I hear the click of a phone camera next to me. One sharp turn of my head and I see Alex standing next to me, with his phone out as though he’s just taken a photo. One glance at the phone screen shows only Beth in the frame. Lucky for him because if so much as one curl on Sienna’s head was in that photo, he would’ve been dead.
Making my way over to Sienna, I wrap my arm around her waist, still enamored by the melted water that has pooled on her chest.
“Oh my God, you fucking creep. Delete that right now,” Beth all but squeals at Alex.
“No. You told me you made a nice screen saver, and you were right.” Alex shows us his phone, which showsthat he did, in fact, make Beth in her red bikini his new screen saver.
Beth and Alex continue fighting as she chases him into the living room. Finally getting hold of his phone, she continues yelling at him to give her his password. I know he’ll eventually give it to her. He just really gets a kick out of messing with her.
When Sienna reaches for another ice cube, I gently grab Sienna’s wrist, stopping her before she can torture me again. Whispering in her ear, I say, “No more. I’m begging you. Not in front of everyone.”
“Jealous?” She smirks up at me.
“Jealousy doesn’t begin to explain what I’m feeling right now.” I plant a kiss on her cheek, whispering again, “Be a good girl and drop the ice cube, or you won’t get your present later.”
Her pupils dilate, and her lips part slightly at my words. Now it’s my turn to smirk, proud that I got the results I wanted from her.
“Where did you find this?” Leo asks from the other side of the counter, holding a small laminated piece of paper. Roman clenches his jaw, looking down at the plate on the counter. That’s when I notice what, exactly, Sienna and Beth were fussing over when we came inside.
Mom’s no-bake cookies. The ones we haven’t had since she died, given that we haven’t been able to find any of her recipes. Leo remembers a few, but there are so many my brothers talk about that I never had a proper chance to try.
“I found it in a small box tucked away on the bottom shelf of the pantry,” Sienna responds, then moves to graba box on the counter. “Here, there’s a whole bunch of recipes. We were looking for ingredients to make something when we found these.” She hands the box to Leo, who accepts with a shaky hand.
“These were our mom’s recipes. I thought these were lost forever,” Leo responds.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, I had no idea. We were just looking for something to make that didn’t require turning on the oven, as a thank you for the work you guys put in today.” Sienna wrings her hands together as though she’s nervous about how we’re going to react.
I place a hand on hers, hoping to provide comfort. Her hands still, and she relaxes into me a little.
Without saying a word, Roman reaches for one of the cookies. When he takes a bite, the corners of his mouth tick up just enough to be considered a smile.
“They’re perfect,” Roman says more to himself than anyone else. Grabbing a handful of them, he takes off upstairs without saying another word.
Leo’s halfway through his second one when he says, “Thank you for finding these.” Lightly hitting me on the shoulder, he says, “You brought home a good woman, Theo.” Leo then makes his way over to the dining table, sitting down with the box of Mom’s recipes to look through them.
“Yeah, I really did,” I say, looking down at Sienna. She looks up at me briefly before avoiding eye contact.
“I really hope I didn’t overstep. I didn’t even think about the fact that they could be your mom’s recipes,” She looks at me again, turning toward me. “Theo, I’m so sorry if I crossed a line.”
“Sienna, you didn’t.” I place my hand on her cheek, speaking so only the two of us can hear. “You gave us a piece of our mom back. I speak for all of us when I say we are immensely grateful for what you’ve done today.”
Leaning down, I place a gentle kiss on her lips, still aware that we aren’t completely alone, whispering, “Thank you,” into the kiss. Before I can pull back, she places her hand on the back of my neck, tugging me in for a deeper kiss this time.
“You’re welcome,” she says, then lifts a cookie to my mouth, urging me to take a bite.
My eyes roll to the back of my head as the chocolatey flavors hit my taste buds. I don’t remember these much, considering I was so young when Mom died. It’s one of the many things my brothers have the pleasure of remembering vividly that I don’t. Now I see why they were always so obsessed over these. They are perfect little mounds of heaven. I’ve never been more sure of the nickname I’ve given Sienna until today.
“They’re perfect. Just like you, Angel.” That earns me a smile just as priceless as what she’s done for my brothers and me today.
26
SIENNA
After scarfing down a few of the no-bake cookies with the guys while cooling down as the AC finally started to kick in, Beth and I retired to our respective rooms.
I was hesitant about Beth’s idea to surprise the guys, but I’m glad I let her talk me into it. The look on Theo’s face when I dragged the ice cube across my chest was amusing to say the least. The look on his face when he tried the no-bakes for the first time was priceless. All I’ve been able to think about since then is how to make him that happy again.
The men are currently occupied downstairs, doing the dishes from our kitchen adventures. Leo commented on how messy we were and followed up by giving Beth and me tips for cleaning as we go. We listened intently but ended up laughing with him as he said, “A towel must always go over your shoulder when you cook.”
