Bruises- Shane Madej

17. Zucchini Cookies

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AN:

hey guys! for personal reasons i'm uploading this early today! happy birthday. thanks again for reading; we're almost to the end of the book. this is the penultimate chapter!

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About a week passed. 

Maddie didn't tell anyone that she kissed Shane. They didn't talk about it. Every day at work Maddie wondered what else was going to happen. 

One day, she brought in some cookies she'd made the night before. 

"Hey, Shane, do you want a cookie?" 

"Oh, sure! Throw me one." She tossed him a cookie and he caught it, taking a bite. "Why are there green pieces inside?" 

"They're zucchini cookies." 

"What?" 

"Zucchini cookies-" 

Ryan walked by, taking a cookie. "Have you never had a chocolate chip zucchini cookie?" 

"No, what the hell?" 

"My grandma's recipe is the best," Maddie said, taking a bite of a cookie. 

"Why would you put zucchini in a cookie?" 

"You know, if you have lots of leftover zucchini." 

"No?" 

"Yeah, like, if your garden grows a lot of zucchini and you don't know what to do with it." 

Shane glanced between Ryan and Maddie, baffled. 

Maddie suddenly got an idea. "Hey, Shane, how about you come over sometime and I can show you how to make them?" 

Shane smiled. "Yeah, that sounds fun." 

"How about Friday at 7:00?" 

"Yeah, sounds good! I'll be there." 

"It's a date!" Maddie smiled. 

Ryan raised an eyebrow at the two of them, but they blatantly ignored him, casually going back to work. 

---

A couple hours before their date, Maddie went out into the kitchen to find Hanna. 

"Hey! Just so you know- I've got a guy coming over for a date at 7 and we're making cookies." 

Hanna nodded. "Ok, I'll just hang out in my room. Did you break up with that other guy?" 

She frowned. "I haven't dated Alvin since February, you know that." 

"No, no, the other one. Weren't you dating him?" 

"What?"

"The one who you went to the wedding with and all that. God, I know his name, it's on the tip of my tongue. Shawn?" 

"Shane?" 

"Yes! That's the one!" Hanna nodded, cutting up a cucumber for her salad. "So, who's this new guy?" 

"Wait, what?" Maddie blinked. "No, I wasn't dating Shane back then. But this is our first date." 

Hanna looked up. "Really?" 

"Yeah, I asked him out earlier this week." 

She smiled. "Ohh- okay. I'm excited for you!" 

Maddie nodded, blushing. "I'm excited, too." 

She spent most of the afternoon cleaning the kitchen and getting the ingredients for the cookies.

Before she knew it, Shane was at the door, dressed casually. 

"Hi!" she smiled, giving him a hug. 

The two talked a little bit and then went to the kitchen, beginning the baking process. 

"Okay, so the first step is to grate the zucchini." 

"Like cheese?" 

"Yeah, just kinda-" Maddie placed her hand over Shane's, guiding him on how to grate the Zucchini. 

"Oh, okay, right. Got it." 

They went through the steps, Maddie explaining to Shane all the baking terms that he needed to know. 

Soon enough, the cookies were baking in the oven. 

"So, I figured that while we wait for the cookies to get done, we could watch a movie?" she suggested. 

Shane nodded, "Yeah, sounds fun." 

"What do you wanna watch?" 

He thought for a second. "Oh! We never finished Mamma Mia from when we watched it on the plane." 

She smiled. "Yeah, good idea!" Maddie put the movie on and sat on the couch next to Shane. 

He put his arm around her, glad that the living room was darker so she couldn't see the blush on his face. 

The rest of the night continued like that, once the cookies had cooled, they took a small break from the movie to taste test them. 

Then, before Maddie was ready, the movie was over and it was almost time for Shane to go home. 

"Do you want a container with some cookies?" she asked. 

"Oh, no, I don't want to take your tupperware." 

"Well, then, you'll just have to come back another time to return it," Maddie smiled, handing Shane the container. 

He smiled back, heading to the door with Maddie. 

"I had a lot of fun," he said, leaning against the doorway. 

"Me, too," she smiled. 

Shane reached down and gave Maddie a quick kiss on the lips. "G'night." 

She smiled and waved to him as he left. "Goodnight!" 

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