“But we’re almost done with the fourth episode, and I already know who the killer is in episode three.”
“So, you’ll get to know who the killer is before the rest of the Jeffersonian team. Good for you.”
I slide off the counter, head back to the TV, and startBonesover from episode one.
“Are you gonna continue to watch the show from the kitchen?” I stop the episode as it begins.
“I’ll be there in just a second. Dinner’s ready, so I’m plating it.”
“Plating it?” I cock an eyebrow. “Sounds so fancy.”
“Oh, it is.”
It only takes him a few moments to plate the food, and then he walks over and sits the plates down on the coffee table in front of me before heading back into the kitchen.
It doesn’t take me long to realize what he’s made for us for dinner.
“Is this—”
“Sudado de pollo.” He scratches the back of his neck. “Hopefully, I said that right.”
He hands me a can of root beer before sitting beside me.
“You said it perfectly.” I bite my bottom lip, looking at the food, and then I look back at him. I’m not usually emotional, but it’s taking everything in me not to tear up right now. “My Abuela used to make this for me.”
“I know,” he says it so nonchalantly, like it’s not a big deal, even though it’s the biggest deal.
I lean forward, pressing my lips to his cheek, “Thank you.”
twenty-nine
Zeke
Ifeel like I’ve barely seen you since the banquet,” Ember says, shooting her puck toward my goal but missing by a couple of inches.
We’ve been playingNHL 17for nearly an hour, and I haven’t won a single game because I’ve been distracted by all of Ember’s questions.
“I saw you a few days ago.” Which isn’t a lie, I came home from class, and Ember and Declan were making out on the couch.
“For all of five seconds,” she continues. “You saidhi, then went upstairs, changed, and left.”
“I was visiting my mom.”
“Declan said you didn’t come home that night.”
“Em, I thought you knew me better than this. There are a lot of nights I don’t come home. I’m usually getting laid.”
I’m gone more often than before, though. I always tried to get girls to come back to my place because falling asleep was easier in my own bed. But since Avalon, that hasn’t really been an issue. The other day, we fell asleep on her couch while binge-watchingBones.
I spend most of my nights at her place now; it’s becoming a problem. We don’t even have sex most nights, or at least that’s notour goal for my visits. We finished the whole first season ofBonesin a week, which might not seem like a lot for some people, but with our busy schedules, between my practices and games and her labs, we don’t get much time to just relax.
“You disappeared from the banquet.” She scores a goal.
“I’d say it wasyouwho disappeared from that banquet.”
“Declan and I slow danced in a janitor's closet.” I raise an eyebrow as I stifle a laugh. “Shut up, it was romantic.”
“I bet it was. Who doesn’t love dancing in a room that smells like chemicals.”