My mother – Kari, I made up my mind to call her from now on - ended up being gone for a lot longer than “a bit”. I wandered into the kitchen and found Trent there. He was leaning one hip against the counter, studying what looked like a recipe book, long blonde hair obscuring his face.
He looked up when I walked in, face brightening with a smile, “hey, how’d the lesson go?”
“Well, she knows I have the link now,” I tried to keep my voice bright, but it must have rang false, because he scrutinized my face harder, setting the book down, “are you okay?”
“She found the link,” I fidgeted with the bottom of the black sweater I was wearing, running my fingers over the cotton so wouldn’t have to look up at him, “it was, weird. When she tried it, I sort of…I dunno, felt like she was trying to intrude.”
Trent grimaced, “Uh oh. So, it didn’t work at all? Not like…like it worked with us?”
I thought of the rush of feelings when he’d touched me, the heat of his gaze, the brush of his thoughts against mine, and wanted to say it was nothing like what we’d felt. Instead, I just shook my head, “it didn’t quite…work. She said was resisting.”
“Hm,” Trent turned back to the cook book, flipping through the pages casually, “you’re just nervous, I’m sure she realized that. You’ll have to forgive her if she comes off…you know, over eager. She really does care.”
Thinking about the way she marched out as soon as she knew I had the link made me wonder if he was right, “she didn’t really help me with the fire,” I glanced over his shoulder at the book. Trent appeared to be looking at pictures of deserts, “she sort of just left as soon as she tested the link.”
“New recruit,” he shrugged, “don’t worry, Jess. It’ll all work out fine,” he turned and took my hand, surprising me enough that I could feel my cheeks flush instantly, “I promise.”
Not wanting to look like a blushing school girl, I took my hand back gently and tried my best too look casual, “So, brownies?”
He grinned, brushing his hair behind one ear, “I figured we could do a bit of baking, you know, to take your mind off things. Brownies demand nothing from you, that’s the best part about them…well, and the chocolaty goodness.”
Something about him saying the phrase “chocolatey goodness” had me stifling giggles with the sleeve of my sweater, “okay, brownies. That sounds good actually.”
“There is no situation that cannot be made better with chocolate,” Trent reached into one of the cupboards and started pulling down ingredients, “at least, that what girls always say, right?”
“Right,” I agreed, looking over the brownie recipe, “chocolate and lots and lots of money.”
Trent laughed, “wow, alright then. Here, pass me the sugar, will you?”
It was quickly apparent that Trent was not a natural baker. He nearly dumped in two tablespoons of salt instead of teaspoons, and covered himself in flour so thoroughly that he looked like a tall, blonde ghost. Finally we got the batter the way it should look, and Trent poured it clumsily into a shallow square baking dish, splattering chocolate on both of us in the process. He slammed the oven door shut and straightened triumphantly, turning back to me,
“There! In twenty minutes we’ll have beautiful chocolate…” he trailed off into laughter, staring at me, and I blushed furiously, “What? What’s so funny?”
“You’re nose,” he snickered, “you’ve got chocolate…here, I’ll get it…”
Trent leaned in and swiped one finger on the tip of my nose, pulling his hand back to show me the globe of chocolate on his finger, eyes twinkling with suppressed laugher, “you’re messy.”
YOU ARE READING
Fire
Fantasy**Completed**Can smoldering resentment and attraction exist at the same time? Jess Parker has made a number of mistakes. The first was burning her school to the ground. The second, getting caught by the handsome, yet maddening boy who calls himself...
