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Layla
“Feeling confident for the second round?” Mac said as he came up to me.
We were once again in his kitchen getting ready for the next round of the competition.
I smiled, proud of my performance in the first round, but I knew that it was only going to get harder with every passing round.
“I know it’s going to be rough, but that’s why I’m here. To really hone my seasoning skills.”
“Well, then you’ll have to concentrate and stopped being so distracted.”
I knew he was right. My mind was all over the place, especially going back to that day under the huge tent.
The entire day of the competition had been tense. Half my mind had been on making the award winning dish while the other half had occasionally strayed to Axel and his behavior towards me.
Throughout the days and nights since that day, I had come to conclude that Axel had simply wanted to fuck the new hick girl in town and now that he had, he was moving on. I had to assume that seeing me with Mac had turned him on... or something.
It was all so frustrating just thinking about it, thinking about him. But my mind was on an annoying loop of thinking of him, trying to forget him and thinking of him again.
Damn it. Why does he affect me so?
“There you go again,” Mac said.
He had pulled up a stool to the island in his kitchen while I prepared a light snack. “What are you talking about?” I said.
“You’ve been getting this dazed look lately,” he said. “Like you’re off in some other land.”
I shrugged. “I guess I am a little distracted.”
“A little?” he said with an amused grin. “I wonder if you even know where you are.”
I chuckled and reached out to pat his hand. “I’m here. All here.”
“Good,” he said as he reached for a carrot stick and dipped it into the dip I’d just made. “Good,” he said as he crunched on the carrot. “But now we get to work.”
“Right,” I said.
“Let’s get started. What’s on the menu for round two?”
“Round two is about unusual blends, and out of the ordinary seasonings. So, I was thinking of practicing with a fusion of curry rice with a clove-infused chicken with caramelized carrots, roasted peppers and a chutney on the side.”
“Interesting,” Mac said as he gestured from me to begin. “Let’s see how you do.”
I began the preparations, but felt even more anxious than the other times I’d been at his house.
A part of me longed to forget all about Axel, and Mac was the perfect diversion.
My lips were suddenly dry, longing for the taste of Mac, or was that Axel’s taste that lingered in my mouth.
No. It was Mac. Axel was over. It was done. We’d gone down that road and it led nowhere. Besides, Mac was so sexy, so mature, so knowledgeable. Why bother with Axel at all?
Right, I thought wryly.
I pushed myself to think of those intimate moments in the classroom and I was brought back to the sensations Mac had brought me. Before I knew it, I was playing that scene in my head over and over again.
I could feel him, taste him, smell him, and it all made it nearly impossible for me to concentrate on what I was doing.
