'Til Sun Beams Find You [COMPLETE]

Forty-three

A month and a half later...

"Happy Friendsgiving! Welcome, welcome!"

Jada's voice sent Nico into a panic, as she looked at the burnt cornbread.

Smoke puffed out as soon as she opened the oven door and she was too scared to go in and retrieve it.

She was summoned by Jada to Devin's apartment to help her prepare the food for the dinner party she was throwing for everybody. Her cousins Kiana and Nikita were also coming, but they gladly told Jada a big fat 'no' when she asked them to help her spend the day cooking and Nico wondered why she didn't also decline.

She loved Jada too much to abandon her like that.

Devin was penthouse living, and his place bolstered a large kitchen and dining room that was enough to host a dinner like the one Jada planned, where there were over 15 people arriving.

They were in a whirlwind romance that Nico was genuinely happy to watch from the sidelines. Even if she felt they were moving faster than any of Jada's previous relationships, she supported it as she had never seen Jada so in love with a man before.

Yes, love.

With a man that she'd met just under three months ago.

It didn't even sound like her best friend anymore, but she was glad that at least one of them was happy and in love.

She heard voices and chatter of more people as they neared the time of when Jada asked for everybody to come.

Nico shoved the oven closed and turned around, unable to bear looking at the burnt dish any longer.

Out of sight, out of mind.

She stood chewing at her nail, wondering if she had enough time to make another from scratch.

The problem was, she had just changed into her dinner clothes and everybody had arrived.

Nico saw different shadows of people in the living room and one shadow grew larger as it moved closer towards the kitchen.

Zach saw her standing in front of the oven and smiled.

"Are you tryna burn the house down?" He teased, the smell hitting his nostrils as soon as he walked in.

He had a bunch of drinks in his hands and set it down next to the food that was already prepared and covered, like the salad, the sweet potato pie, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce.

When he rounded the counter, he stepped closer to her and she immediately stepped into the hug he offered, his arms wrapping right around her.

Nico fit into him perfectly, as the top of her head met right at his chin, and the curve of his body fit the curve of hers.

He smelled incredible, and Nico was thankful that whatever cologne he was wearing was saving her from inhaling anymore of that smoky smell.

"I mighta burned the cornbread.." she muttered as she stepped out of the hug. She continued biting down on her nail. "Jada's gonna kill me."

"Where is it?" He glanced around the counter and didn't see it.

Nico pointed a guilty finger at the oven, and the look on her face alone was enough to make him laugh.

Zach chuckled as he peeked inside the oven and after some of the smoke cleared, he saw the entire top layer was black before shutting it closed again.

"Mighta..?" He looked at her.

"Okay, I burned the cornbread," she admitted with a sigh. "Let me go ahead and cross off housewife from any future plans. I'm hopeless."

She grabbed two oven mitts and bent over to get the cornbread out of the oven before tossing the pan onto the stove.