Ruin The Wedding (The Murphy Brothers #1)

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐟

"Do you cook for others too?" Looking up from the fridge, he saw Charlie standing by the kitchen table, staring at her curiously.

She was supposed to be in bed sleeping because that was why he came here with them in the first place but no, she was still here talking with Fabian while trying to hide her yawning.

After arguing a couple of more minutes about whether or not he would cook, they agreed that he would stay and she would go to sleep. Or more like he said that and just didn't leave which forced her to agree. Sometimes it helped to be a bit of an asshole.

Charlie had just gone to put Aurora to sleep in her bed which was a big girl's bed now instead of a crib as she just explained, talking about how fast her daughter had grown up. While listening with one ear, Fabian focused on looking at her fridge and everything she had bought tonight and decided to do some spaghetti.

It had been a long, long time since he had cooked a real meal which he didn't want to admit to Charlie because now her reason would be that she would be too scared to even taste it instead of feeling like she was taking advantage of him.

"Not really, everyone I know is a grown-up adult who can cook themselves. Well, all but Seth, he still lives at home and gets his food from there when he's not traveling," Fabian explained, not looking at her.  

"But if they needed help with that or anything else, you would help, right?" What was with all these questions? When he had volunteered to help, Fabian had assumed that he could be here all alone while Charlie and Aurora slept. This wasn't what he had signed up for.

What he did sign up for was some alone time, cooking and looking for recipes without other people bothering him. If she wouldn't go to sleep even though she was tired then she could as well cook herself! No need for him to stay there.

But for some reason, Fabian didn't get the words out. Instead, he only nodded as an answer, kept his mouth closed, and kept looking at his phone for spaghetti bolognese.

"Can Aurora eat normal food already?" Better ask this now instead of after he had spent all this time cooking for a perfect lasagne - or hopefully at least eatable - only to find out that she was too young to eat that.

"Yeah, she's eighteen months old already," Charlie smiled as if it explained everything.

It didn't.

Once again she yawned, trying to hide it but he saw it. Then he frowned, annoyed at her for not going to bed and himself for being here, but still didn't say anything else. He had learned a long time ago that the less was said, the less there was drama or conflicts. And he was tired of those.

Then Nora is gonna be a perfect wife for you, his mind laughed with sarcasm.

Ignoring it, Fabian couldn't help himself from saying, "Go to sleep already!" It sounded too much like a command which it kind of was but he didn't have any right to give her commands, especially in her own apartment. Well, the apartment that she rented.

"I still don't feel good about going to sleep while you cook for us," she repeated the words she had said about thirty times. By now, she had to know that he wouldn't change his mind and leave her alone in here.

She needed rest and he had free time to help, what was the problem? If she really felt bad as she said then she really shouldn't.

He was used to this, lending a helping hand in need because as the CEO and the oldest child, there had been a lot of responsibilities in his life and he had been in charge of many people. His brothers wouldn't call it that but that was what it was, especially with young Seth and Asher who had been a rebel since he could walk.