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I looked down at the recipe.
Shit. He was right. I was going to fuck this up.
I scrapped that recipe. Instead of shrimp flambé, I’d just cook the shrimp in butter with garlic and lemon and hope for the best. After all, how hard could tossing shrimp in some garlic and butter be?
It turned out to be hard.
Very hard.
As the shrimp sizzled away in the pan, I got cocky. Tossing ingredients in like a seasoned chef, I tried flipping the pan’s contents theatrically. The result? Half of the shrimp landed outside the pan, one even making its way into Bodhi’s wine glass.
“Ah, a new fusion dish,” Bodhi held up the glass. “Shrimp Merlot.”
I shot him a glare. “Very funny. Maybe next time you can cook, and I’ll be the critic.”
Zoey swooped in and deftly saved the rest of the shrimp from my destructive tendencies. She managed to toss them just right, with garlic and butter clinging perfectly to each piece.
“That’s how it’s done.” She winked.
My pride was slightly wounded, but I’d never been one to back down. At least the appetizer gave us a little sustenance to take away the edge of hunger.
As the evening progressed, my confidence in the kitchen continued to deflate. The sauce wasn’t thickening, the vegetables looked soggier than expected, and the main course looked suspiciously... black.
This was a disaster.
The smoke alarm blared as I pulled the charred Beef Wellington out of the oven. In a chaotic frenzy, Liam opened windows while Bodhi frantically waved a towel under the smoke detector.
We got the situation under control, but we had one minor problem: we were all still hungry.
I retreated to the sink, hoping to find solace in the simple task of washing dishes. It wasn’t long before I felt a presence beside me. Zoey stood there and tried to salvage the situation. She placed a pizza delivery menu on the counter.
Her proximity set my senses on edge.
“Hey,” she began, her voice soft and sincere. “I know tonight didn’t go as you planned, but I appreciate the effort.”
“It’s the thought that counts, right?” I said, trying to make light of my disastrous culinary attempt.
“And what a wonderful thought it was!” Zoey said.
I scoffed. “You’re not disappointed?” That was the last thing I wanted.
“Of course not! Your dinner sounded amazing, but now we get pizza. And who gets disappointed by pizza? Moose Mountain is the only place that delivers this far out, but it’s delicious.”
She was so easygoing, just rolling with the punches. I really appreciated that about her.
I stopped scrubbing the blackened pan. “Pizza sounds great. Thank you.”
Everybody gave me their preferences, and I ordered three large pizzas and some garlic rolls. The pizzas would take about ninety minutes, so we had some time to kill.
If there were leftovers, we could eat them for dinner tomorrow, which was our last night there.
The thought of leaving so soon made me feel uneasy. The days had flown by so quickly, and I wanted more time with Zoey.
Zoey must have been thinking something along the same lines. “Do you guys really have to leave?”
“I thought you’d be eager to get rid of us.” I tucked a blonde strand behind her ear.
She leaned into my palm and closed her eyes, and I held my breath, overcome with the feel of her skin against mine.
