Love With No Filter - Book 1

13: NICK

I'd been living with Inez for just over a month. It had been full of constant bickering, awkward taxi rides and separate meals (excluding the avocado on toast I made her when she was hung over) but I was beginning to find it slightly bearable.

That was until she decided to host a dinner party here at our apartment for the rest of the team.

"Tomorrow night! What were you thinking?" I say, storming after her once we entered the apartment. She'd dropped the bomb whilst on the phone with Lance on the elevator ride up here and I couldn't very much tell her to cancel whilst on call with our boss. Despite my exasperated facial expressions and hand gestures, she didn't do so much as blink an eye at my complaints and booked in the event anyway.

"It will be good. We need to say thank you for the drinks they bought us last weekend at the bar and this seems like a perfect opportunity to do so." She says. I understand where she's coming from. Last week at our "welcome to the team" dining and drinks, we had a total of five drinks each plus a three course meal. They were completely free of charge for Inez and I but the rest of the group had to chip in to cover our part of the bill. So long story short: it wasn't cheap and we needed to thank them.

Inez flops down on the couch, taking her hair out of the claw clip holding it neatly together, letting it fall onto her shoulders, and turns on the TV. I run a hand down my face in annoyance.

"Inez- you can't even cook!" I splutter out as a last minute resort to get her to cancel this ridiculous dinner party fantasy she's got going on.

She snorts, "Yeah. That's your job. It's the twenty first century Raynott, men can cook." I open my mouth to ask what her lazy ass will be doing to help out but she beats me to it, "don't worry, I'll clean and set up the apartment as a sign of my gratitude."

I stare at the apartment. The only thing keeping me from complaining again was the fact that the apartment was a tip. Thanks to me anyway. Inez was neat as a pin in comparison to me so she had her work cut out for her. But still, this event that's just been sprung up on me pisses me off. I was looking forward to a relaxing weekend infront of the TV watching the new season of master chef, I didn't intend to become the chef itself.

I lean down behind the couch so my lips are level with her ear. "You aggravate me." A low, husky murmur comes out.

She turns to look at me ever so slightly before whispering in a low sexy tone, "good."

The tension between us was undeniable. I have been actively trying to ignore it as I hated being attracted to Inez more than I hated her. And that's a lot. But being in close proximity to the girl in every waking moment makes it more and more difficult to keep myself away. I know she feels something too. It may not a romantic connection that we have, but there's certainly a sexual one. Every time I'm near her, my body feels stiff, my pulse raises and dirty thoughts come to mind.

It's sick.

"We should leave in a hour or so to buy ingredients." Inez looks up, her big hazel eyes wide with innocence, a fucking con if I ever saw one, "you better start looking at recipes Nicky."

"Call me Nicky one more time and you'll no longer have a cook." She laughs and resumes her Harry Potter marathon. I groan in annoyance. I loved the movies, but this had to be the third time since we got to the apartment that she's watched all eight movies from start to finish.

I sit at one of the kitchen island stools and look for recipes to serve ten. I loved Saturdays as it was Pizza day. Every Saturday since I moved out for collage was the day I cooked homemade pizza. Growing up, my parents were strict with mine and my sisters lifestyle. They controlled everything we did from our school courses to who we could and couldn't date. They also controlled our diets. Greasy foods such as pizza were banned in the Raynott household. Of course, I still ate the dish when out with friends, but at home, fast food had a big Red Cross next to it.

So, when I moved out, the first thing I did was ensure myself that I'd have a pizza once a week to make up for the years I'd lost not enjoying greasy food as a kid. I tried different recipes, toppings, methods, each as good as the last. It was frowned upon by my parents, but they didn't live under the same roof as me anymore so therefore, had no say in what I could and couldn't eat.

After what felt like an eternity of scrolling through websites, I settle on lasagna. It's reliable, serves a lot of people and damn right delicious.

***

"We should get garlic bread!" Inez exclaims as we're walking down the bread aisle.

"Finally something we can agree on." I say. We had been bickering about what ingredients to buy since we arrived at the supermarket an hour ago. Yup, a hour ago. Inez and I had been fighting over what wine to buy like a married couple. It's hella embarrassing. I told her we had to get red as red wine is commonly paired with red meats, but Inez wanted white as she and Jazzy didn't drink red. Forty minutes in to the journey and all we had in shopping cart was two large bottles of red wine and two large bottles of white.

However, our agreement was too good to be true as once we reach the garlic breads, our bickering resumed.

"I like the pizza one better." Inez says, picking up a pizza style garlic bread and placing it in the cart.

"You are so uneducated Charleen. The baguette one is more sophisticated." I say, chucking the one she just placed in our cart back onto the aisle.

"Well I prefer that one." She says, snatching it from the shelf.

"You put that back in a trolly and I won't cook it. It's your own money you're wasting."

She groans, picking up the baguette instead and shoves it in the shopping cart.

"Have I ever told you how much I hate you." Inez says, pointing a manicured finger at me.

I snort, "Clearly not enough if you keep bringing it up."

"Fuck you Nick!" She groans, grabbing the cart by the handle and hurling it away from me towards the adjacent aisle. I run a hand through my hair and follow her.

In an aggravating slow pace, we check each thing of our list. Meat. Check. Herbs and spices. Check. Ice cream for desert. Check check check.

"I'm ordering a can to pick us up. Pay using my card I don't care just don't drop anything!" Inez barks the orders at me whilst at check out before waltzing off towards the exit. I audibly groan and the cashier seems to notice.

"Big plans with your wife?" He asks, scanning the first of our four bottles of wine.

I high pitched laugh comes out of nowhere. I slap my hand to my mouth in utter shock. The cashier raises an eyebrow and I lower my hand once I regain composure. "No. She's not my wife no."

The cashier nods, then smiles mischievously, "girlfriend?"

"No. We're just hosting a dinner together. I don't like her."

He sighs placing the last of our items in the bags, "have a good night. Enjoy dinner."

"Thanks, you too. I'll try."

A/N
Word Count: 1325
Sorry for the long wait I've been away on holiday and haven't had the chance to upload. I promise there will be lots of updates soon.
Hope you enjoyed. Lots of love,
E <3