Secrets and Stolen Kisses

18

m a d e l y n

"You think if I call your dad and ask him to let you stay the night, he'll say yes?" I looked at Nate with hopeful eyes.

He kissed my cheek. "My family's kinda waiting for me at home so we can have dinner. If I don't leave now, I'm going to be late. I told you I could only stay a while."

I frowned. "If it's because Archer's cooking, you know I can make you something, right?"

"It's not Archer's cooking, baby," he chuckled. "Although I really would rather take my chances with our food at home than with him in the kitchen."

"Will you at least ask your parents when you get there if you can spend the night here after dinner?" I wondered.

He nodded. "Sure."

"Great," I smiled, leading him out the front door and watching him drive away.

"I'm telling you, I don't need your help, Mads," my brother calls out from the kitchen as I close the front door behind me. "This is gonna be the best damn pasta you've ever had!"

Awfully confident. Let's hope he's not talking himself up.

"You've attempted to recreate Mom and Dad's pasta every single time they leave, and you never get it right," I broke the news to him. "What makes you think this time's any different?"

"Thanks for your confidence," he grimaced, making me laugh.

"All I'm saying is, Mom and Dad can't even make it as good alone as when they do it together. Maybe I can actually help you, and we can make something good," I suggested.

He knew I was right. I'd been insisting on helping him figure it out for years now, and he won't budge.

"Last time I'm going to try without you, promise," he decided. "If I don't get it right this time, you help me when I try again. Besides, I'm almost done. Sit tight, you'll have your food in three minutes."

"If you say so..."

Soon enough, I watched as my brother haphazardly prepared a plate of pasta for me, laying it on the table. He took his own plate and sat in front of me. "Tell me what you think."

I shoved a big bite into my mouth and smiled as I chewed. "S'much be'er," I told him, covering my mouth still full of food. I swallowed everything before I continued. "To be fair, it was salty as fuck last time so the bar was low. It is better now, but it's still not right."

He frowned, taking his own bite and agreeing. "At least we know I'm improving."

"Hey, listen. You'll get it one day, and we can figure it out together," I maintained. "Then we're gonna let Mom and Dad try it, and they're gonna beat themselves up for not sharing their recipe because we're gonna make it better."

Archer smiled. "You're extra nice today."

"Aside from one minor incident this afternoon, today's been pretty good. I just got my boyfriend back," I reasoned. "So let me be nice because I'm happy. Besides, you and I both know you like me better when I'm nice."

"Not complaining, Mads," he ruffled my hair.

After dinner and some light conversation, Archer made his way to the living room to watch something, and I went up to my room to finally take my shower.

Even knowing it was going to get soaked in water, I decided to keep my bandage on instead of showering with an open wound with the fear of soapy water getting on it and making it sting even more.

I got out of the shower, wrapped myself in a nice, warm towel and threw on a pajama shorts set before towel drying my hair and brushing my teeth. I was in the middle of skin-caring my stress away when I felt strong arms wrap around my waist.