Page 90 of After the Burn

The smell of beef stew drifted through the little Craftsman long before dinner was ready.

I leaned against the kitchen doorway, arms folded across my chest, watching three grown men somehow turn cooking into a competition.

Beck stood over the stove with a wooden spoon in one hand and an expression of extreme concentration on his face. “If you wanna make everything you cook taste great, there’s just one trick.” He winked at me over his shoulder. “Season everything with love.”

“I haven’t taken the first bite, and I already feel sick.” Lucas looked up from slicing carrots Harper had gifted us from her garden. “You should’ve just let me do it. I bet mine would’ve been way better.”

“The hell you say!” Beck frowned at him. “I’ve been cooking my own shit since I was five.”

“Lovely,” Lucas drawled. “Using the word ‘shit’ to defend your cooking skills.”

“So, he’s still his usual sweet self?” Lila murmured as she walked from the bathroom to my side, her voice still watery.

I sighed. “Yes. Did you expect any different?”

Lucas frowned at both of us, his hearing more than adequate to catch her quiet words.

“Maybe.” She shrugged. “He teamed up with Adrian and Beck.”

“That was strength in numbers. Nothing else.” It was my turn to shrug.

I avoided making eye contact with the asshole, even though I could feel his eyes burning into the side of my head.

“While Lila is here, we need to figure out our next moves.” Adrian flipped through some notes he’d gotten from Finley.

I pushed away from the doorway and wandered farther into the kitchen, Lila close behind. “What’s your plan?”

We all knew he already had one.

Adrian leaned back in his chair and, to my surprise, pulled me onto his lap. “We leave in forty-eight hours.”

Beck stared at me in Adrian’s lap for several seconds before clearing his throat. “Why wait?”

“We need to gather as much food as we can carry, and Finley promised me some basic medicine to take back with us.” He ran his nose along the side of my neck as if he were scenting me.

I gave a small shiver. “Are y’all positive we can trust him?”

“As much as I can be,” Adrian smirked at my reaction. “I have a few alternatives if he betrays us.”

“How many supplies do you think we can realistically carry?” Lucas walked over to the stove and dropped the carrots into the pot.

“With our enhanced strength? Enough,” Adrian answered with certainty. “Probably most of the stuff we have stashed.”

“We could steal one of the old cars they use to scavenge.” Beck threw in a dash of salt, pepper, and who knew what other spices into the stew.

Max lay stretched across the cool hardwood floor directly beneath the table, his head resting on his paws. One eye cracked open every time someone walked past the stove, hopeful that dinner might accidentally end up on the floor.

“No. We need to stay off the roads.” Adrian vetoed that idea. “As soon as we’re reported missing, Gideon will send men to find us.”

I nodded in agreement. “Probably. But maybe if we’re lucky, they’ll just go on with their lives and not bother looking for us at all. If we took one of the few vehicles they have, that wouldn’t even be possible.”

“I wouldn’t count on that. Mace is pissed about his loss, and taking two women from the community won’t be taken lightly,” Lucas said, sitting back down at the table and peeling potatoes. “Guess having two dicks in your life really pumped up your optimism, huh?”

“That’s enough, Lucas.” Adrian narrowed his eyes. “You’re going to back yourself into a hole you can’t get out of.”

“Or back his mouth right into my fist.” Beck scowled at him.

“That makes absolutely no sense.” Lucas rolled his eyes.