“Who…” He clears his throat when his voice gets scratchy. “Who did you stay with at night?”
“Mrs. Rodriguez next door. She used to be the principal of my elementary school.” I smile as the sizzle of the tortilla hitting the pan echoes in the air. “She also taught me to make Mexican food the right way.”
“And it was okay?”
“Learning to cook? Yeah. It’s really all about the correct seasoning.”
“No, I mean staying with strangers at night.”
“Mrs. Rodriguez isn’t a stranger. She’s Mom’s best friend, who treated me like her own son.” I flip the tortilla with one hand, and he watches me like a starving cat, almost drooling.
I suppress a smile.
“Why would she?” He meets my gaze. “You’re not her son.”
“Yeah, well, there’s this little concept that rich people like you don’t understand, but we stick up for each other around here.”
“Is that before or after dealing drugs and bodies and eventually being locked up?”
“Your people deal drugs and bodies, too. They just have enough money and power to never get locked up for it.”
“Mypeople?” He narrows his eyes. “You said you’re one of us, too, remember?”
“No. I wasn’t brought up in your rotten world.”
He flinches, and I pause, then place the plate of chicken quesadilla in front of him.
Preston tries to deflect by grabbing the quesadilla and taking a bite, but I saw it.
The flinch.
Why?
Is it because of something I said or did? I don’t think I approached him too suddenly. Or did I?
It truly makes my skin crawl to see someone who’s so unapologetically himself flinch.
What the fuck happened to you, my fairy prince?
I bring over the salsa and a glass of water, then sit across from him.
Preston makes a noise as he swallows the bite, then stops and glares at me. “You didnotmake this.”
“I just did, right in front of you. Why? Not to your liking?”
“It’s perfectly crispy and melty and savory.” He frowns. “How the hell are you a good cook on top of everything else?”
A wide grin tilts my lips. “What’severything else?”
“Shut up,” he says after swallowing another bite. “This is truly amazing. Kane has some tough competition.”
“Kane?”
“He cooks for Jude and me after we annoy him.”
“Huh.”First Jude and now Kane.
I don’t suppose there’s a way to get rid of them without Preston finding out or losing sleep over it?
