Page 11 of Bake You Mine
“Ugh, I don’t want to talk about it.”
“So, did he give it to Aubrey?” She peered at herself in the mirror.
He gave her the general gist of what had transpired. She chuckled.
“You thought that space was yours, didn’t you? You were waiting for Gary to take you up on it, finally. Now you’re going to have to compete for it.”
“I’m not sure how much of a competition it’ll end up being, but whatever. I tried to reason with Aubrey, but she wouldn’t hear it.”
“You mean she didn’t just present your desires to you on a silver platter when you batted your big brown eyes at her?Aww, your game is slipping, big bro.” She tossed the eyeliner into her makeup bag. “Maybe Aubrey deserves it more than you.”
It was no secret that Sasha was a big fan of Petit Chou. She loved to bake in her free time, and Aubrey had shown her a trick or two.
He reached forward to muss her hair again, earning him a feral growl.
Before he could tell her anything further, their mother shouted down the stairs for them to come up for dinner.
Once Sasha spilled the beans on the competition, he could hardly eat two bites of his dinner without fielding questions. Everyone had ideas on how he should win the space.
“I think you should go for it, little bro,” Brandon said. “Especially since I’m up to my elbows with the clucker from hell project and won’t be able to throw any more money into Elevation for a while.”
“Don’t remind me,” Liam muttered; simultaneously, their mother said, “Language, Brandon.” As if he were one of the kids instead of thirty-eight years old.
Brandon’s money was tied up with a collegiate chicken franchise called Cluck U out of the Carolinas. He was on the verge of opening two locations in the Port Fortune area. Until then, it was sucking both his soul and his bank account dry. The timing was shit, but nothing could be done about it. Besides, money was only half the problem. There was nowhere in Port Fortune they could move to, even if they had the funds.
“What happens if you don’t win?” his mother asked. “Will you be stuck?
He shrugged. “I don’t want to consider failure, especially before this stupid competition begins.”
If he lost, he had time to consider his next move. He put on his best face, hoping his family would buy it.
“I don’t want to lose you again, William.” His mother reached over to squeeze his hand.
Clearly, his mask wasn’t affixed as well as he’d hoped. Liam had left Port Fortune at eighteen. He’d been grateful for his adventures but had missed out on a lot. He was still a restless spirit—he daydreamed about working in Michelin-level kitchens again—but he’d stay in Port Fortune if he won. If he didn’t, well, he had time to figure that out. His lease wasn’t up until next year. He had time.
Still, he didn’t want to drop the proverbial turd in the pool, so with all his family staring at him, he put on his best smile and told them a version of the truth. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’m glad to hear that. You look like there’s a bee in your bonnet. What’s wrong?” His mother patted his hand.
His family would only rag on him if he told them the source of his resting dick face. He was pissed Aubrey hadn’t folded like a pile of laundry when he’d given her the opportunity.
Besides, the competition could be fun. Especially given that today he’d found out Aubrey was funny. It wouldn’t be the worst few weeks of his life if he kept his thoughts about her strictly PG. No, PG meant certain adult situations were allowed. They had to remain rated G.
He hadn’t thought about her much before today, so that shouldn’t be too challenging.
“Nothing’s wrong. I’m considering what I’m going to make for the first challenge.”
Kiki grinned at him from across the dinner table, and Liam reached over and took her nose between his thumb and forefinger, making her wiggle happily in her seat.
His mother swirled her wine around in her glass. “You’ll besuch a good father, Liam. I want to introduce you to a few women. There’s one in particular?—”
That earned a universal, “Ma, enough!” from all the adults at the table.
Even though his siblings could bicker like the world was ending, they always had each other’s backs, no matter what.
After a million kisses to Kiki, his mom, and the other kids, Liam finally closed the front door behind him and Sasha. She was itching to drive his Challenger to the restaurant, and seeing that he had a message from Dani that he had to reply to, he tossed her the keys.
Dani toyed with him for a few texts before admitting she had work early in the morning.
