AllFreeNovel
Share Us
At first, the whole off-limits thing had been kind of fun. But the more time they spent together, the more it twisted her up inside.
Being someone’s dirty little secret wasn’t great for the ego.
Not that that was stopping her from developing—ugh—feelingsfor the guy.
Yeah, she might be in denial about a lot of things, but that was a tough one to get away from. She wasn’t an idiot. The way his touch made her feel all warm and squishy inside, the way her thoughts kept drifting to him throughout the day… It was like her teenage crush, only times a million, because now she knew he liked her, too.
Maybe not as much as she liked him, but more than enough to keep throwing gasoline on the fire in her chest.
She was saved from having to downplay things to June and Bobbi any further by Han flicking off the burners with a flourish. “Okay, y’all, grub’s up.”
Zoe downed another gulp of her wine before excusing herself. This was old hat. Positioning herself at her brother’s side, she passed him plates, and he portioned out the food.
Her mouth watered. Han had been refining his stable of experimental dishes for ages, and they just kept getting better. Tonight’s menu included a rice dish with pickled ginger and edamame, plus seared scallops in a basil sauce she never would have thought would work, but it did. Baby bok choy that he’d cooked over a little electric grill, and some mystery egg tarts he’d done in the oven. He scattered the lot with a drizzle of vibrant green and white sauces, chopped nori, and sesame.
Devin stepped in to pass the completed dishes out.
“Wow,” Caitlin said as she received the first plate.
“Let me know what you think.”
Zoe frowned at her brother. His voice had a different pitch to it. He was always proud of his cooking, but the nerves jangling around in there were new.
She didn’t have much time to think about it. Before she knew it, everyone had a plate in hand. As they found places to sit or stand, appreciative moans and compliments sounded out around the room. Han shone a sly smile as he started eating, too, Ling-Ling parked hopefully at his feet. He made a running commentary—he always did. What worked and what hadn’t, though as far as Zoe was concerned, it was all a hit.
The regulars in Han’s guinea pig squad were easy to spot as they echoed Han’s comments. Devin was a down-toearth guy, but he’d been hanging out with Han long enough to mention something about the butter-to-shortening ratio in the crust of the savory egg tart. Zoe shook her head and just kept shoveling it in.
One of Han and Devin’s buddies, Terrell, snapped his fingers. “I know what this reminds me of. That thing you made for my sister’s wedding.”
Han tipped his head to the side. “Did I do shrimp for that?”
“No, but the sauce.”
“That was totally different,” Han said.
Devin scrunched up his nose. “It was kind of the same.”
“You know what it reminds me of?” June interjected.
“What?” Han asked. “And please tell me you have a better memory than these guys.”
“She usually does.” Clay chuckled, and Devin elbowed him in the ribs.
“Graduation,” June said, sure of herself. “Your year. That meal you did at our place.”
“Oh.” A shadow crept across Han’s gaze.
Right. Any meal he would have made at the Wu-Miller house would have been because of May.
Devin looked at Han with the same concern Zoe felt.
As if realizing her mistake in bringing that up, June continued. “Though this is way better. I mean, the graduation meal was amazing, but these egg tarts are next level. What’s in them again?”
Han rattled off some of the ingredients.
Devin cleared his throat. “I think it’s more like that Thanksgiving you cooked—what was it? Twenty seventeen?”
Han pulled a face. “That menu was totally different.”
