AllFreeNovel
Share Us
More knocking had us both laughing.
“Less sex, more food!”
“We’re coming!” Tav and I shouted at the same time.
There was another sad thud. “That’s what I’m worried about.”
12
TAV
It turned out that Lisa, Judah’s cook, was a fifty-two-year-old Scottish woman with a stronger accent than mine and a bounce in her step, and she made some of the best cock-a-leekie soup I’d ever tasted, rivaling even Mum’s.
“Oh, fuck me.” I groaned as I took another spoonful and shoved it into my mouth, sucking the liquid noisily off the utensil. “This is the best cock?—”
“Lies,” Judah interrupted, but I kept speaking, ignoring Ellis’s choked laughter.
“—a-leekie soup I’ve ever tasted. Better than my mum’s.” I sent them both a glare for the rude joke in front of a woman like Lisa, but she didn’t seem to mind.
She whipped Judah over the back of the head with a tea towel, shaking her finger at him. “Mind your manners, laddie. This is the first time we’ve had guests that weren’t your parents, and I won’t be havin’ you scare them away.” She winked at me and tucked a wayward strand of brown curls behind her ear as she took a seat beside me at the wide dining table.
The spread of food was amazing, but she’d specifically put the soup in front of me, and I’d never been more thankful than I had in that moment.
“I haven’t had this soup since my mum died.” It was funny, but in the presence of Lisa, my accent solidified, which had only happened when I’d been with my parents.
“I’m sorry for your loss. Judah’s told me a lot about her.” Her gentle smile sent a soothing wave of emotion through me, and I gave her one back.
“She was a wonderful lady.”
She patted my hand, then gave it a squeeze. “I’ve made some mince and tatties, too.”
My heart soared and the grin that slid onto my face was unstoppable. I turned it toward Judah, because I knew by the way he ducked his head that he’d told Lisa to make some Scottish dishes for me, and I was going to show him later how grateful I really was.
“No haggis?” Ellis straightened in his seat and shoved another forkful of chicken into his mouth, and I shook my head at his teasing. I’d told him about haggis once or twice.
Lisa chuckled. “Ack, bonnie lad, I don’t think you could handle haggis.” She stood and strode toward him to plop a kiss on his forehead, an action that had him tensing, then relaxing again as something akin to longing washed through his expression. I understood that feeling well. Despite what his mother had done to him, he’d missed having a maternal figure in his life.
Ellis shook his head and glanced between me and Judah. “You didn’t tell me how you met, and why he knows your mom.” He tilted his head toward Judah, some of his black hair falling into his eyes, causing him to push it back again.
Lisa left us to return through the door to the kitchen.
I scooped my spoon through the soup, thinking of where to even begin. “We met when we were about thirteen. I’d just moved to the States and Mum got a job at Judah’s house. She was their maid.” My attention slid to Judah, and he was already watching me, eyes soft and mouth curled.
It felt like a lifetime ago when I’d walked into his parents’ large mansion for the first time. I’d been sick the first week she’d started work, and Mum didn’t have anywhere else to take me. Judah’s dad had given her permission to bring me to work. Judah returned home after school and he’d immediately asked who I was, and that was the moment our lives changed.
“We met each other and became best friends.” My hand twitched as I resisted the urge to reach out and hold his because that was sappy.
As if he’d read my thoughts, he grasped my hand and interlinked our fingers. He shot Ellis a smirk. “Let’s just say that Tav was my sexual awakening, and the first time I....” He made a jerk-off gesture. “It was to a fantasy about Tav.”
I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t deny I’d done the same thing when I’d thought about him. “Anyway, Judah asked me if I wanted to be his boyfriend on my sixteenth birthday, and I agreed.”
“Best two years of my life.” Judah flashed me a wink.
Ellis frowned between us. “So, what happened?”
I cleared my throat. “We went our separate ways?—”
“Don’t lie to the kid,” Judah growled out. “Tav broke up with me but wouldn’t tell me why. I thought I’d done something wrong.”
