Attention What If

Chapter 66

POV: Mackenzie

I'm not a total noob when it comes to cooking. I actually used to get roped into helping my mom cook dinner all the time because Jade was a brat and never wanted to help. So I know a few basic recipes off the top of my head.

Still, I wasn't going for basic.

I want to wow her.

She's still apprehensive about it, but maybe once I tell her about Jade, she'll finally loosen up around me. I smile and rub my cheek where she kissed me. My heart hasn't stopped racing since.

I brown butter in one pan while flipping a couple of small steaks in the other.

"Mmm, man, it smells good in here." Skylar comes back inside and takes a deep breath.

I giggle as Ace wags his tail next to her.

"It's almost done," I say.

"I hope so, I'm starving. I'm gonna go change." She hangs Ace's leash up and walks to the room.

Okay, you got this, Kenzie. You got Jade's blessing plus a pep talk from Darleen this morning, no need to be nervous. You got this.

I pour the butter onto the steaks and mix the meat juices with it.

Then I remove the stakes and add a splash of red wine to make a sauce. I mix carefully, copying what I see in the tutorial video playing on my phone, which is set on the counter next to me.

The oven dings, indicating it's done. I open it up and take out the loaf of sourdough. You see I came prepared to cook dinner for Skylar. I wanted to impress her. So I brought a few things from Darleen's house.

Of course, I wanted it to seem natural and not forced, so I didn't tell Skylar any of this.

I don't want to scare her off.

She comes out of her room now dressed in loose-fitting basketball shorts and a baggy school shirt. Her ginger hair is pulled up into a loose ponytail. I can see the marks on her neck left behind by Darleen.

While I'd never admit it to her, Darleen does make me a bit jealous. She and Skylar are so effortless together. They quickly fall back into old patterns, while I have to basically beg Skylar to even look at me. How unfair.

Skylar sets the table and pours us some sweet tea she had in her fridge.

"Where'd you get all this?" she eyes the food.

"A chef doesn't reveal her sources." I tease.

She giggles.

I lay the steaks on a plate, cut them up, revealing they are perfectly medium rare, before pouring the sauce over. Then I set the grilled asparagus, which I made while Skylar was out on her walk, next to it.

I take the plates to the table and set the hot loaf of bread down on the table in the middle. Getting a bread knife and butter to go with it.

"Wow, Kenzie, I didn't know you could cook." Skylar licks her lips, her eyes wide with glee.

"Thanks," I brush my hair behind my ear and blush.

She quickly sits down and pulls her plate closer to herself. Before I can say anything, she digs in. I watch her face light up in delight before she loudly exclaims,

"Mmm! This is amazing!" she chews her food quickly.

I giggle before cutting some bread for her and myself.

"Man, you and Darleen can both cook, maybe you should teach me," she pouts.

"I can if you want." I offer.