Friendly Dating 2 - Ethan

Chapter 36 - Let's Fudge it Up!

I would, but not while it's on the stove and there's stuff in it... a whole different kind of Kira-fudge... Hmmm... Well...

"Sit. Stay," she orders, navigating me to my chair and pushing me down so I can straddle it again, cowboy style. "Good boy," she says, patting my head like I'm her friggin' pet. I am, but still... it's the principle of the matter... I'm just not sure what principle and which matter...

"I swear I'm gonna bite you!" I growl, and she actually flinches as if I would really do that. Deli is the biter in our family! I watch her eyes grow large, and a pretty blush colour her cheeks when I kiss her fingertips and force myself to let her go.

The kitchen is already starting to feel a little hot, so I don't enjoy the next line I read in the recipe.

"Heat gently until the sugar is dissolved." Heat. Such a terrifying swear word!

Glancing up from the paper, I laugh, seeing Kira take a huge serving spoon from the drawer next to the stove. "Wow! That spoon is bigger than you, Kicks!"

"It has to have a long handle, Ethy; if it doesn't, the boiling sugar splatters onto my fingers and gives me blisters, and then I'm in hell for the rest of the time, struggling to keep the burned areas covered with a dish towel."

What the hell?! Is she serious?! That does not sound good. Now, I feel bad for nagging her to make fudge.

"Is that really what you go through each time?"

"Yes."

"Why do you do it then?" I ask, completely baffled that she would torture herself like that. "Doesn't sound like fun at all."

Turning to look at me, she smiles a sweet, affectionate smile, shrugging her small shoulders.

"Well, you love it... and so does Daddy... besides, you guys are always nagging, so...."

That is so friggin' sweet!

I give her an affectionate smile of my own, tracing the contours of her face with my eyes. Yeah, maybe she does like me more than I thought. Blushing, she turns away and adds two tablespoons of golden syrup to the pot and stirs the mixture with the same spoon she used to add the syrup.

I really am not helping, am I? She knows the recipe by heart.

She switches to her big spoon when all the syrup has dissolved from the one she just used.

"Why don't you wear gloves?" I ask, watching her slowly stir her mixture using the massive spoon.

"It would have to be those thick heat-resistant ones, and as you said, I'm a bit of a klutz. Imagine what I'll be like with gloves on."

That's it! I can't just sit here and watch her suffer!

I toss the recipe on the table and join her at the stove. Putting my arms around her, I pull her backwards into a hug, realising I startled her when she stiffens with a soft gasp.

"I won't make you do it again," I promise her and seeing my dreams of Kira-fudge flapping their wings and flying out the window, I quickly add. "Well, not alone. Let me stir."

I slip the spoon from her hand, and she scurries away from me, moving along the counter to where the cans of condensed milk stand on their heads because she wants the insides to drip away from the bottom... or something weird... She told me that when I played with them and turned them right-side up.

She can just use a spoon to get all the condensed milk out of them. I told her that her system was stupid because I was pretty sure she was just trying to spoil my fun again, and she told me to bite her... which I very almost did... very almost... and I still might.