Page 106 of Hard Rock Desires

“I thought you didn’t know how to clean, that’s why you guys hired a service to come do it,” I teased.

“I know how to clean,” he said dismissively. “We had a chore chart when we all lived together in that cramped apartment.”

It must not have been a lie because, to my surprise, Finn wasn’t any worse than I was at doing the dishes, so he was actually quite helpful, until Zain returned.

“Good, you’re back,” Finn said gratefully, tossing him a soapy dishrag. “I remember now why we don’t do the cleaning anymore. It sucks,” he said bluntly.

“You were a big help,” I told him. “Thanks.”

He winked and gave me a salute.

“It’ll never happen again,” he said cheerfully before striding back to his friends.

“Finn actually did the dishes?” Zain asked in wonder. “Wow. He really must have felt bad about everything.”

“I think he really did,” I replied.

Zain took over the washing while I moved to slicing the lemon peels into thin twists. We debated on adding more vanilla or more lemon juice to the glaze, what size to cut the slices so we could properly arrange the plating, and whether to put the lemon twists on top of the cake or on the side.

“Wait a second,” I cut in. “Are we seriously debating the merits of candied versus fresh lemon peels as a garnish?”

Zain looked at me in wonder.

“Do you know what that means?” he asked.

“I think it means we know what we’re doing,” I grinned in reply.

We high-fived each other just as the timer went off.

“Quick, grab the oven mitts,” I told him.

We carefully opened the oven door. We carefully pulled the cake out of the oven. We carefully placed the cake on the trivet to protect the table counter from heat damage.

We stared at the cake in dismay.

“I take it back,” I said.

“We have no idea what we’re doing,” Zain finished.

The cake was a cracked, blackened, burnt husk.

I tried to force back a snicker, but it slipped out. Then another. Zain soon joined me with a hearty chuckle.

“Are we allowed to give up now?” he asked.

“I think we’re allowed to throw in the towel,” I said. “We’re never going to be expert bakers.”

“We tried.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “That’s what counts.”

“Hey lovebirds, is that cake ready or what?” Finn called out. “I’m starving!”

“You know, if we covered it in enough glaze, he probably wouldn’t be able to tell it’s burned until he ate a bite,” I suggested.

“That’s a waste of the glaze,” Zain said. “How about we go back to my first idea and I pour it all over you and lick—“

I pressed my lips to his, stopping the dirty words from leaving his mouth. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close. Neither of us cared who was watching.

“I love you,” he whispered into my mouth. “You know that, right?”

“I do know that,” I replied.

“And what about you?” he asked with a smile.

“You know that I love you, too.” I snuggled down into his arms. “And I’ll tell you a hundred more times if you need me to.”