Nothing Scientific About It | [COMPLETE]

Chapter Sixteen

I tried to stay out of Cade's way as he went back to scrounging. When he went to the fridge, I migrated toward the dishwasher. As he hunted through a stash of canned goods that Mom had probably had tucked away in the top of the cabinet above her baking stuff and spices when I was still in high school, I busied myself getting him a trash bag I could only assume he would need.

"I don't think you want to touch any of that." I finally said, handing him the bag. "I'm pretty sure that condensed milk up there watched me graduate from middle school."

He flipped the can around and eyed the expiration date. "Oh definitely. It might have seen you graduate kindergarten."

Our task then shifted from eating to cleaning, as Cade could not stop himself from going through every cabinet to throw away anything past its prime. Thankfully, there was nowhere near as much as either of us was dreading, though I caught myself at the door to the garage and decided to leave the trash bag on the floor. I didn't want to imagine who may have been waiting for one of us on the other side.

"Have you figured anything out yet? I'm about to give up on Chef Cade and actually eat the rest of that Chinese."

"Chef Cade? Is that what I am now?" He smirked. "Well Chef Cade has figured out something, so maybe you should sit down and give me a little time to work my magic."

He turned away from me, which was perfect as I found it nearly impossible to continue holding myself back from shivering. It had been too long since anyone had worked their magic for me, and with the ache in my stomach radiating south, I'd just as soon let him do it as I would take one of the bananas he was currently peeling and tossing into a bowl.

"Bananas? We're eating bananas?"

"They're healthy!" He said, not looking up. "Also, I don't have a lot of choices over here. Bananas are great though. We can have one of my old late-night standards from when I first got my own place and was trying to save money."

"And that is?"

"You'll see. Let Chef Cade work his magic." I shivered again and decided to sit down where Nic had been before my legs started to join in on the tremor party. "It's not going to be exactly what I did back then, but it's close enough."

"Whatever." I sat back and watched as he waved a masher in my direction and flipped it around a few times, then tossed it into the air and caught it effortlessly behind his back. "Geez. Where'd you learn that?"

"Self taught, like most things." He winked at me and then took the masher to the bowl of bananas, causing their smell to fill the room. "You are okay with this, right?"

"After the night we've had, I'd probably eat Brussel sprouts fried in automotive paint."

"You say that like this night has been bad." He kept mashing, spinning the bowl as he danced back and forth. "I know you hate sprouts."

"I really do."

"They're not that bad if you cook them right."

"Woah, hold up!" Had I been a little more awake, I might have attempted feigning tipping my chair back in surprise. "Cade Carter is trying to sell me on sprouts? The same Cade Carter that once got grounded for a month for not eating them for dinner?"

"I was twelve!" He said. "And my mother didn't cook them right. She just, like, boiled them." He made a disgusted face. "It was worth it."

"We didn't get to hang out for a month! Was that worth it?" My mouth let the words out and then they hung in the air between us before my ears were able to hear and process exactly what I had just said. "It...it was the middle of the summer!"