Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 92062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
“No, roughly chopped,” I tell him as I pinch the spices in between my hand and coat the chicken with it. “Do you cook for yourself often?”
“Often enough.” He pulls the garlic bulbs loose. “I like to eat, so usually I cook maybe three times a week and then I have leftovers for at least two to three of those, and then there is always a pizza night.”
“Is it even a week if there is no pizza?” I look over at him as I turn the chicken over and season the other side of it. I walk over to the drawer beside the stove and take out a deep pan, putting it on the stove and then starting it.
“Do you cook often?” he asks me and I nod my head.
“I do. I have this thing where I get into bed and I go down the rabbit hole to all these one-pot recipes online. Where is the olive oil?”
“Where we’ve always kept it,” he replies and I open the small cabinet by the stove where we used to keep the oils and vinegar. “I got used to doing things like your mom.”
“So, it followed you to your own house?” I ask him as I drizzle a little bit of the olive oil in the pan. “I want to say I don’t do the same at my house, but I do.” I laugh as he roughly chops the garlic. “My kitchen is the exact replica of where all the cooking stuff is at home.”
He laughs at me. “Why do you think you can find things so easily in this kitchen?” he asks me. “Everything is the same.”
“I tried to move things around,” I admit to him, holding my hand above the pan to see if it’s hot enough. “You know, because I’m stubborn and would always fight about how placement was done in the kitchen.”
“Of course.” He shakes his head. “I remember once when you had a huge fight with her about the mugs not being right above the coffee machine but in the small cupboard on the side.”
I laugh at the memory. “And it took me a whole week defiantly fighting about how right I was, yet every single time I went to the other cabinet.” I put the chicken in the pan. “It really sucks when your mother is right.” I look over at him. “Remember the mug you got me for my birthday that year?”
“How could I forget?” He ducks his head to the side. “This is what I had to do to avoid you throwing it at my head.”
“It was a reflex, it wasn’t my fault,” I defend myself.
“How was it a reflex.? He pushes the garlic to the side. “You literally took it out of the box, read it, and threw it at me.”
“And why did I throw it at you?” I ask him and he just smirks. “It said ‘Mom was right about everything, and so is Nate.’”
“I paid extra for that.” He points the knife at me. “It had our faces on the other side.”
“I got scared,” I joke with him as I set a timer for four minutes. “I need you to dice an onion.”
He walks over to the fridge and gets an onion from the drawer. “You got me back.” He looks over at me and I look down into the pan, trying not to laugh at what I did to him. “Here, Nate,” he mimics my voice, “my mother bought these swim trunks for you and wants you to try them on.”
“She technically bought it for you since I had to use her credit card to buy them.” I look over at him, seeing the glimmer in his eyes at the same time.
“Then you said she wanted to know how they felt in the water.” I look over at him. “And then stupid old me, I got into the water and then what happened, Elizabeth?”
“I don’t—” I start to say and he glares at me. “I gave you a towel, didn’t I?”
“I was naked in the pool in the middle of the afternoon, and your grandparents were over,” he hisses at me. “You gave me a dissolvable bathing suit.”
“Nate,” I say his name as I flip the chicken over, “that’s what you do when you have a crush on someone.”
“You had a crush on me?” he asks me and I have to look away.
“It was working its way up.” I can’t help the laugh that comes through me. “It was definitely there not long after,” I confirm. “It might have even started when I saw you come out of the pool.” I shrug. “We’ll never know.” I go and get a plate, putting the chicken on it and then looking at him. “Plus, I think you broke my heart not long after when I caught you making out with Taylor at the side of the house.”