our Fights &

POPPY

count

ike garlic, melted butter

rts, and he was currently trying-and failing-to grate a block of sharp cheddar without grating his own knuckles. He'd already spilled half the bag of past

n the counter like it was written in ancient Greek. "Step one: b

her. Last week you tried to boil water for tea and walked away to answer a text. Yo

my defense, the text was from Jax saying he'd found a raccoon in hi

ke he was disposing of a body. I yelped, lunging forward to fish it out with a slo

t put the whole block in! You grate it first! S

nally offended him. "Oh. Right. That's what the sharp metal thin

of flour all over the counter, the floor, his hair, and-somehow-my left eyebrow. But every time I was about to give up and just make the whole thing myself, he'd do something that made my chest feel all warm and

ught he was completely h

the kind of mistake that would make a chef cry. I was just about to dump it out and st

broke 'cause we heated the aged cheddar too fast. The calcium bonds seized. If we add a stabilizer-ev

life depended on it, and within thirty seconds the sauce went from a greasy disaster

you-when did you learn ch

apron. "What? I got an A+ in AP Chem last semester. Did you think I just memo

ng crazy. Straight A's, zero sense, I thought, shaking my head as I tu

sauce when the back door slammed

er be anywhere else. He stopped short when he saw the state of the room-flour everywhere, pasta on the floor, milk in the toaster-and burst

een better kitchens in a war zone. And you two think you're gonna beat us tomor

a giant grocery bag on the table with a thud, pulling out three different k

to put pineapple in lobster mac and cheese, "we're adding this. It's g

e does not belong in cheese. That's a war crime. But since you already bought it I guess w

, the Hale kitchen des

f mac and cheese spread across the counter. We taste-tested all of them, rating each one out of ten. Asher's lumpy first attempt got a two ("Tastes like regret and sadness," Sloane said). Jax's pineapple lobster monstrosity su

pkin. "That's actually really good. Don't tell an

and accidentally knocked over a full glass

ing through my white blouse. Asher's face we

th froze at the exact same time, his fingers barely brushing the fabric over my heart, his face inches f

illa ice cream we'd had for dessert on his breath, so close I could count every single one of the long dark lashes framing those stup

ax rui

owing a piece of macaroni at Asher's head. "W

mething about getting me a new shirt and practically ran out of the kitchen toward the laundry room, leaving me stan

lped. "You are the single most annoying human b

was helping! They were moving at the spee

t happened. Asher was just being nice. He was just panicking about spilling lemonade on me. He didn't actually want to kiss me. He st

gh

hoodies, the soft gray one with his number on the back that I'd always secret

ean. It'll be too big but it's b

fingers brushing for h

torade, and that specific warm Asher smell that I'd spent seventeen years memorizing. It swallowed me whole, the sleeves going w

ild wearing her dad's clothes. It's adorable. You gonna keep

ish towel a

much mac and cheese I thought I might burst, and the earlier awkwardness between Asher and me had faded back into ou

a second I thought he was gonna pull out the note again. Instead he pulled out his phone, his thumb hovering over

d to ice. "Wha

ur words, sent at 3:14 that afternoon, right w

ill wa

f my neck stand straight up. Asher locked his phone, shoving it back in his pocket,

but his voice was tight. "Trying to psych us out b

. But I nodded anyway, because I knew him. I knew he wasn't ready to tell anyone yet. I knew he still th

d, soft. "Dumb

sting long golden shadows across the grass. We stopped at the sidewalk, neither of us saying anything for a

just as I was about to

ea

ind my ear. His fingers lingered on my cheek for a second, warm and soft. "Thanks for today.

ing my lip so hard I almost tasted blood. "Yeah

flip since we were five. "Tomorrow we're gonna win that cook-off. I can fe

er," I

till burning on my cheek. I didn't look back till I got to my own front gate, and when I

my front steps

en behind a big oak tree, lights off, engi

blac

ing at it, till it finally pulled away slow, turni

I was inside with the door locked and deadbolted behind me, I leaned my b

was the

ting for five hundred dollars a

eling we were fighting

f Cha