Sweetheart

17

Lizzie
October 2020

September flew by. Honestly, with all the classes and afternoons spent with Nate, Cam and Davina, and even Caleb (when he wasn't with a girl), the entire month went by before I could realize it.

After that day with Aaron, where he told me about Nate not being at practice, I decided to confront him and ask him where he was. Nate told me he wasn't at practice, but he was helping Coach Andrews with the freshman students who wanted to join the school team. He'd been brief in the text because it was easier to explain since he was also late and didn't have time to give me a full explanation.

So, now, we've been dating for a whole month. Technically a little more, but it wasn't official as soon as we kissed, was it?

To celebrate this small yet important milestone I've decided to do something with Nate, especially since both Aaron and Grace are going to be out today.

When I proposed the idea to Nate he was super excited and even offered to have dinner together. Obviously, I accepted. So here I am, standing in the kitchen, ready to cook something for us while he's at school with Coach Andrews to select the new members.

I'm going to be honest, though. I'm not an amazing cook. I'm even worse when I don't have a recipe to follow. That's where Rose comes in handy. God bless Italy.

"First thing you want to do is cook the maccheroni." Mind you, American macaroni is not the same thing as maccheroni. I once made the mistake of saying that and almost got beat up with a rolling pin.

I fill up a pot and set it on the stove, waiting for the water to boil. When it's done, I throw in the pasta and stir it. "All right, it's cooking."

"Good. You can get the sauce started, then. Follow my instructions, stellina. Don't set it on fire like you did last time, okay?" Rose's voice is sweet, but there's a hint of worry in it.

I chuckle, holding my phone between my ear and my shoulder. "I promise I'll be careful, Rose. Talk me through it."

She does. As always, my nanny proves herself the best teacher out there. I stir the sauce and the pasta, tasting them both when she tells me to.

As I'm adding a pinch of salt to the tomato sauce, I realize someone's coming inside the kitchen. I turn my head, finding Aaron with an Airpod in one ear, his phone in his hand, and workout clothes on. Damn, that white shirt looks good on him.

He notices me and says a brief, "Hi." I say it back, but notice he's walking in my direction. He puts his phone on the counter and keeps coming towards me, although looking in front of him. "Sorry," he says.

And next thing I know, his hands are on my hips, and his front is brushing against my back as he passes through the small space between me and the table behind us.

It's only for a second, then he's already taking a glass and filling it up with water, not even realizing what he did. Yet, for that brief moment, I swear I felt every part of my body melt into lava. Even though only his hands were touching me, I swear I felt him everywhere.

Rose is still speaking on the phone, but I think I'm brain-dead. And when Aaron steps closer to me to look into the pans and pots, I realize I'm about to be dead dead.

His arm touches my shoulder, I can breathe his scent, I can feel his presence like he was the air in the room. "What're you cooking?" he asks me.

It takes me several moments to realize he's talking to me. "Oh, uh... An Italian dish. It's for, uh, Nate and I tonight. Since you're out with your date and Grace is with hers, you know," I answer him.