Rooming With My Ex-Mate's Hockey Star Brother

TREY

An omelette would’ve done the job.

Throw in some sausage and potatoes, and surely a woman can tell I’m making a fucking effort. I know that. I knew it before I went looking up Bananas Foster French toast, and yet here I am, attempting a terrible version of it.

[How do you not know how to make simple French toast?] Trex demands while I scrape at the pan. He’s loud enough that I nearly miss the guy on the video explaining what to do next.

”You’ve been freeloading inside me for years. Were you under the impression I attended culinary school while you slept?”

[No. I made the mistake of assuming toast was within your abilities.]

”The toast is fine.” I glance at the slices waiting on the plate, then stir harder. ”It’s this damn sauce you keep distracting me from.”

[I cannot believe the future of an entire pack is in these incompetent hands.]

My grip tightens around the spoon. ”These hands work fine. If it’s so easy, bring your wolf ass out here and do it. Otherwise, shut up.”

[If I had hands, I would.] He lets me have one brief moment of silence before ruining it. [It’s burning. Try not to have a pan of black soot waiting for her when she wakes up.]

I hiss and stir faster, scraping the spoon along the bottom of the pan. The sauce is getting darker, and it’s not even close to the smooth brown stuff the guy on YouTube made while smiling at his camera. He called it easy. I’d like him to come here, look into this pan, and repeat that to my face.

An hour ago, making breakfast for Sadie sounded like something I could do. I wanted her to wake up and know I meant what I said last night. I still want that, which is why I’m still here in this apron, letting a pan of banana sauce humiliate me in front of my stubborn wolf.

I should’ve made eggs. I knew how to make eggs.

[Add the alcohol,] Trex says. [Before you burn what’s left of it.]

I reach for the bourbon. The guy in the video used dark rum, but I’m not leaving the apartment to buy an entire bottle for half a cup of banana sauce. It’s alcohol. How different can it be?

[Very,] Trex cuts in. [But do you.]

”You want me to let you out for a run later or no?”

He goes quiet.

Half a cup of bourbon goes into the measuring cup, then into the frying pan. The first splash hits the sauce, and flames shoot up so fast they’re nearly at my hand before I understand what I’m looking at. I jerk back, but the heat catches my fingers anyway, a sharp sting making me almost drop the cup.

I shut off the gas and reach for a lid from the pot beside the stove. My fingers are still stinging, and the handle slips through them. The lid strikes the stove with a crack before clattering across the floor.

”Fucking hell!”

I snatch it up and cover the pan. The flames die beneath it, but smoke is already drifting through the kitchen when a door opens. The next second, Sadie is here with Lola right behind her, both staring between me and the stove.

”What are you doing?” Sadie demands, her eyes wide.

My hand is still held awkwardly away from my body. I lower it before she notices and straighten. I’ll be damned if she finds out a pan of banana sauce managed to rattle me.

”Nothing. Something slipped and fell.”

Her gaze travels over me, pausing at the apron. The corner of her mouth moves before she gets it under control. I knew putting this fucking thing on was a mistake. Beside her, Lola coughs and waves a hand through the smoke drifting past my shoulder.

”Were you trying to make breakfast?” Lola asks.

”No, I woke up early to smoke up the kitchen for fun.” I lift the lid, hoping the sauce has survived well enough to defend me. It didn’t.

She leans over for a look. ”What was that supposed to be?”

”Bananas Foster sauce.”

”Oh.” She peers into the pan, her nose scrunching. ”Is that how the bananas are meant to look?”

I put the lid back on before she can inspect them any longer. One more question, and she can come finish the fucking sauce herself. Behind her, Sadie has her lips pressed together, though the smile she’s hiding is still obvious.

”Are you hurt?” she asks when our eyes meet.

”No. I dropped the lid, that’s all.”

”That’s all?” She glances at the smoke, then shakes her head with a relieved sigh. ”I thought something happened to you. I’m glad you’re okay, but be more careful next time.”

”And I don’t think anyone can eat this,” Lola adds, looking into the pan. ”Could you order breakfast from somewhere?”

[Listen to her,] Trex says before I can answer. [I also have doubts about whether that nonsense is edible.]

I set the spoon down. Lola isn’t wrong, though I’d prefer she hadn’t made the point in front of Sadie.

”Fine. I’ll order.” I glance at the sauce, then back at them. ”I’m usually better at cooking than this. Today got away from me.”

Sadie’s mouth twitches again. She has no idea how much I’d like to argue with that smile, but I asked her to give me a chance to show her I care. Feeding her something she can eat seems like a reasonable place to start.

”What do you two want?”

”Pancakes with strawberries for Sadie.” Lola responds quickly. ”Eggs, bacon, and hash browns for me. Coffee for both of us.” She checks with Sadie, who nods. ”And thank you, Trey.”

At least, she has gotten her dig in for the morning. She heads back to Sadie’s room, leaving her alone with me in the kitchen.

Sadie crosses to the fridge, keeping careful distance between us the whole way there. I’m left trying to work out what that means. Last night could have made her shy. It could just as easily have made her decide we need rules. Either way, I close the distance the second she shuts the fridge door.

She unscrews the cap while I lean against the fridge beside her.

”Sleep well last night?”

”Yep.” She takes a gulp.

”Dream about me?”

She chokes halfway through a swallow. Any satisfaction I might’ve taken from that disappears when she starts coughing, so I move closer and rub a hand over her back until it eases.

”What about that question made you choke?”

”It wasn’t your question.” She manages it between coughs, then shifts back. Her ears are turning red.

Her denial might have been easier to believe if she’d look at me. Instead, her gaze travels around the kitchen, carefully missing my face.

”Is that so?” 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

I move closer. She takes a step back, and I follow, stopping as she reaches the counter. Her palm comes up against my chest before I can say anything else.

”What are you doing? I just woke up.”

”I can see that.”

”Trey.” She finally looks me in the eye. ”Remember what we talked about last night.”

”I remember. Do you?”

Her throat moves as she swallows. I give her another second, then move back, leaving her the space she asked for. Taking things slow was my idea too. I can keep my hands to myself, even if she’s making a poor case for that question having nothing to do with me.

”Someone’s coming to fix your bathroom today,” I tell her. ”I’ll be free after four if you want to do a lesson too.”

”Yeah. Lola and I have a few things to do, but I’ll be back.” Her fingers shift on the bottle.

”Okay.”

She could leave now but she looks down at the bottle in her hands, then at me.

”Have you heard anything about Dixie? From the officers, I mean. Is she okay?”

”They messaged me. She passed out last night, so they took her to the hospital. She’ll be fine, and I’ll let you know if I hear anything else.”

She nods, but she still looks worried. ”I hope she’s okay.”

After everything Dixie did to her, I don’t know how Sadie has any concern left to spare.

”I think you...”

”Sadie, come look at this!” Lola’s voice carries from the bedroom.

She glances toward the sound, then back at me. ”I’ll be back when breakfast gets here.”

Her lips press together before she turns away. I stay where I am until she’s gone, then look at what’s waiting for me: the covered pan, and everything I used to make a breakfast nobody’s eating.

”I’m never doing this shit again.”