Big Shot | ✓

35 | nobody gets me like you

When we returned to the Donahue's after our boating excursion, the smell of pastries hit us the moment we walked through the front door.

Reid made a beeline for the kitchen, followed by Anna and Frank who called after him something along the lines of you can't hog all the pop tarts.

Nikki had her arm slung around my shoulder as we walked through the front hallway towards the kitchen, still humming some Darius Rucker song that was playing on the boat. Nicky appeared on the other side of her and wrapped an arm around her waist to gently pull her away from me.

"I got her," he said to me with a cheeky grin.

"You sure?" I asked, mirroring his grin as Nikki tried to wiggle out of his grip.

"Oh yeah," he nodded. "She just needs a snack and a quick nap, she'll be good."

Nikki tilted her head towards Nicky and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "You know me so well. I love you."

"I know, I know," Nicky shook his head, trying to stifle his little smirk.

She whipped her head around and pointed at me. "I love you too."

"I love you too," I echoed with a grin. "Take care of her."

Nicky ushered her upstairs, allowing me to follow my nose into the kitchen. Missy was busy instructing Lily Lou as she cracked eggs over a mixing bowl, while Reid, Anna, and Frank hovered behind them like three bees fighting over the one flower left with nectar.

"Will you three shoo?" Missy swatted at them like they were indeed pesky flying insects. "I swear y'all act like nobody feeds you."

"I want mine extra filled," Reid instructed Lily Lou.

"What do you want filled there, Reid?" I walked around the kitchen island with a coy smirk.

"Wouldn't you love to know." He matched my smirk, pinching my side as I brushed by him, and I had to pretend the subtlest of touches didn't send my heart into my god damn esophagus like bad acid reflux.

I feigned offense and put my hands to my chest. "Yes, I actually do. What on earth did you think I was talking about?"

Anna and Frank snickered, and as they slowly began to back out of the kitchen Frank scooped up a spoonful of jelly preserves that was in one of the handful of glass bowls spread out on the island.

"All of y'all, get out," Missy shooed at them again.

"Except Jo, she can stay," Lily Lou chimed in, grunting with effort as she mixed up the dough in the bowl with a spatula far too big for her.

I stuck my tongue out at Reid as he called over his shoulder, "Remember, extra filled!"

"So what are we extra filling?" I asked as I leaned against the kitchen island.

"Filled and iced puff pastries," Missy explained.

"So, Pop Tarts," Lily Lou pointedly clarified.

"Ah, I get it now," I nodded. I surveyed the various bowls of jams and instantly knew Reid wanted extra filled strawberry. The realization at how well I knew him - in the way that Nikki and Nicky knew each other - made my stomach churn. I tried to ignore it and grinned across the island at Lily Lou. "Sounds perfect."

Lily Lou was undoubtedly her mother's child as she instructed me on how to parse out the dough for pastries, fill them, and press them together with a fork so the tops and bottoms stuck together. I'd made puff pastries before, but I let her take the lead on this one. I filled one in the corner of the sheet pan with extra strawberry jam. They cooked quickly, and when we took them out to ice them, I drew a little R on Reid's.