Smoke and Bones (Smoke #4)

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"Good morning my beautiful." Nate added and kissed me upon the cheek. 

"Morning Nate. Just to let you know, I've got breakfast covered. You just sit and make yourself relaxed." I happily chime in. The coach looked at me perplexed as he held the frying pan and egg carton in his hands.

"What? No, don't stress about the cooking Scarlett. You're a guest in my house. I can manage breakfast -"

"Shh. I got it, I'll fix you up something. It's no issue." I say and put my hands against his chest. 

"Are you sure? I feel bad." He added with a frown.

"As sure as I'll ever be. Now go sit please. Your coffee is going to be cold." I exclaim and give him a kiss on the lips. He put down the items in his hands and headed over to the table.

The past several days at Nate's place had given me a new found confidence in the kitchen. It soon won't be long until you could call me the next Gordon Ramsey. Okay, maybe that's getting a little ahead of myself. But I have come a long way since the days where I'd always order UberEats in previous relationships.

As I began preparing the eggs for breakfast, I noticed Nate look intently at me. 

"Sorry, don't mind me. I'm just admiring you make breakfast. Is that weird?" He questioned.

"No, no. Not at all Nate. It's actually quite adorable." I say, tossing in the vegetables I had prepared earlier into the frypan and began scrambling the eggs. 

"That's so strange." Nate exclaimed loudly.

"Oh. You don't want eggs now?" I ask with worry. 

"No, I'm fine with eggs. But that's not what's strange. Apparently I'm a finalist for coach of the year in the upcoming league awards. Chris said it's not gonna be announced for a while, but he overheard two NBL executives talking about it on his way to a press conference." He explained.

"Why would that be strange? It's much deserved recognition from the league that you've done well this season." I say, sliding the eggs from off the pan onto the plates. As I bought over the plates to the table, I gave him a kiss to congratulate him. 

"I don't usually think about those sort of accolades honestly." He admitted. 

"I'm proud of you. You could potentially get another coach of the year award, which you absolutely deserve Nate." I exclaim.

"Woah. This house is so big. How'd you manage to score it?" Zac suddenly exclaimed, as he waltzed into the kitchen and looked around in disbelief. 

"Zac? What are you doing here?." I ask in surprise. 

"The one and only. Yes Scarlett. I'm glad to see you too." He added with a chuckle. He walked over to me and wrapped his arms around to give me a hug. 

"Okay, but you haven't answered my question. What are you doing here?" I ask with wide eyes.

"Breakfast it looks like. You've saved some for one of Carlton's all time greats right?" Zac asked and took a seat at the table. 

"Hey Zac, how's it going?" Nate asked before taking a sip of his coffee. 

"I don't know why but you sound extra American today Nate." Zac shrugged and took the coffee I made for myself.

"Uh hey, I made that coffee for me Fisher." I warn him, annoyed that the footballer had decided to make himself at home.

"You two look quite cosy today. Anything  you wanna fill me in on?" Zac asked and raised an eyebrow.

"We were just about to dig in some breakfast that Scarlett made." Nate explained.

"Scarlett cooks now? I'm sorry, but when did this happen? Zaine threw a fit because you gave him burnt toast for a snack once. Man, he's still upset about that to this day." Zac chuckled.