Read Online Singed by Kaylea Cross - Free Book Online Page A

answered, and started digging ingredients out of the fridge. Chorizo, bell peppers, cream, garlic and parmesan. The others continued munching on their chips while he chopped and minced. He’d just put everything in a pan on the stove to sauté when his phone vibrated in his hip pocket. He dug it out and read Dunphy’s text . Zahra just showed up to meet them.
    A moment later, Best surveillance job EVER.
    And finally, I love you, man.
    Snorting, Gage put it away and got back to the chorizo and peppers sizzling in the pan. He noticed both Ellis and Hunter were now staring at it like hungry wolves, their half-demolished dinner sitting abandoned between them. “Sure smells good,” he said to himself, giving the pan a little shake as he hid a grin.
    Ellis sat forward on his stool, taking a closer look. “That’s too much, even for you. I’ll eat whatever’s left over.”
    “There’s not gonna be any leftovers. Maybe you two losers should put in a little more effort next time, huh?”
     “Where the hell did you learn to cook like that, anyway? Cuz it wasn’t in the Army.” Scowling, Hunter picked up his beer and took a long pull.
    He shrugged. “I’m a divorced dad. Can’t feed your kid fucking nachos and mac and cheese every night. It was either figure out how to cook real food, or risk poisoning my only child.” He’d been a piss poor cook at first, too. Poor Janelle. Now his pasta carbonara was her favorite dish and he had a handful of go-to meals that were actually damn tasty. He had Claire to thank for that, at least in part. She’d been the one to encourage him to continue with his clumsy attempts to reach out to his daughter when he hadn’t been sure how to bridge the gap between them. Claire had been a steadying presence in his chaotic life, which was why he’d been so crushed then pissed off when she’d kicked him to the curb.
    Ellis shoved the half empty grease-covered plate toward Hunter. “Here, have at ‘er.” A few moments later he was at Gage’s elbow, peering down into the pan. “Do that flippy thing again. You know, the… ” He mimicked the motion with his hand.
    “What, this?” Gage raised the pan slightly and gave a flick of his wrist to toss the contents around, catching them all without spilling.
    “Yeah. That’s freaking awesome. Bet chicks dig that move, huh?”
    “Yep.” It had certainly impressed Claire. One morning when she’d come into his kitchen and found him flipping pancakes like that, she’d jumped him right there at the stove, ripping off his clothes and climbing his body like a tree. They’d hit the floor laughing and he’d barely had the sense to reach up for the switch to turn off the stove. That morning they’d missed breakfast and wound up eating the pancakes for lunch instead. The memory of it was bittersweet, filled his gut with that familiar ache he always experienced when he thought about her.
    “For Christ’s sake, don’t drool in it,” Gage muttered, elbowing Ellis out of the way. “Grab me the heavy cream over there and two plates.”
    “Heavy cream?”
    “Whipping cream. Jesus, don’t you watch the Food Network?” Ellis quickly passed it to him and stood silently while Gage made the sauce and let it reduce. “Normally I’d toss this with some fettuccini but I’m way too fucking hungry to wait for the water to boil.”
    Ellis nodded. “Word.”
    When it was finished Gage divided the steaming mixture onto the plates. Ellis went with him to the table and the two of them dug in while Hunter watched. Ellis moaned and rolled his eyes back on the first bite and Gage couldn’t help but grin at Hunter’s sullen expression.
    “Good?” Gage asked Ellis.
    “Mmmhmmm,” he mumbled around another mouthful, his eyes half closed in pleasure.
    In response Hunter narrowed his eyes at them and pointedly shoved a couple more greasy nacho chips into his mouth.
    With a chuckle Gage turned his attention back to his plate and polished off his dinner.