Page 22 of Cloudless

COOKING IS MY LOVE LANGUAGE

LILA

My eyes grow dry from staring at my laptop screen for the past two hours. My attention span wanes and my mind drifts from the ever present set of distractions that come in the form of two very cute seven-year-olds and three over-sized hockey players.

Dax’s voice carries from the living room into the dining room where Kam and I have been holed up for the past two hours.

“Okay, Rosie Posey. You’ve got three problems left.

” He clears his throat as he reads, “Amy has fourteen apples. She gives her friend Jack six of her apples. How many apples does she have left?”

“Ummm. She has eight apples left!”

I hear the smack of a high five as Dax says, “Heck yeah, she does!”

The nudge of a shoulder has me blinking back to reality to find Kam’s warm eyes fixed on mine, his signature smirk firmly in place. “Come back to me, Sunshine.”

“Sorry, I zoned out for a bit.” Blissful relief flows through me as I close my eyes and massage away the blooming headache that seems to be my constant companion. “I think I’ve reached my limit of reading over contracts for today. I stayed up way too late last night working on another project.”

Kam leans back in his seat as he stretches his arms over his head. His shirt rides up to reveal tantalizing inches of toned skin that has my tired mind flashing with memories of what he looks like without a shirt on. I shake my head to clear the memories as Kam’s shirt slides back into place.

The tendons in his neck bulge with his yawn. “Yeah, I’m going cross-eyed. My future agent sent over some contracts for me to read before you got here. I’m pretty sure my brain was fried before you walked through the door.”

A horrible cracking sound fills the air as I straighten out my neck. I cringe as I rub away the weird feeling. “You’re getting contracts already?”

He blows out a breath. “Yeah. I’ve been putting all this off for as long as I can. I don’t have the mad skills you do with contracts.”

My brows furrow as I lean my elbows on the table. “Isn’t that what agents are for? Aren’t they supposed to be there so you don’t have to know what a good contact looks like?”

He nods his head as he plays with a loose string on the sleeve of his t-shirt.

“Yeah, but my dad got screwed over big time by his first agent. In my mind, Richard, my dad’s agent when he died, wasn’t much better.

I always told myself I would learn the skills for myself so I didn’t get in the same position.

” A sheepish laugh escapes him as he gestures to the mess we’ve made of the dining room table.

“I guess it’s proving to be harder than I thought. ”

I tilt my head to the side as I take him in. “Why sign with him, then? It sounds to me like you’d be better off with someone else.”

His brows furrow as he thinks. “Well, everyone always just assumed I’d sign with him when the time came. I technically can’t sign as long as I’m still playing college hockey. He’s only allowed to give me advice in the meantime.”

“Who’s everyone?”

He pulls on the string on his t-shirt so hard the seam unravels.

I’m not even sure he’s realized what he’s doing.

“Umm, my mom. I guess. She’s always talked like it’s a done deal.

” He abandons the poor string to scratch the back of his neck.

“I never really thought there were any other options, I guess.”

Mace pops his head out of the kitchen right as the familiar smell of baked potatoes hits my nose. “Dinner’s ready!”

A smile lifts the corner of my lips as I take in his signature SSU apron. “You know you don’t have to cook for us all the time, Mace.”

He places his hand over his heart like he’s in pain. “You wound me, Sullivan. Cooking is my love language.”

I stand from my seat and hold my hands up in surrender. “I got it. I got it. Cook away. I was just letting you know you deserve to be cooked for every now and then, too.”

As soon as I’m within arm’s reach, he wraps me in a crushing hug. He rests his chin on the top of my head as he squeezes me. “You’re a peach, Sullivan.”

I take a moment to return his hug. His very firm chest muffles my voice. “Well, uh, you’re an apple, Mace.”

He squeezes the air out of me as his laugh reverberates through his chest and into my ear. “You’re not from the south, are you?”

I shake my head as he releases me from his vice-like grip. I run my fingers through my hair to smooth the strands his scruff assaulted. “Nope. Chicago, actually.”

He pats me on the head as he walks by. “It shows. It really shows.”

I scrunch my brows up as I look at Kam to explain what the hell just happened.

His laugh grows as he takes in my confused expression. “Don’t look at me. I’ve lived in Pennsylvania all my life. I know nothing about being in the south.”

I help Kam get the dishes out to set the table while Dax, Posey, and Jasper round the corner.

Dax’s voice is adamant as his hands wave around him in circular motions.

“It’s important that you visualize the circle.

Okay, so Adam has a pizza that is split into twelve slices.

Barbra comes along and takes three.” He mumbles under his breath, “Which is totally rude, by the way.” His voice picks up as he walks through the kitchen.

“How many slices of pizza does Adam have left?”

I exchange an amused look with Kam as we laugh. “Are you sure he doesn’t mind helping them with homework? We can just do it when we get home.”

He hands me a stack of plates from a shelf far too high for a normal person. “I promise. He’s actually wanted to be a teacher. This is good practice for him.”

My eyebrows raise. “Dax wants to be a teacher? I thought he would play for the NHL or something.”

Dax’s head lifts when I make it to the table. “I do. I’ll play for a few years, then go teach somewhere and become a coach. I can’t waste the opportunity to make all that money.”

I pass the plates out around the table as Wyatt appears in the doorway.

Water droplets drip from his hair to leave dark-grey dots on the shoulders of his t-shirt.

He groans as he inhales. “That smells amazing.” Jasper’s giggles float through the air as Wyatt ruffles the thick strands of his hair on his way through the kitchen.

As he pulls his seat out, the sleeve of his shirt rides up to reveal the beginning of a tattoo. Great, now my mind is reeling with all the places Kam might have a tattoo.

Mace places an enormous plate piled high with baked potatoes in the middle of the table. “Hey, Ranger. How was your workout?”

Wyatt shrugs as he grabs a plate. “It was fine.” I pretend not to see the pink lollipop sticking out of his pocket that will no doubt end up in Posey’s backpack later.

My breath catches as Mace sits a plate of chicken nuggets down in front of Posey.

A serving of ketchup is already on the plate in the shape of a heart.

My eyes water as I clear my throat of the emotion that’s currently suffocating me.

“Mace. Thank you so much. You didn’t have to go through all that trouble. ”

His eyes shine as he gazes down at my sister. “It’s no trouble at all. A few of my sisters are picky eaters. I just figured it would be nice to have some nuggets in the freezer.”

I look away from the scene in front of me before my tears betray me. The smile I hear in Posey’s voice brings a watery smile to my face. “Thanks, Mace!”

“Anytime, little Sullivan.”

Kam’s eyes snag mine from beside me as tears gather in the corners of my eyes.

He grasps my hand under the table and gives me a comforting squeeze.

He whispers, “Do you guys want to come to the beach with us on Saturday after the last hockey camp?” His eyes flick toward the twins.

“I meant to ask before we came in here, in case you had something else going on. I didn’t want to get their hopes up.

It’ll be all of us, a few others from the team, a few other friends and girlfriends. ”

My eyes drift to Jasper and Posey’s laughing faces before they return to a smiling Kam. “Yeah, Trouble. We’d love to.”