I feel like I owe the man something for letting me crash at his house and buy me endless amounts of food. He won’t ever take my money for groceries.

So, I’m determined to make this the best dinner possible for him.

Everything was going good until the smoke detector went off...

As soon as I hear the fire alarm, my heart falls to my stomach.

Shit.

I didn’t know you could burn Alfredo sauce.

I went upstairs for only a minute to change out of my clothes and into something more comfortable. Okay… well, maybe it was more like fifteen or twenty minutes. But dammit, I thought it would be fine on medium-high. The recipe said to simmer for ten minutes.

I’ve fucked up.

I drop my face serum and run down the stairs.

Dammit, how did I forget about the fucking food cooking?

I’m downstairs in record speed as the kitchen fills with a light haze, and a small flame surrounds the pan. I have no idea what to do. My head quickly bounces back and forth, looking for a fire extinguisher. I don’t even know if he has one, or where the hell it might be.

Panic sets in.

I’m about to run for the kitchen faucet when the side door to the garage opens.

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