Across the Atlantic

Chapter 3 - Camden

I needed some things from the store so that I could make dinner, so Julie asked Blake to take me, seeing as he has a car and knows where the grocery store is.

As I walk down the aisle looking for what I need, Blake trails behind me holding the basket that he insisted on carrying for me.

I put another ingredient in the basket and tick it off on my phone.

"Jeez how many things do you even need? What are you making that you need all of this?" He complains, lifting the basket higher to emphasise his point.

"I'm making my mom's butter chicken recipe, Blake," I roll my eyes. "Proper Indian cuisine needs the proper spices, which your mom doesn't have at home, therefore I need to grab it so the food actually tastes good." I explain while walking through the candy aisle.

I grab some Oreo's for myself and some gummy bears for Ava, because she mentioned that she liked them earlier this week.

"That doesn't look like butter chicken ingredients." He quips at me while following me to the self-checkout till I saw on the way in.

"It's for Ava and I, you big grouch." i say while checking out all the items.

I go to grab my purse from the basket which Blake also insisted on carrying so I can pay for the stuff when Blake says, "Don't worry about it, I got it. Let's go." He says while sliding his card back into his wallet and grabbing the grocery bags before I have the chance.

I have to jog a bit to keep up with his stride. "Why did you do that? It costed $50! I should've paid for it." I frown at him while he loads the groceries into the trunk.

"I'm guessing that you only have so much cash on you right now because you don't have a job here and because of the exchange rate, I don't have those issues, so I don't mind paying. Especially since you're going to be cooking for me today, it just seems like the right thing to do." He shrugs as he gets into the drivers seat.

"That's really sweet of you, Blake. Thank you." I smile at him as I hop into the passenger seat and he drives off.

***
I unpack all of the groceries before heading upstairs to my room to grab my things for a quick shower before I start on dinner.

I've already started a song on my headphones when I walk into the bathroom.

Bad idea.

My jaw drops as I see Blake under the shower head, water dripping from his hair onto his face, down his extremely toned body, all the way down to-

Oh sweet baby Jesus.

I snap out of my perusal when he locks eyes with me and says something I can't hear because of my stupid headphones.

"Sorry!" I shout while my face heats up. before spinning around and making my way out of the bathroom, down the hall and disappearing through the kitchen doors to try to occupy myself to forget the things I just saw.

Because holy shit.

***
I'm busy adding the cream to the pan to thicken the sauce when I hear someone enter the kitchen.

My back is to the person but I know exactly who it is because they don't say a thing to me while I work.

I try to ignore him as I turn up the heat on the stove and turn to the island next to the stove top to put the chicken I just cut into the pan to cook.

Blake clears his throat.

I reluctantly look up and I immediately regret it.

His hair is still wet from the shower, tendrils of it falling over his eye. He's leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, which emphasises the muscles he has in his arms.