I wanted to narrow my eyes at him and tell him not to call me that, but all I could do was shift uncomfortably under his gaze. It was hard to confront the scariest person I knew. Luckily, I was saved by my phone ringing before I had the chance to answer. It was Willow.

“Sorry, one sec.”

Rhodes didn’t show any shift in emotion. He just turned to face the stove again and went back to work.

“Hey, Lo.”

“Hey! What are you doing Wednesday?”

“Um.” Wednesday wasn’t a training day, but I wasn’t sure I was going to be down for whatever she was about to propose. Still, I couldn’t think of any excuse, so I sighed. “Nothing. What’s up?”

“Perfect. We’re going to the town fair with the group. Now before you tell me no because Mason will be there, let me remind you that you’re looking super hot lately and you should prance around in front of him and Shay and show them you’re not afraid of them. And we can go shopping for something super cute for you to wear.” I tried to cut her off but she just spoke louder over me. “AND this is our last summer together before college and we have way too many memories to make to let that douche hose ruin it.”

I laughed at her expression, but couldn’t help but note Rhodes’ glare when she mentioned Mason. Could he hear her?

“I don’t think this is a good idea, Willow.”

“Oh whatever, Nat. He’s a pansy and so is his new Barbie doll. Please come with me? I’ll protect you and fuck up anyone who tries to mess with my best friend.”

I sighed, but couldn’t help but smile. I knew she was serious. “I don’t know…”

“Think about it. You need to stay relevant and in the picture if the end game is to get him back, right?”

I chewed my lip. She did have a point. I wasn’t sure I was exactly ready to see Mason just yet, I’d only been training for a week and a half, but as the saying went — out of sight, out of mind. I didn’t want him to forget about me while he got all caught up in Shay.

“I’ll buy you a funnel cake,” she sang into the phone and I laughed again.

“Well, when you put it like that.”

“Yay!” she squealed. “I’ll pick you up after your training on Tuesday. Love you, Nat!”

I shook my head when the line went dead and tucked my phone back in my bag before sitting at the bar again. Rhodes assessed me as he plated our food. There was chicken, seasoned to perfection, along with vegetables and brown rice — none of which would have sounded good to me a week before but all of which was making me drool at the current moment. “Gnat, huh? Like the bug?”

I scrunched my nose, pulling my attention from the saliva-inducing food porn. “What?”

“Your nickname?”

“Oh, no.” I shook my head. “It’s Nat. Like, short for Natalie.”

“Ah,” he said, handing me my plate. He nodded to the couch and I followed him over. “I think I like Bug better.”

I frowned, wondering what he meant, but didn’t comment further. Rhodes flipped on the television and kicked back on the couch, propping his feet on the coffee table. I hugged the arm opposite him and crossed my legs, balancing my plate in one hand and taking the first bite with the other. When I did, I couldn’t help but moan.

“Oh my God, this is amazing.”

Rhodes smiled, which still made me falter even though I’d seen it already before that night. It was such a rare thing, such an amazing thing. “This is nothing. Simple. Just chicken.”

“Well it’s better than any chicken I’ve ever made. Or had. Ever.” I was scarfing down bites between my words but I wasn’t even sorry. “Do you cook like this all the time?”

He shrugged. “You said I geek out over fitness, but I think the better comparison would have been cooking. I watch a lot of cooking shows, read cookbooks, upgrade my kitchen when finances allow it. There’s just something about creating healthy food that also tastes great. It’s hard to do. A challenge, you know?”

I nodded, though I didn’t have the slightest clue, but it was the first time Rhodes talked about something he had a passion for and it was kind of amazing to witness.

He chuckled. “I’ll have to really wow you next time.”

Wait.

Did he just say next time?

I swallowed the bite I’d been chewing and chased it with a long pull of water. He eyed me over his plate, the sports channel he had on the television filling in the silence. “Why did you agree to go to the fair if you didn’t want to go?”

I frowned, wondering how much of my conversation with Willow he’d heard. “I don’t know. Willow wants me there. She’s my best friend. It’s whatever.” I stacked another piece of chicken on my fork. “Besides, we go every year. It’d be weird if I didn’t show up.”

He watched me for a beat before taking another bite and turning toward the TV again. “You’re so nice you make other nice people look like assholes.”

I giggled, flushed, and took another drink of water to cool my cheeks. He peered at me from the corner of his eye, brow cocked and a slight smile on his face.

We ate the rest of our dinner in silence and I helped him with the dishes, even though he tried to fight me on it. The one appliance missing from his kitchen was a dishwasher, so I washed and he dried. And he coached me on other foods to eat to keep my hunger at bay while I pretended to listen but paid more attention to the way the muscles in his forearms shifted as he dried each plate.

And we talked.

He listened when I spoke and he didn’t punish me by not saying anything at all. He talked, too. About the club, about the plans he still had for his kitchen. And by the time we finished and he walked me out to my car, I had seen Rhodes smile more than I had in all the years I’d known him before that night.

I drove home in silence, not even turning on the radio. I played through every word, every laugh, and every detail in my head. And my shirt still smelled like his body wash mixed with the chicken he’d cooked. I didn’t change before I crawled into bed and let the exhaustion from the day melt with the fullness in my belly, lulling me into a stupor. Mom peeked in to check on me at one point but I pretended to be asleep and she left again. Just as I was about to really drift off, my phone pinged. The bright light blinded me as I checked the screen, but then my eyes snapped open when the words came into focus.