𝑇𝐸𝑀𝑃𝐸𝑆𝑇

Chapter 19

The smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls greets my senses as my eyes crack open. I squint, adjusting to the bright room. Jack is still asleep and snoring beside me.

I slip out of bed and leave the room quietly, making my way to the kitchen. Sure enough, Alice is in the bent over the oven covered in flour. Her hair is tied into a messy knot on her head, with orange tendrils escaping around her face. Her face brightens when she notices me, "Hey honey, how'd you sleep?" I give her a hug, "like a baby." She kisses the top of my head and gives me one of those mom hugs, the ones that make you feel all safe and warm inside. "Hey how'd you know I was here?" She had made my favorite, a rare treat she only makes when I come over. She pats my cheek, "Oh I know everything that goes on around here."

I really hoped that statement was less true than she thought as multiple memories of me and Jack coming home plastered in the early hours of the morning pass through my brain. She cocks her brow at me as to say yeah I saw you puke into the shrub beside the front door. Gulp. I slide into a stool by the breakfast bar and snack on some grapes as she finishes frosting the cinnamon rolls. "So what are ya"ll getting into tonight?" Alice asks me with a mischievous glint in her eye. I smile slyly back at her "There's this thing at Jake's house, we were thinking about stopping by."

Alice grins and shakes her head, "well if his parties are anything like his fathers' you'll definitely need this." She sets a steaming plate of gooey goodness in front of me, along with a large glass of ice water. My mouth instantly waters and I tear into the warm sugary bread.

"So you guys were just gonna make this delectable meal and keep it all for yourselves? Fuckin bigbacks." Jack stalks into the kitchen, scowling at me and Alice. He snatches a cinnamon roll and shoves half of it in his mouth all at once. "FUCK" he shouts with a mouthful of mushy bread fully visible as he fans his gaping mouth. Alice rolls her eyes at him, "thats karma for being a little shit." He chokes down the large amount of scorching food in his mouth and grabs my cup of water, guzzling half of it down before I snatch it away from him.

"Hands off, get your own bitch." He grins childishly before replying, "Refreshing." I ball up the sticky paper towel I had been using and chuck it at his head. It hits his temple with a satisfying thwack, leaving a trail of gooey residue behind. He glowers at me. "Oh you are so dead." He dips his hand in the bowl of leftover icing and lunges at me. Squealing, I dart off my stool and escape, narrowly avoiding his filthy grip. We face each other on opposite sides of the kitchen island. "Nooooooo. Absolutely not, if my kitchen gets dirty both of you will be scrubbing the floor with toothbrushes, and thats a promise." Alice looks at us with a disapproving look on her face and shakes her head. Jack looks down at his sticky hand then back up at me. "RAHHHH" Jack begins chasing me around the island in circles. "TRUCE! TRUUUUCE!" Tears are streaming and my face and my belly aches from laughing so hard. "FUCK YOUR TRUCE HOE!" Jack catches up to me and smears the sugary liquid all over my arms. "Hey no fair I only got a little on you." I scowl at him and he smirks, "I'm always gonna get you back ten times harder, remember that." Alice's face says that she's fed up with our bullshit. "I'm going to enjoy my breakfast outside, when I come back this place better be spotless." She gives us both the evil eye before marching out of the room, cinnamon roll in tow.

Jack downs the rest of my water before turning to leave. "Ohhh nuh uh get your ass back here. We have a mess to clean remember?" I gesture to the array of goopy droplets all over the kitchen floor. "Hell nah, you started it." I glare at him, "Well who got it all over the floor?" He struts down the hallway whistling, "not my problem babes." I throw a damp dish towel at him and it hits his back and falls to the floor. He turns, "HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING?!?" He grabs the towel and wrings it in his hands, preparing to attack. Suddenly the patio door slides open a crack and Alice pokes her head in, "It doesn't sound like a lot of cleaning is going on." Her eyes dart from the rag in Jack's hand to the large sheet pan I am using as a sheild. "You two are gonna be the death of me." Jack sends her a cheeky grin, "Love you mom." She sighs, "I love you, but sometimes I wonder if you came from my womb." She steps inside and takes the rag from Jack, then the sheet pan from me. "Clean." her voice held that serious tone that meant no funny business so we got to work scrubbing the stickiness off the grayish tile floor.