Chapter 8 Ally
ALLY
“Work already,” I mumble under my breath as I try for what feels like the fiftieth time to get this grill to start, and at this point.
I guess I’m even willing to talk to it. I’ve tried everything else—well, everything short of phoning a friend because between the options of calling my uncle, Levi, or Cooper—so I think I’ll take the loss.
Lucas on the other hand? He is not so accepting.
“Is it not working, Miss Ally?” Lucas asks from behind me, his small voice hitting my chest, a pang of guilt at his disappointment and my frustration as he watches me try to fix this damn grill. Is it not just a button that I press to turn it on like an oven?
“It’s not right now, but I’m trying to get it to work, buddy,” I tell him as I look down at my phone and I try to google a way to fix this, but nothing is making sense.
What do you mean I have to turn on the gas and then turn on the grill…
aren’t they the same fucking thing? I knew the second Lucas said he wanted hot dogs that it was going to be a nightmare.
Especially when he started watching me, I knew I would freeze up.
The fear of failing, of not giving Lucas what he asked for, it had me so nervous even around a four year old.
I’m useless in a kitchen. If it needs more than two steps or comes without directions on the box, I’m out.
Which I guess still means someone else made it, but that’s not the point.
It’s just another reason I’m not cut out for this nanny gig.
I can barely keep myself nourished with three meals a day, and I definitely had to download an app on my phone to remind myself to drink water because no matter how many times I point out to my doctor that water is the first ingredient in coffee—he likes to remind me it doesn’t count towards hydration.
Quite the opposite in fact.
I always just tell him I don’t have any room for that sort of negativity in my life…as I take another sip of my iced coffee.
Now it’s not just me who has to be subjected to cereal and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day.
My lack of skills in the kitchen is impacting more than me and I hate it.
I hate that I’m not able to be someone Lucas can rely on, even if it is just a warm, home cooked meal I’m not giving him.
It still sucks. Especially because I’m sure the nanny before me could do it all perfectly.
That’s not what I should be thinking about right now.
Right now, I need to use all my brain power to figure this fucker out…
or just tuck my tail between my legs and call Cooper.
Although, at this point, he’ll probably be home any minute wondering why I haven’t fed Lucas lunch, so I’m probably in trouble either way.
I practically begged Lucas to want anything other than a hot dog, but unfortunately, he wouldn’t budge. Said something about how his tummy was in charge, and unless we wanted it to be angry, we needed to listen.
As someone whose happiness comes directly from her stomach, I understood his point, which is why I’ve been standing here fighting with this grill for the last twenty minutes.
“While you work on this…can I go paint and finish my crackers?” Lucas says with a smile—one I’m not sure how anyone can say no to because even my black heart feels it.
“Of course. Let me get some water for you, and you can use the watercolors you were wanting?” I reply, and thankfully that earns me an even bigger smile which makes me feel a little like an asshole that lunch is taking so long.
“Really? I’ll go grab the paper and meet you at the grass!” Lucas smiles, and fuck this kid must have some voodoo magic or something because I’ve hung out with him for like four hours and already think he’s the coolest kid I’ve ever met.
“Fuck me,” I mumble as I press the button, and nothing happens for what feels like the millionth time.
“Are you talking to the grill, or is that an offer?” I hear from behind me, and I smash my head on the grill as I try to turn around to look back.
“Ow,” I say as I grab my head, looking up to see Cooper standing there looking like a snack with an annoying little smirk on his face. “You've got to be kidding me”
“Need a hand?”
“Is it that obvious?” I grumble, still rubbing my head.
“Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, though I'd pay good money to know what that grill did to deserve your death stare.”
“It refused to cook lunch. Total betrayal.”
“Mind if I look?” He comes closer. Instead, I step aside, a little too quickly. His arm brushes mine as he crouches. The warmth shoots up my arm and spreads through me like static.
“You forgot to open the valve.” He reaches under the grill, knuckles grazing my thigh as the gas hisses to life. “See? She just needed a little fuel.”
“You're really enjoying yourself, aren't you?”
“Maybe.” He straightens, eyes catching mine. “You get flustered when things don't cooperate.”
“I do not.”
My cheeks heat as I glance at him, his handsome little grin on full display as he just watches me. Fuck, that shouldn’t be so hot, but it is because there’s just something about an off-limits man with a devilish grin that just does something to me.
But the whole nannying his kid and his best friend being my ex thing put the nail in the coffin on that one. Well, that and the fact that he’s a hockey player, and I’ve sworn them off for good. I’m two for two on them being bad for my heart and my vagina, and I don’t need to go for three.
“So, is that a no or…?”
“Fuck off, Coop,” I say. Sarcasm dripping from my voice as I lean back until I’m sitting on the cement, my back against the grill as I look up at Cooper, my head throbbing from where I smashed it, and I just give up.
“Well, is that an offer or not?” he says with a smirk before holding his hand out to help me up.
Flipping him off first, I then reach forward and grab his hand.
His entire hand envelopes mine, making it feel so much smaller than I actually am.
I feel almost weightless as he lifts me up to stand next to him.
“No, it’s not an offer. Definitely not when this is the piece of shit grill you choose to own. This fucking thing won’t work, and I was just trying to make lunch for me and Lucas.”
“Did you push the button?” Cooper says, taking a step closer and checking the grill. Why is it that anytime a man is checking a grill, the first thing he does is open it…pretty sure that’s not where the on switch is. Then again, what the hell do I know?
“Of course, I pushed the fucking button,” I snap as I lean back against a chair, crossing my arms as I watch him check to see what might be happening.
“Put the claws away, Ally Cat.” Cooper looks at me with hands up in surrender for a moment before turning back to the grill and opening up the little doors below.
I turn to check on Lucas, who’s been playing in the yard for a while, but he’s still happily sitting in the grass surrounded by paper and watercolors as he paints his little heart away while waiting patiently for his lunch.
“I was just asking a question, so I knew where to start to find the problem.”
“Ally Cat, again? Really?” I scowl, unwilling to admit that the little nickname actually made me smile—on the inside at least. “And yes, I pushed the stupid little button that says on because that was the first thing Google told me to try.”
Smirking, Cooper looks back at me before again looking under the grill. “It’s a nickname, for one. Second, I’m glad you trusted Google, but next time just call me. I probably could’ve told you the problem in about 12.8 seconds.”
“Shut up, no you couldn’t.”
“You’ve got quite the mouth on you, Ally Cat,” Cooper says as his eyes drop to my lips, and I’m frozen, stuck in place as he takes a step towards me, my breath getting stuck as my whole body stills.
“Don’t we all?” I force out as he watches me.
“Have a mouth, I mean,” I continue, my voice cracking as he takes another step towards me, that smirk still on his lips as he watches me.
My heart starts racing like I’m running a fucking marathon, and I’m tempted to just run away from this feeling, but I can’t seem to bring myself to move, my feet stuck like there’s cement in my shoes.
There’s also a part of me, a little voice I hear in the back of my mind, that’s intrigued as to what’s happening right now. His eyes darken as he watches me, a look I would never expect from him. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like it. But that’s the side of me that only gets me into trouble.
Cooper doesn’t know that though, and he doesn’t appear to be getting the memo as he brings his hand up to my face, cupping my cheeks as he looks at me, his thumb brushing against my bottom lip so softly that I almost question if he’s actually touching me or if it’s just that the tension is so thick that I feel it vibrate against my skin.
What the fuck is happening right now?
“Watch it, Ally Cat. You may have claws, but how do you know I don’t scratch back?
” he says, and for a brief moment it feels like he’s leaning in, his mouth getting just a bit closer to mine as I hold my breath.
His words pour over my skin like the sweetest song, a melody only my darkest desires know, and I want to succumb to it. Lean in just to feel the music.
But just as quickly as I feel the pull, it’s gone as he pulls back, as he smiles, the kind that says he’s enjoying my fluster more than he should.
“Now, want me to show you how to turn it on?” Cooper asks.
“Turn…oh, the grill,” I say, confused for a moment as I try to come back to reality.
“Under the grill, there’s a gas tank, and you have to twist it counterclockwise to open it up. Without that, it can’t work. No fuel, no work.”
“Then why is there a button that says on and doesn’t say, turn this on first then push here?” I say, annoyed that I didn’t know what the damn directions were saying. How the hell was I supposed to know the gas got turned off and on?
“It’s confusing, I know. It honestly took me a bit to get used to a grill, but don’t stress too much,” Cooper says, and it’s obvious he’s trying to cheer me up.
“The first time I tried to make the guys burgers on the grill, they were about three inches thick and were so dry even ketchup couldn’t fix them.
We ended up at picking up food that night”
“Easy to say for you; you know how to do all of this stuff now and don’t need a four-year-old trying to help you figure out the grill to make him a stupid hot dog for lunch,” I snap.
“Little do you know the four-year-old is always helping me figure stuff out. He really does just like to help, and I promise he won’t think poorly of you if you don’t know how to do something. Plus, I had to learn it all at some point too.”
“Yeah, I’m sure the four-year-old wants to teach me how to grill his hot dog,” I say, immediately realizing how much I just admitted, and I now have the urge to crawl into a hole. Or to just close my eyes and pretend that if I can’t see him, he can’t see me…
That is how it works, right?
He studies me for a moment, assessing me like I'm a puzzle to solve. Then he gestures for me to come closer and turns back to the grill. Adjusting the nozzle, he turns it on, flames immediately coming to life with the simple press of a button.
“Show off,” I mumble, and he just rolls his eyes and chuckles.
Grabbing a few hot dogs, he sets them on the grill, the sizzling a clear indicator it’s already hot.
“I spin them with the tongs every once in a while, because they’re technically already cooked, so we’re really just warming them up. Lucas is a little bit of a weirdo and likes them well done, so I leave his on a little longer than mine,” Cooper says as he spins the hot dogs once.
“That’s how I like mine too, well done like Lucas.”
“Oh, so I have two weirdos on hand…great.” He laughs, and this time it’s my turn to roll my eyes right as Lucas yells for his dad.
“Here, take these and just don’t let anything burn. I’ll go help Lucas, and then I’ll grab a plate and be right back.” With that, he’s gone, and I’m left trying not to ruin the lunch that is already late because of me.
Is this supposed to be my first test?
Why did his touch still tingle when all I wanted was to prove I could handle a grill?