Chapter 37
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
GRIFFIN
N oah opens the walk-in pantry and exuberantly runs inside. Not even a moment later, he pops his head back out. “What all do we need?”
“Let’s have a look.” I follow behind him and point out everything we need. Noah dutifully carries each ingredient and sets them on the counter. “I think that’s everything.”
“Wait!” he exclaims, then runs back into the pantry. He returns with two aprons. The small one is covered in trains, and he hands the other to me. It’s purple with embroidered words that read “No Bitchin’ in my Kitchen.”
“Uhh…” I stutter.
“Put it on,” Noah demands.
The things I do for this kid…
Aprons on, we work together to mix the batter and turn on the stove. He’s a top-notch sous chef. I show him how to pour the batter, and we go over the rules around the stove. Once I’m satisfied that he understands, we get back to it.
“How do we cook the other side?”
“Like this.” I slip the spatula under the pancake and toss it in the air so it’ll land back on the pan. It’s a move I perfected in my early twenties, but I must have forgotten the trick because the pancake doesn’t flip.
Noah looks down at the pancake, then at me, and back at the pancake. “I think that’s not how you do it.”
Some time and many more failed attempts later, Noah scrutinizes the pancake batter on the ceiling. “I thought you said you knew how to cook.”
“I did.” Grimacing, I pour more batter onto the pan. The new pancake sizzles a little too much. “It’s been a while.”
Noah hops off the stool I pulled up to the counter for him so he could help and moves to my other side where the stack of finished pancakes sits. “They’re really brown.”
Scratching the back of my head, I examine the pile and realize he’s right.
Okay, time to pivot.
Turning off the stove, I sweep Noah up in my arms and spin in circles. “You mean you’re not going to eat the perfectly burned pancakes we slaved to make?” He giggles and grabs for me, afraid he’ll fly out of my grasp.
“Okay! Okay! I’ll eat them! Put me down!” Noah yelps in between his laughter.
I sit him back on the stool and ruffle his hair. “I’m just pulling your leg.”
Noah blinks repeatedly and glances down at his lap. “No, you’re not.”
My lips pinch, holding back my grin. Clearing my throat, I explain, “It’s an expression. It means that I was joking.”
Noah squints. “What does joking have to do with legs?”
“Well…that’s…a good question. I actually have no idea. It’s just something people say.” I shrug.
Noah does the same. “So, what now?”
“Now, we get you changed out of your pjs and go out for breakfast.”
“Can we ride the motorcycles?” Noah squeals, reaching a pitch I’ve never heard before in my life.
Oh, hell. I don’t know how to say no to this kid, but I can’t give him a definitive answer. So, I come up with the next best thing.
“If your mom says it’s okay, then yeah. We can take the motorcycles.”
He squeals again, jumping at me and hugging me around my neck. I return the hug so he doesn’t fall. Noah pulls back but keeps one arm around me. Thrusting his fist in the air like we did before, he creates a new chant.
“Ride the bikes! Ride the bikes!”
I join in with him, and his smile grows.
“What’s going on down here?”
We stop our shouts, and my eyes snap to the bottom of the stairs. Raven and Knox stand together, observing the mess Noah and I have made.
Raven’s jaw drops. “What did you do to my kitchen?”
Noah points his finger at me. “Griffin did it.”
“Hey!” In retaliation, I poke his side, causing him to giggle again. I face Raven and Knox. “I guess I lost my magic pancake touch. We need to go get breakfast.”
Noah raises his fist again. “Ride the bikes! Ride the bikes!”
Raven’s shock turns into a reluctant grin. “Fine. But this mess needs to be cleaned up before we go.”
Knox sighs and strides past us, grabbing the cleaning supplies from under the sink. Raven wrinkles her brow.
Shit.
We’re not supposed to know where those are.
I step in Raven’s view of Knox. “Why don’t you go back to bed and relax, Sunshine. Pull out the book we found in your nightstand, Letting Go by Liz Colbert, but don’t touch that other thing we found.” Her face turns an adorable shade of pink. “We’ll have this place cleaned up soon.”
“Sure.” She nods her head, but her expression doesn’t change as she heads back upstairs.
“Knox,” I whisper with force. I raise my brows and jut my chin forward.
He brushes me off. “She’ll find out eventually. It’s inevitable.”
“But maybe we should decide when that is,” I reply slowly.
Knox ignores me and gets to cleaning, and Noah and I follow suit.
Raven might hide from us when she gets an idea of the full picture. But she’s already in too deep. The moment she walked into The Wandering Raven, she sealed her fate.