Page 76 of Broken on the Mountain
Despite the thoughts swirling inside my head, we work in tandem.
I'm busy browning the meat while she massacres vegetables with increasing confidence. Every time she gets something right, she lights up like I've handed her a prize.
When the meat is nearly ready, Piper is holding the chili powder jar like it's a live grenade, reading the label with the kind of focus she probably reserves for patient charts.
"Okay, so… how much?"
"Two tablespoons," I say, watching her measure it out.
She tips the spoon over the pot and as she does, the hoodie rides up just enough to show a sliver of skin above her jeans. Her sexy ass looks amazing, and I can't fucking help myself. My hand connects with her ass in an enthusiasticsmack.
The jar flies from her grip as I squeeze her butt and release with a primal groan.
"Chase!Look what you did!"
I focus back on our cooking, and peer over the rim of the steaming pot. Theentirejar of chili powder has fallen in. Dumped into the mixture in one catastrophic avalanche of red powder.
"Oh shit—"
Knox and Travis erupt from their tent, turning into chest-bumping victory apes. "YES! MORRISON JUST TANKED HIS OWN CHILI!"
Piper stares into the pot, which now looks like the surface of Mars. "That's… that's bad, right?"
"Yes. Betty will die if we serve that much chili, baby."
She turns, murder in those usually-pretty eyes. "You just cost us the competition!"
"I'm sorry!" I say, throwing my arms up. "Your ass looked too good not to smack it."
"Urgh, I'm not losing to them." Piper rallies with the kind of determination I admire in her. "I'mon it."
She flips off Knox and Travis with two hands, both of whom are still dancing like they've won the Superbowl, before sprinting toward Jamie and Brooke's station like a woman on a mission.
I watch her go, grinning despite the apocalypse currently simmering in our pot.
She reaches their tent and immediately starts pillaging ingredients—a can of beer, a knob of butter, what looks like a spoon of… cocoa powder?What the hell does she think goes into chili?
"Thief!" Jamie squawks, scrambling to stop Piper taking all their ingredients.
Brooke holds out a small jar. "Take the cumin too. You'll need it!"
"You're a goddess," Piper tells her best friend.
"I know." Brooke grins. "Now go save your chili before Chase's grabby hands cost you the trophy."
I turn back to our pot, stirring frantically and trying to salvage what's left of our dignity. The mixture bubbles like lava, and I'm pretty sure it could strip paint.
Then, as Piper gets chased around the parking lot by Jamie, Knox and Travis, who have all abandoned their stations, my phone buzzes on the table.
Without looking, I grab it and answer mid-stir. "Stone River Chili Hotline… how spicy do you want it?"
A voice like frost burns into my ear. "Put my daughter on."
I feel my brows pull together. "Excuse me? Who's this?"
"Put. My daughter. On."
I glance at the screen. It's not my phone. It's Piper's.
