Page 52 of On His Team

There’s a steak in the fridge I bought before the trip, and if I don’t cook it tonight, I’m probably throwing it away tomorrow. I get a pan hot, season it, and put it down. While it cooks, I cut up the pepper and broccoli that are about one day away from becoming questionable and start potatoes in the oven too late for them to finish with everything else.

The smell reaches the living room before I’m done.

Stanley braces both hands on the counter and looks into the pan. “Is that steak?”

“Yeah.”

“How much?”

“One.”

He looks up at me slowly. “You bought one steak.”

I nod, eating a raw piece of broccoli. “For me.”

Blue comes in behind him and looks over Stanley’s shoulder. “Dick.”

I turn the steak. “There’s a grocery store ten minutes away.”

“My leg is fucked,” Blue says.

“You walked in here.”

“I limped, asshole.”

I look down at his leg. He’s in sweatpants.

Stanley opens the refrigerator and stares into it. “There’s nothing to eat, Chef.”

I look in the fridge. He’s right, so I point. “There’s yogurt.”

He turns his head. His expression is genuinely offended. “I don’t want yogurt. I want steak.”

“I’m not cooking for everybody.”

“I didn’t ask you to cook for everybody.” Stanley points at the pan. “I asked you to share.”

I shake my head. “No. I told you. I’m not cooking anymore.”

He puts a hand over his chest.

Blue looks at him. “He said that pretty fast. He didn’t even consider it.”

The front door opens before I can defend myself.

Cold air moves through the house, and Lucy comes in first with her coat unzipped and a grocery bag looped around one wrist. Gianna is behind her carrying a backpack and her laptop bag, still in the same hoodie she wore on the plane.

Benson comes in from the back room the second he hears Lucy’s voice.

“Hey.” His whole face changes. “You hungry?”

She says, “I ate.”

“When?”

“Four.”

“That’s not dinner.”