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Nico thought Luke started to blush, but it could’ve been the lighting in the bedroom. “Nope, not bad, but I’m worried I won’t have much to do most of the summer. There isn’t that much work to do.”
Luke’s gaze skittered over Nico’s length like a feather. Nico shivered, and Luke quickly pinned his eyes to a point over Nico’s shoulder. “So what’ll you do? Go home?”
In a world only Nico lived in, he heard disappointment in Luke’s voice at the thought of Nico leaving. He pulled a black T-shirt over his head. “No way. Maybe I’ll get a part-time job. I’m sure someone will vouch for my bakery bona fides.”
“You’d work for the enemy?”
“Pfft. Enemy Shemeny. Philadelphia and New York are different worlds. But I doubt anyone would hire me for ten weeks.” Searching through his bags, he found some shorts. “Oh, I ordered the air mattress today. Should be here by the end of the week.”
“End of the week?” Clearly not what Luke expected.
Nico winced, playing with the cords of his shorts. “I couldn’t find any sellers on Amazon Prime for the one I wanted. And from the three sellers that had it in stock, anything other than standard shipping was thirty dollars and up. I couldn’t justify paying that for a seventy-five-dollar mattress.”
“Wow, that is a lot.” Luke eyed the bed. “No biggie. I haven’t noticed any encroaching violations so far.”
“Yeah, me neither.” The bed was so big, he’d have trouble touching Luke even if he tried.
“Seriously, that’s fine. I mean, I appreciate not having to kick in anything. I sure as hell don’t have fifty dollars to throw away.”
Nico breathed out a silent sigh. “Cool.”
“I’m going to go check my email.”
“Gotcha. Be out in a second.”
Luke
Kent: Why didn’t you meet me for lunch?
Luke: In case you missed it, we’re not dating anymore.
Kent: So we’re not friends either?
Luke: IDK. Are you going to explain how you’ve been dating Seb for three months?
“Fucker.” Luke squeezed the phone to stop himself from throwing it against the wall.
It shouldn’t surprise him. That was Kent’s way. Deflect and ignore. He’d done it enough when they were dating, but Luke hadn’t really thought it through. Until now.
“Something wrong?” Nico padded barefoot into the kitchen.
“The usual.” He shrugged. “Kent.”
“Ah.” He seemed to want to say more but didn’t.
Probably wanted to remind Luke he’d suggested blocking Kent. Why hadn’t he barred Kent from calling? Now more than ever, it was a one-sided relationship. Nico was right. He should’ve given the jerk the wrong intern info.
“So can you explain why your day was ‘good, bad, great, and interesting?’” Nico crossed his arms and leaned against the thin wall that separated the kitchen from the rest of the apartment.
“Hmm, let’s see.” Luke stood and dropped the phone on the couch in case Kent responded. He didn’t care what answer he gave, it would probably be a lie. “Good equals getting there on time, checking in without a problem, and finding my mentor before the orientation started.”
“Definitely good.” Nico pushed off the wall and took the three steps back into the kitchen. “I’m making lemon chicken, rice, and broccoli if you’d like to eat with me.”
“Sounds so much better than a cup of noodles. How can I help? I’m not a total loss in the cooking department if I know what to do.”
“No?”
“Nope.”
“Hmm. And I was so sure you preferred giving orders to taking them.” Meeting Luke’s gaze, eyes twinkling with humor, Nico slid over the broccoli and cutting board. “Can you cut that into florets?”
Luke smiled. “I’m a pro at cutting and chopping.”
“Perfect. And if you promise not to cut yourself, I can show you how simple it is to make the chicken.”
“Scout’s honor.” He held up the first three fingers of his right hand. “Heck, if I come home and can make chicken, my mom won’t know who I am.”
“We all grow up at some point.” Nico put a small pan on the stove. “Four tablespoons of butter and three tablespoons of soy sauce. Set the burner on the lowest setting.”
Luke stopped cutting to take mental notes.
“Put the chicken breasts in a baking dish and season with lemon pepper.” He sprinkled the meat until both sides were covered.
“You had them do something to the chicken when we ordered it. What was that?”
Nico held up one finger. “Right. Thin-sliced breast cooks faster and more evenly.”
“I’m still amazed you can do all this.” Luke went back to chopping while Nico swirled the contents of the pan. “I mean, my mom’s a good cook, but to hear Dad talk, the early years were not so edible.”
“Your mom cooked and all you can manage is stuff from a box?”
“I, ah, didn’t have a lot of time to watch her.” He kept his eyes on the broccoli, avoiding Nico’s eyes. “If I wasn’t at school, I helped take care of my sister.”
