Carrion (The Bren Watts Diaries #1)

Chapter 53

DAY 9: April 17th, Saturday

I never had a breakfast fit for royalty, and Miguel delivered.

Miguel woke up earlier than the others. Granted, he was the first to hit the sack before everyone decided to stay for the night in the mansion. So, Miguel used the perishables we collected, one that we couldn't bring with us through the journey toward Albany, and made a grand meal fit for a king and his family. He had to feed fourteen people, he told himself, so he tried to make as much as possible with the ingredients. He only used about half of the perishables we had collected yesterday.

I awoke to the smell of bacon, garlic bread, meats, coffee, and pancakes, mingling into a delightful aroma. Everything smelled terrific when you were famished. Logan was the first to get out of the bed, stretching with a loud yawn. Then, Logan pinched his nose at me and waved his hand as if something was smelly. He pointed at his mouth and then to me.

I groaned, turned to my side, and saw that Luke was still asleep. I threw a pillow at Logan. "Quit it," I said. "I don't smell anything."

I missed; the pillow fell an inch to his right.

"Because it's your breath, stupid," Logan said.

I opened my mouth and breathed out as much air as I could. He flinched away, and I smiled. That should teach him.

I did not want to get up. I felt a strain under my waistband, and I did not want to push off the blankets and let freaking Logan see all of that. Instead, I drew them closer, hiding my reddening face. Logan tiptoed to the bathroom for a quick piss, returning into the room to dress up. He didn't shy away from taking his clothes off until he was naked. I closed my eyes, burying myself with pillows as he dressed up into the combat uniform.

"See you at breakfast," Logan said, chuckling. He pointed at Luke. "You might have to take care of that."

I did not want to know what he was pointing at.

A few minutes after Logan got up, Luke and I went down to the kitchen to find Margot, Alfie, and Steve helped Miguel cooked breakfast with their own family recipes. The kitchen was massive, fit to work for the entire galley staff. There were two electric-heated stoves and two ovens built on the wall, so everyone had enough space to do what they wanted.

They laid all the food on the dining table, which could fit ten people at once, but we found a few chairs from the garage and made everyone squeezed in. I sat in front of Logan, but I couldn't meet him in the eye. Though he seemed to enjoy my embarrassment, wagging his eyebrows at Luke and me, and Luke was still oblivious.

"This will be our breakfast, lunch, and dinner," said Miguel excitedly. "I already brought the Tupperwares out so that we can store the leftovers and eat them if we feel like it during our drive. These things will last us maybe a day or two. We can bring coolers to preserve some of them longer."

"How long have you been awake preparing all this?" Aria asked in amazement.

"Did you plan this all out?"

"Aren't you tired?"

"Thank you, Miguel."

"And there are sweets!"

"Where on earth have you found all this?"

I heard people called out across the table all at once, stuffing themselves with a mouthful of Miguel's delicious recipes.

"Two hours, give or take. Even if it took that long, I loved every minute of it," Miguel said, grinning. I smiled, knowing that he was downplaying how excited he really was of cooking without restrictions from the diner's menu he used to work for. This morning, Miguel made what he always dreamed of cooking.