Deception

Chapter 16

65 days before

"So you're just going to ignore me forever?" Harry chuckled over my shoulder.

"Yes. And I'd appreciate it if you got out of my kitchen." I pulled on oven mitts, smelling the burning brownies already.

"What did I even do?" he whined. No one could literally be as stupid as him.

"I would smack you with this pan if I could." I narrowed my eyes at him then at the blackened brownies.

"Why are you baking anyway?" he crossed his arms, suppressing a laugh.

"If you must know, it's Rebecca's birthday today. And she doesn't want blackies." I buried my face in the gloves. I could already see the disappointed look on her face when she came back from her birthday party at the park to see a crumbling pile of burnt chocolate. "So if you could leave so I can start over that would be great."

"I could help." he offered. I looked up at him, believing his offer to be a joke.

"We aren't making weed brownies Harry." He laughed and shook his head.

"I'm serious. I can help you make actual brownies. That is if you aren't going to ignore me." he raised an eyebrow.

"Whatever. Just do it quick. They should be back in twenty minutes." I looked at the clock as he started pulling boxes and jars from the cabinets.

"I only need eighteen." He looked over at me. "Then maybe we could spend the other two doing something else." I scoffed, tossing a box of cocoa powder at him. I watched him mix the batter and slide it into the oven all under ten minutes, applauding him. Maybe her birthday wouldn't be ruined after all.

"We have a few minutes. C'mon Anna, you know you want to do something. So many things that we can do with that skirt." he towered over me, biting his lip.

"Nope, absolutely nothing." I shook my head.

"Nothing?" he pressed his body to mine.

"Well, there is one thing." I looked up at him, a smile playing on my lips.

"Yes?" he urged on.

"I have always wanted to watch brownies bake." His smile faded as I pushed him away and lowered myself onto the floor in front of the oven.

"One of these days, I'll get you in bed." he settled on the floor next to me, resting his head on his hands.

~

"I thought you said eighteen minutes?" I pouted, taking a wet toothpick out for the third time.

"It would help if your oven wasn't so shitty." I opened my mouth to defend it, but I had nothing to say. The thing was probably older than me.

"Maybe if I turned it up." I reached for the dial only to have my hand swatted away by Harry.

"I'm not trusting you to do anything to these brownies, unless you want them to end up like those." he nodded toward the lump of chocolate on top of the trash. I rolled my eyes as the doorbell rang.

"If that's Rebecca, I'm going to kill you." All her little friends would probably run wild around our house unless they had the food they were promised. And I did not want any of those little brats in my room. I opened the door to see Niall, triggering an odd feeling in my stomach. It wasn't Rebecca but Harry was here on my kitchen floor.

"Hey." I smiled. If he was jealous of my stepbrother, what would he think about Harry. I stepped aside to let him in. "You're early. I said nine."

"I wanted to help you with the brownies for Rebecca. Plus the kid adores me." he gave me a smug smile and engulfed me in a hug.

"Yeah, the brownies are done already." Harry stood from the floor with the pan of brownies in his hand, grinning over at us. Niall's body went rigid against mine. He looked from Harry to me, silently asking for an explanation.