“Hey! You know I can replicate recipes.”
“This is my apartment,” Linus said dryly. “I should dosomeof the work around here.”
Storm’s innocent act was totally fake. “I haven’t done anything!”
“Of course you haven’t.” Linus grinned; Storm’s gaze softened.
Before Linus knew it, all the food on his plate was gone. Storm leaned back in his seat and rubbed his stomach. “Guess I better get going.”
Disappointment curled through Linus’ belly. “Okay. Thank you for cooking.”
“Thank you for the—” Storm paused, his eyes growing wide. “We didn’t fry any eggs for the prison pasta. I can’t believe I forgot.”
“I was the one who forgot,” Linus pointed out. “And we both got distracted because I broke your nose.”
Storm looked down at his bandages, going cross-eyed for a second. “It’s okay. No hard feelings on my end. But that means we’ll have to make fried eggs on pasta another time.”
Linus’ heart skipped a beat. “Okay.”
They shared a smile. Storm stole the empty dishes and brought them to the kitchen.
“Hey!” Linus protested. “Leave me some work to do!”
“Nope!”
By the time Linus caught up with the alpha, Storm had placed the dishes in the dishwasher, and he was scooping the leftovers into containers.
“You know, I don’t remember buying so many of the same containers,” Linus said.
Storm’s ears turned red. “They must’ve multiplied like rabbits. Containers can get pregnant too.”
Linus coughed discreetly. He stole the empty pans from Storm the moment he got a chance, bringing them to the sink for scrubbing.
“Hey!” Storm said.
“Mine!” Linus replied.
For some reason, that made Storm smile. “Alright.”
Storm arranged the leftovers in the fridge—a box of pasta and a box of casserole within easy reach. The rest of the leftovers were tucked deeper so the fridge would not look cluttered.
It was a very specific arrangement that Linus had never paid attention to. Until now. Because Storm was organizing the leftovers so the oldest food would get eaten first.
“You’ve put a lot of thought into this,” Linus said helplessly.
Storm smiled over his shoulder. “I don’t want the leftovers to spoil and give you a stomachache.”
When he was done, he closed the fridge, leaning his shoulder against it. They stared at each other for a moment.
“I’ll get going,” Storm said with a crooked smile. “Thanks for dinner.”
“Thanks for helping,” Linus said.
Storm took a step closer, lifting his hand as though he was reaching for Linus. Then he caught himself, and stepped back. “It’s been a wonderful evening.”
Linus abruptly remembered how they had met earlier. The sheer embarrassment of it all.
He wasnotgoing to mention it. None of that had happened. Neither of them had seen each other naked. Everything was fine.
