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Julian squinted at the screen. He needed glasses but had been in denial about it for as long as I’d known him. “It says grate frozen butter into these dry ingredients, dude.”
“Okay, do it. The dough is supposed to be refrigerated before we bake it anyway.”
“How long is that going to take?” Hank asked. He picked up the heavy cream container and opened it, and I swiped it from him, knowing exactly what was going through his head. “Don’t you dare put that to your mouth. Get a glass of milk. The carton’s in the fridge.”
“Fine.” He went over the fridge and pulled out the milk, and then he went to the pantry and found some snacks to go with it. I’d be lucky if anything was left to eat when we were done. The guy was built like a truck, and could probably lift one in an emergency. Hank made my muscles look like matchsticks.
“Okay, now we combine until it gets crumbly.” Julian frowned down at the dry mixture in the bowl in front of him. “That’s not very specific. Maybe we should throw it in that mixer you have over there until it looks crumbly, or whatever. Why do you have a cherry red mixer, Denver?”
I looked over and frowned at the fancy mixer still sitting on my counter. “It’s Makayla’s. She supposed to come get it.”
Hank raised his hand. “I call dibs if she never comes. My mom would kill for a mixer like that. I’d be her favorite for like a whole minute.”
“Whatever. She loves you, Hank.” His mom loved everyone. She just yelled a lot because she had six boys and a husband who was as much of a kid as the rest of them.
Julian gestured at the mixer. “Makayla’s not going to come because she knows you’ll just bring it to her if she waits long enough.”
“Rude.” And true. I’d never keep something that expensive out of spite, no matter how much Hank’s mom wanted one just like it.
“Are you bummed?” Julian asked me. He stopped mixing with a fork and showed me the bowl. It looked crumbly to me. Time to stick it in the fridge.
“About Makayla?” I shrugged. “A little. She was fun to hang out with.”
“She was fun to hang out with?” Julian stared me down, and I knew what was coming. The guy had been with his girlfriend Val for two years. If it was solely up to him, they’d be married already. “Denver, you are the nicest guy I know, and yet you are heartless.”
“I am not.”
“Okay, not heartless. I know you have a heart. But you won’t give it away to anyone. Makayla went back to her old boyfriend because there was no future with you.”
“Ooh.” Hank chuckled and started clearing things off the counter. “Those are some fighting words, Julian.”
“I’m not going to fight him.” I grabbed the egg carton from Hank and put it back on the island counter. “I’m a mature adult now who owns breakable things I care about. Although, I could take you, Julian.”
He shook his head at me. “You wish.”
We were actually pretty evenly matched. Julian was a bit shorter, but he was also stockier than me and had been in more fights, thanks to his jerk of an older brother.
“I will take your stupid advice under consideration, if you promise we’ll never talk about this again.”
“Deal.” Julian took out an egg and cracked it into the bowl way too hard. He started fishing out broken eggshell pieces. We were real pros at this. “But I have one more thing to say first.”
I shoved Hank who had immediately started laughing. “Okay, say it, Dr. Phil.”
Julian cocked his head at me. “Just, take some time to figure out what you actually want, and then when the right girl comes along, go after her like you mean it.”
“I hate you right now. You know that, right?”
Julian grinned. “I do know that.”
“Don’t worry. I’m too busy to date with my new job anyway.”
Hank looked at me funny. “But it’s a dating company.”
“Where I’ll be helping other people figure out what they want in a partner.”
“It will be good practice for you,” Julian said before darting away from me. Yeah, he was pushing his luck. But true to his word, he shut up after that and we finished making the scones. It took forever, and in the end, they were a little bit lumpy and tasted nothing like the ones Makayla always made. Julian ate half of one. I had two and decided baking was not in my future. Hank ate the rest.
Chapter 9 – Sadie
