Delectable • cth

Chapter 10

A week had passed and Calum had barely said a full sentence to his sous chef unless it had to do with making a dish for the kitchen. He hadn't said a word about the times they had spent together outside of work, and he didn't plan on it. The idea was to pretend they didn't happen at all, the two had never kissed, they never joked around and had any moments in his old childhood kitchen.

Aliyah was well past annoyed at that point, understanding wanting to distance from each other after their shared moments, but to be completely ignoring her hurt. She didn't want to admit it, but it upset her that he wanted nothing to do with her. Even if that was in her head, and wasn't the case whatsoever.

She felt the need to call him out about it, but knew she couldn't do it at work and decided to show up at his apartment one day after closing. Angry and hurt, she knocked and crossed her arms right after as she waited impatiently for him to answer. He hadn't even begun to unwind after work by the time she was there, opening the door just after a few moments.

"Aliyah?" his brows furrowed, taking in her stance and moving out of the way. "What're you doing here?"

The girl frowned, stepping through the door and glancing at him. "Why are you avoiding talking to me?"

"I'm not–" He lied, and she instantly shot him a look that reminded him she wasn't stupid. "You know the rules, and you broke them. I'm trying not to get fired."

For a moment, she thought that was a fair excuse, but the more she stood and let it marinate in her head, she'd call it absolute bullshit. "No. That doesn't mean you can't still be my friend. You can still talk to me at work and not completely ignore me."

"Ally, you don't understand."

"I understand completely, you're just being an asshole and not caring if you hurt anyone else in the process." The brunette spit at him, shaking her head. "Instead of being a decent human being and just wanting to move past it together, you decided to just ignore me and pretend I don't exist–"

"Why are you so fucking hot when you're angry?" He blurted, swallowing thickly as he watched her. Waiting for her reaction, ready to pull her into him and kiss her all over again. "You're making it harder than ever not to touch you right now."

Hesitantly, wetting her lips and staring right back at him, Aliyah whispered, "Who would know?"

A mere few seconds passed before Calum took the few steps he needed to close the gap and push his lips against hers. Reaching behind her and pushing the door closed, he didn't waste any time before pushing her into the kitchen and lifting her onto the counter. Not once did their lips part from each other.

Time felt frozen for the moment, like no one could touch them and they were in their own little world. That they weren't risking their jobs for one of the best feelings they had experienced in so long. Alcohol not affecting them at all that time, heads only foggy from the taste of each other.

"You taste like pastries." Calum mumbled against her lips just as he left them, wanting to trail kisses along her jaw instead. As her head instinctively fell to the side to give the man more access, she let off a quiet breath. "Makes sense, I see how often you sneak bites of whatever Luke is making."

"Can we not talk about another man right now." She whispered, grabbing at his shirt to pull him impossibly closer. "That feels s'good."

Maybe it gave him a bit of an ego, but he couldn't help it– the sounds she was making for him were so pretty and all he was doing was leaving needy kisses on her bare skin. His hands found her hips, pulling her to the edge of the counter. "I've been wanting to do this in the kitchen all week."

"Mhm." Aliyah hummed, eyes fluttering closed. "No more talking."

Wordlessly nodding, Calum pushed his lips to hers again, softer that time. Everything slowed down again, their hands gently grabbing at each other, pushing their hair out of the way as they gasped into each other's mouths.

Several minutes passed, longer than they thought when the chef slipped the girl's shirt over her head, connecting his lips to her neck again once she was in her bra. His hands on her hips, thumbs pressing beneath the waistband of her pants as he silently begged to be even closer.

The pressure on her hips quickly caused her hands to move to his shirt, struggling to get the buttons undone as fast as she could. Blindly feeling for the next one to pop open, Aliyah felt the man freeze, grabbing her hands to steady them and breathing against her neck.

"We can't." As the whisper fell from his lips, she knew he didn't want to. He didn't want to stop, but he didn't want to risk their jobs. "I- I'm so sorry, Ally."

She was already shaking her head, her hands moving to cup his cheeks gently. "It's not– don't be sorry." Quietly, she began buttoning his shirt again, eyes focused there until he lifted her chin to meet eyes. "I started this whole thing– I'm sorry I dragged you into it."

"You didn't." Calum whispered, gently brushing his thumbs over her cheeks. "I wanted it just as much as you did, probably more."

Aliyah laughed softly, looking down at her lap again, or more so trying to because the chefs hands on her cheeks kept them eye to eye for the time being. Neither of them said anything right away, both searching their minds for some sort of solution, for some way that they could possibly see if it could work out.

"What if no one knew?" He suddenly spoke up again, nervously searching her eyes as he did. "What if we kept things how they've always been in the kitchen? But when it's just us it can be however we want."

The girl's lips parted, contemplating silently for several moments. Her answer wasn't hard to come to, she was just worried about what could happen if people found out. Would they go straight to Brian? Would they keep it to themselves? She knew she could trust both Luke and Ashton, but anyone else?

She didn't want to dwell too much, taking a quiet breath and gently pressing her lips to his as if to give her final answer. The two couldn't help but smile against each other, feeling a little giddy about the idea of sneaking around together. Risking their jobs for the opportunity to see what they could be together felt entirely worth it in the moment.

"It has to stay between us– if anyone finds out, we end everything and deny deny deny." Aliyah whispered between kisses, her hands finding his buttons again. Wordlessly he nodded along with her, letting her kiss him over and over while his hands landed on her hips again.

Within a few simple movements, she had unbuttoned his shirt once again and pushed it off his shoulders, the black fabric landing on the floor silently. Calum thanked himself in his head that he had lifted her onto the counter, not having to lean down all that much to connect his lips to her bare skin. She was at the perfect height for him to absolutely devour her in the moment.