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26. Storm 2

And I had to fight Andrei to convince him that nothing would happen to me and no one would recognize me. I had promised him that I would go out dressed as a man - I wore leather pants and a jacket and put my hair in a bun that was covered by a helmet, I'd make no stops and won't see anyone.

I had ruined it myself. But at the same time, I couldn't regret seeing Konstantin.

***

Same Day

I had come home to find Andrei and Mikhail pissed. What I didn't know was that they had Gilly follow me every time I went out and he had already reported what had happened back to them.

And in the middle of their lecture, Jay called me, reminding me that it was already 9.30. But my brothers were nowhere near done so I, unfortunately, had to lie to him and we hadn't been able to talk.

"But...?" Jay asked, bringing me back to the present.

"Yeah, last night was difficult. But it was just one of those days. I'm sure you've experienced them as well. I can't imagine owning a restaurant to be easy."

"It isn't. But thankfully, I have a great manager and team who make it easy for me," he said. "When you come back, I'll take you there. You're going to love it."

"Oh, yes!" I grew excited at that prospect. "We can have our second first date there. And would you please cook for us? I miss your cooking so much, Jay! Especially your lemon herbed rice."

"I've made complex dishes and yet my lemon herbed rice is your favorite?" he chuckled. "I only made them when I didn't have a lot of time to make anything else. It was a quick fix."

"It's more about the memories and effort than the taste. You usually made them when we came home after a long day or when you were busy and didn't have a lot of time to cook. But just because you wanted us to have something healthy and homemade, you made it." I smiled softly. I was on the college varsity track team and he always made sure I had something nourishing to eat each day. He was very thoughtful and caring like that. "And you made it when I used to fall sick. The taste just reminds me of a good time in my life. It reminds me of home."

"How about you come back home as soon as you can and I made you the best lemon herbed rice you have ever had?" he asked with a half-sweet, half-sad smile. "And I'll make it for you as often as you wish."

"We have a deal." I smiled, missing him more than ever now.

"I can give you the recipe right now if you want. It's very easy. You can make it yourself- if you've started to cook," he offered with a sweet smile.

"I'm still as useless in the kitchen as I've always been." I snorted. "Avalyn tried to teach me how to make a basic breakfast once. She said that no one can be bad at cooking and that I just needed a patient teacher. The toaster caught on fire, the microwave broke down, I put salt in everyone's coffee instead of suga- hey! stop laughing, you ass! It isn't funny!"

Jayden was laughing his loud, unabashed laughter. It made me smile. God, he was beautiful.

"Yes, it is!" he laughed.

"I got banned from the kitchen after that and everyone made fun of me for months! Months!" I whined.

"You should be used to it at this point, Alya," he teased and then laughed. "You've been banned from several kitchens before and have been teased about it by all our friends."

"Yes, I have been!" I narrowed my eyes. "And I took my revenge as well. Don't make me prank you!"

"How are you going to prank me when you're so far away?" he asked, amused.