Page 66 of Coach Me
“Yeah, count me in, Luce.”
Lucie tucks some of her hair behind her ear and I get a glance at her freshly-painted yellow fingernails. God, I love that color.
Lucie walks around me to the kitchen, but turns back after a few steps. “Heads-up…I cheated a bit. I bought the dough ready to go from the bakery. You have to give it time to rise and?—”
“So, we’re skipping the boring stuff Miles wouldn’t be interested in?”
Lucie chuckles. “Exactly. I thought starting out with rolling and tossing the dough would be the crowd pleaser.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Is throwing it really necessary?”
“It is when you’re making it with a five-year-old.”
Back in the kitchen, I unpack the bags and get everything out on the counter while Lucie helps Miles wash up.
When Miles moves his stool over to the island, he snarls at the spread in front of him. “There’s a lot of stuff I don’t like, Lucie.”
“Miles, manners,” I say in a warning.
“But I don’t like them.” Miles shrugs. “I don’t know how to have manners about things I don’t like.”
Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh.
Lucie pulls her lips in a thin line, and I can tell she’s thinking the same damn thing.
“It’s okay to not like things, bud. I know I got some stuff that you don’t like, but I do. I also got things that your dad likes. We can each make our own pizzas, and it could be fun to try slices of each.”
Miles scrunches his nose while he thinks on Lucie’s idea.
“We also need to be appreciative that Lucie bought all of this and wants to do something fun.”
Miles finally relents. “Thank you, Lucie. I am excited to make my pizza. But I’m not sure about trying everyone’s.”
Lucie lets out an amused hum. “Alright, we’ll think about it?”
Miles nods. “I’ll think about it.”
“Good.” Lucie looks around the kitchen. “This kind of feels weird to say, but this is the first time I’ve actually cooked in this kitchen. Where is everything?”
“Whatcha need, Luce?”
“A rolling pin to get the dough ready, a cutting board, and a knife for the veggies.”
While I get the things she needs, Miles helps Lucie wipe down the counters. Finding the cutting board and knife is easy; the rolling pin, however, is some weird miracle. I had no fucking clue that I even had one, but there it was in some random drawer full of utensils that I’ve probably only used a handful of times.
Once the counters are clean, Lucie pulls over the bag of flour and the wrapped-up dough. “Okay, so three pizzas?”
Miles points his finger at himself, then at me and Lucie. “Yep, three.”
I chuckle. “I’ll let you guys handle that, while I cut up the vegetables. Luce, you like banana peppers, green peppers, and cherry tomatoes?”
Lucie looks at me, her eyes bright as she pulls her hair back in a ponytail. “Yeah, that’s right.”
Of course it is. I know how she likes her pizza, her coffee, and the concession hotdogs.
Lucie’s eyes linger on me for a moment, and it takes a lot not to hold her blue eyes, but I start working on her toppings.Lucie goes back to Miles with a small nudge. “Alright, Miles, you ready to make a mess?”
“Yes!” Miles cheers.
