Page 56 of Stirring Up Trouble
Maybe next time they’d pan out slower. Or twice.
By the time Bree made her bleary way into the kitchen, Gavin’s goofy grin had returned in full force. For once, he didn’t care about wearing a little emotion on his sleeve. Or in this case, on his slightly stubbled face.
“Breakfast?” he asked, transferring the egg mixture to the omelet pan with a flourish. “I don’t have to leave for the restaurant for another hour.”
Bree eyed him with equal parts curiosity and disdain, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “Why?”
Nope. Not gonna let it bug me.He gave the handle a solid shimmy, swirling the egg mixture around the pan in an even layer. “Because I closed last night, so I get to go in a little later. I don’t have to be there until lunch shift starts at eleven.”
“No, I meant breakfast. Are you cooking because Sloane stayed?”
Gavin dropped the pan to the burner with an unceremonious clank. “What?”
“I heard you guys talking a little in the hallway before I fell asleep. You told her you’d make breakfast, right?” Bree asked, her matter-of-fact expression the polar opposite of the panic brewing in Gavin’s chest.
Well,shit.
He’d been able to listen in on the tail end of Bree’s conversation with Sloane last night easily enough. How the hell had he not put two and two together to realize that thin walls worked both ways? The spare bedroom was at the end of the hall, with the bathroom between its walls and those of Bree’s room.
What else had she heard?
Gavin tested the waters with extreme care. “If I’d known you were awake last night, I’d have come in to say goodnight to you.”
Bree let out a professional-grade sigh, but she backed it up with a look of slight chagrin. “Okay, I get it. I shouldn’t eavesdrop. But you guys were right outside my door. And anyway, I fell asleep like ten seconds later, so I didn’t think it was such a big deal. Sorry.”
Gavin finally allowed himself to exhale. “It’s okay.” He paused before going for the redirect. “So, you didn’t answer the question. You hungry?”
She nodded, taking three plates from the cabinet over the sink and putting them on the counter next to the stovetop. “You didn’t answer the question, either. How come you’re making omelets?”
“Oh.” So much for changing the subject. He pondered the question and grabbed a spatula to have at the ready. “Well, I did promise. Plus, I always make omelets.”
In fact, he made them so often they’d been a staple item on the family menu before he’d left Philadelphia. He continued, his words coming out softer now. “You used to help me cook all the time, remember?”
“I remember.” She crossed her arms over the front of her pajamas, not elaborating, but not turning away, either.
“Do you want to help now?” he asked, holding out the spatula with more hope than he should.
Bree’s eyes widened. “No.” A beat passed, then another before she said, “I’ll get the juice.”
It wasn’t a moment of total defeat, so Gavin latched on to it. “If you’re not up for omelets, maybe next time we could change it up.” As much as it sent an ache through his chest to let go of something they’d always done together, clearly there was something about it that she wanted to avoid.
She lifted her head, and her brows followed suit. “You mean make something different?”
“Sure.” The mixture in the pan bubbled merrily, and Gavin gave it a purposeful flip.
Bree frowned, but it looked more like deep thought than a mark of irritation. “Like what?”
“How about doughnuts? Double glazed.”
Okay, so maybe he had Sloane on the brain a little more than he should. But then Bree’s eyes sparkled with interest, and he found himself not caring how they got that way.
“Doughnuts might be okay.” She poured three glasses of orange juice with a shrug, but the spark in her eyes stuck around.
Gavin put her omelet on a plate and passed it over, trying—and probably failing—to keep his idiot smile in check. “Okay. We could even shoot for Monday, since you have the semester break from school and I’m off work.”
She took a sip of juice, but was just a beat too slow to hide her smile with the glass. “Sure.”
“Great. I’ll grab the ingredients from Joe’s Grocery tomorrow, and we’ll be all set.”