I'll Get The Coffee

Chapter Thirty-Three

Celeste was definitely enjoying the company more than the food...

"I thought you said you knew what you were doing," John groaned as he opened Liv's cast iron waffle pan to discover not the perfectly toasted waffle CeeCee had assured him they'd find if he listened to her directions, but a mass of burnt waffle batter that was now welded to the pan. "I told you it was burning!" The smell that filled the kitchen was unmistakable.

"I've watched Liv do this hundreds of times," he mocked CeeCee as he carried the heavy pan to the bin; she shook her head and laughed, she was certain her voice wasn't that high pitched. She watched as John attempted to scrape the contents into the bin but the batter was stubbornly stuck in the grates. He was terrified they'd ruined the pan, which had been Rose's and Liv would be devastated if it was spoiled. "Don't use that," CeeCee squealed at him as she snatched the knife he was using from his hands. "Metal ruins the non-stick surface!" She parroted something she had learnt from Liv. John could only raise an eyebrow, from the state of the pan it looked like that ship had already sailed.

Liv had thought her plans were fool proof; perfecting the waffle batter was the hard part and she'd left it chilling in the fridge but she had underestimated Celeste and John's ineptitude in the kitchen. They were bad enough individually, John could just about boil the kettle for Pot Noodles and Celeste was an expert on the microwave programmes, but together?! They were a recipe for disaster, probably because they were more interested in ogling the other.

John was still wearing the clothes he'd worn to the gym; a black fitted Nike quarter zip top and a matching pair of leggings. They were new and he'd been pleased with his own reflection before he left the house. Olivia however, could always be trusted to bring him back down to earth. "How did it go?" She had asked when he had arrived at the gym. He'd looked at her blankly and then his face had broken into that trademark grin of hers. "Your audition for the next Mission Impossible movie."

He took the joke as he always did; good naturedly, and with a not-so-gentle shove for Liv that threw her footing off. He pointed out his new attire hadn't been cheap either which led to Olivia reminding him that money couldn't buy class using Ben's sometimes questionable wardrobe as an example. They'd giggled their way through most of the class as they listed various items of Ben's clothing in loud whispers, finding themselves being shushed multiple times by the other participants, but they were just glad to be back together. Without Liv, John sometimes felt a little lost in the group; Mason, Declan, Lucy and Thea were much younger than him, his friendship with Ben was still relatively new and things with CeeCee had always been... Complicated?! Increasingly so recently, so having Liv home, with whom he never had to pretend to be anything he wasn't, made him feel as relaxed as if he'd just been on a week long yoga retreat.

Celeste also thought he looked like the hero from an action movie, ready to stealthily break out of some deadly trap. And she loved the glow he had when he was fresh from the gym, the sheen of sweat that lingered on the back of his neck and his brow. The way his towering curls sank a little from his increased body heat. He looked like walking sex like this. She had told Liv this once, and Olivia had laughed in her face and said 'well he smells like the changing room at an all boys' school'. She wasn't the greatest fan of the clammy hugs he would give her at the end of a class, as he well knew, that was why he'd hold her extra tight, her head pressed against his sweat soaked t-shirt. "Can you feel all the impurities I've just released?" He'd laugh. Yes and she could smell them too. She'd twist one of his nipples through his top until he'd let her go. He would squeal like a girl, Liv was certain even Celeste was tougher than he was.