Page 79 of Tuned To Break
Stella looks up from her conversation with the girls, an eyebrow raised. “Are you lot talking about me?”
“Just admiring your outfit choice,” I call back with a grin.
“By admiring, he means eye-fucking,” Asher adds helpfully.
“ASHER!” Ella smacks his arm. “Language!”
“What? It’s accurate.”
Stella just laughs and goes back to her chat, completely unbothered by our ridiculous behaviour. That’s one of the things I love about her—she can hold her own with a bunch of mechanics without missing a beat.
“Right,” Arden announces, flipping steaks with a surgeon’s precision, “these beauties are almost ready. Someone want to grab the sides from inside—Martha, my housekeeper, left them out?”
“I’ll get them,” Stella offers, standing and smoothing down her dress.
“I’ll help,” I say quickly, earning snickers from the boys.
“Of course you will,” Megan teases with a knowing smile.
Inside Arden’s massive kitchen, Stella collects bowls from the fridge while I pretend to be useful by finding serving spoons. It’s quieter in here, away from the laughter outside.
“Having fun?” I ask, moving in behind her and slipping my arms around her waist.
“Mmm.” She leans back against my chest. “It’s nice. Normal. After this week...”
“Hey.” I turn her in my arms. “You okay? Really okay?”
“I’m good. Better than good, actually. Finally telling Doc exactly what I thought helped. Got it out of my system.”
“Good. You deserved to say your piece.”
She smiles up at me, the afternoon light through the windows making her green eyes sparkle. “Have I mentioned lately that I love you?”
“Not in the last hour. I was starting to worry,” I joke.
“Well, I do. Love you, I mean. Desperately and completely.”
“Fuck, Stella,” I murmur, backing her against the kitchen counter. “You can’t say things like that when we’re at someone else’s house.”
“Why not?”
“Because it makes me want to do things that would definitely get us banned from future BBQs.”
Her eyes darken. “What kind of things?”
I lean past her, scoop a little mashed potatoes from the bowl, drag it across her lips, then lick it from her mouth. She shudders, pressing into me.
Before I can answer with words, Arden’s voice booms from outside. “Where are those sides? The steaks are getting cold!”
“We should go back,” Stella whispers, but she doesn’t move.
“Should we?” I kiss her neck.
“Jake...” she breathes—more invitation than protest.
“Five minutes,” I murmur against her throat. “Just give me five minutes.” I smear a dab of mashed potatoes along her neck and take my time licking it off her smooth skin. Who would’ve thought mashed potatoes could taste this fucking good?
I’m kissing my way up to her ear when Arden himself appears in the doorway.
