Chapter Twenty-Seven

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Brandon's eyebrows raised even higher in surprise at Nathan's rather sudden outburst. I was shocked and all. I mean, who wouldn't be after a guy randomly burst out that he wasn't fingering you.

Nathan took the silence in the room as an encouragement to continue his rambling. "I-I was just helping her put a bandage on her knee. Look," he said as he grabbed a tuft of my duvet and snatched it off my legs.

An instant chill coated my legs as they met the air. I threw Nathan a nasty glare. "Hey, that's cold," I said as I stormily pulled the covers back over myself.

"Well, excuse me for wanting to help you out. Your boyfriend probably thinks that you're fucking cheating on him," Nathan whisper shouted, his eyes still widened and frazzled from visible stress. 

From his body language, anybody would think Brandon was some big macho dude that he feared might beat him up. But, in reality, Brandon was as harmless as people came.

Brandon chuckled, for some reason taking amusement out of the situation. "Look, Nathan, it's fine. I believe you. My girlfriend is known to be clumsy," he snorted, his tone dragging with a bit too much sarcasm for my taste. 

I gave him a warning look behind Nathan's back, silently telling him off for not saying girlfriend more convincingly.

Brandon sauntered over to the bed. "Let me guess, Soph, fell out of a tree or some shit?" Brandon guessed as he gave my knee a curious poke through the covers. 

"Ouch," I snapped as I recoiled my leg away in discomfort. "Be more careful next time, you idi-" I stopped myself as I caught Nathan watching our interaction with furrowed brows. "I mean, be more careful next time, honey," I said in a slightly sweeter tone.

Brandon's eyes lit with humor, but he didn't say anything in response to my endearment. My nickname for him was idiot at the best of times, so honey was quite a development. 

"No, but seriously how did you hurt it?" Brandon asked more seriously.

Before I could come up with a lie that was less embarrassing than falling out of a tree, Nathan decided to open his big obnoxious mouth.

"You were right earlier; her dumb-ass fell out of a tree," Nathan interrupted with a snort as he flopped back down on the edge of the bed.

Pissed, I gave his back a harsh jab with my uninjured foot. My lips twitched downwards as he merely jerked forward instead of falling off the bed completely.

Stupid, overly balanced asshole...

"Not sure why I'm getting attacked for telling the truth," Nathan called out slyly.

Brandon being the dickish friend he was, nodded his head in agreement. "He's got a fair point, Soph."

Brandon was about to say something else, but then his eyes drew down to Nathan's chest. "Erm...dude, why are you wearing my shirt?" Brandon asked slowly.

Nathan stared at Brandon blankly for a second or so. Then realization seemed to strike him, and he shuffled nervously in his seat. 

"Oh right, shit, sorry. I had nothing to change into after your girlfriend decided that it was a great idea to spit out all her soup on my face," Nathan said as he threw a heated glare my way.

Brandon let out a loud cackle and turned to me with a smile. "You spat soup in his face?"

I shrugged. "Well, what was I supposed to do, he shoved the spoon down my throat," I explained while innocently blinking my eyes.

"Fucking swallow it, perhaps," Nathan scoffed.

 I rubbed my chin in pretense thought. "Mmm, Nah," I finally hummed.

As I was about to swing my legs out of bed, a thought crossed my mind, and I glanced back at Nathan. "Not every girl swallows, what you shove down her mouth, you know," I winked. 

Nathan looked momentarily confused before he finally caught onto my innuendo and started to viciously cough.

This made me giggle, and I happily climbed out of bed. I passed by Brandon on my way to the door, and he raised his hand in the air for a high-five.

 "Yes, Soph, that's how you clap back," he laughed, smirking his head off like a proud parent.

 I snickered and slapped his hand right back in victory. It probably didn't look much like a a girlfriend-and-boyfriend act, but I couldn't bring myself to give too much of a shit.

Hobbling my way to the freezer, I swung it open and examined the contents inside. It was about time I made myself a proper dinner that I wasn't tempted to spit out in Nathan's face. Deciding to have another lazy night, I took out a bag of oven chips and started to lazily layout an overly generous portion onto an oven tray. 

"That better be for me too," Brandon called out as he slid into the island chair before me.

 "Yeah, yeah, sure," I mumbled as I started to tip a little bit extra out of the bag for him.

My bedroom door swung open softly, and from the corner of my eyes, I saw Nathan trudge his way over to me.

He made his way slowly over to the counter before coming to a stop. "Hey, what are you guys up to?" he asked awkwardly. 

"Making some chips for dinner. Want some?" I asked as I briefly looked up at him.

"Chips?" Nathan said as he raised a judgemental eyebrow. 

I rolled my eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "Yes, it's quick, easy, and neither of us can cook, so whatever," I muttered. 

Brandon nodded his head along in agreement. "Hmm, that is indeed true; we do take shit cooking to a whole new level," he added with a light chuckle.

Nathan took a step forward. "Well, why don't I cook for you guys?" he offered. 

I waved a dismissive hand. "Hmm, Nah, it's alright, the chips will do," I said, immediately shutting him down. The idea of someone cooking for me while I sat on my lazy fat butt more than appealed to me, but I had a feeling Nathan was going to cook up some weird posh unpalatable monstrosity.

"Woah, Woah, Woah, hold on a second," Brandon stammered out as he held up a hand. "Let's not shut down the boy who offered to make our food for free. What exactly can you cook up for us, posh boy?" Brandon asked as he leaned forward on the table in intrigue. I shook my head, knowing that Brandon would do absolutely anything for food.

"Well, I saw you had a few spices and chopped tomato cans in your cupboards, so I guess I can make you a pasta bolognese or something," Nathan suggested.

"Sold," Brandon said without missing a beat. "Put that shit away, Soph, and let this godly man into our kitchen, right now," Brandon said as he pushed me away.

 I gave Brandon a spiteful look, but I reluctantly packed the food away.

As Nathan entered the kitchen, I stopped him with a hand on his chest. "I'm trusting you with my taste buds, so don't disappoint me," I said warningly.

"And I won't," he said with the roll of his eyes as he pushed his way past me.

I narrowed my eyes and reluctantly took a seat beside Brandon on the counter. I watched as Nathan headed over to the sink and rolled up his sleeves. My hormonal eyes naturally couldn't help themselves and drew to his strong forearms. Before I could stare for too long, he put his hands under the running water of the tap and started to scrub.

"Hmm, you're washing your hands, that's promising," I called out slyly.

"I think I'd cook better without creepy girls watching my each and every move," Nathan replied over his shoulder without even glancing my way.

"Fine," I huffed as I swivelled my chair around, so I was no longer facing him. 

Brandon turned around as well and started talking about some drama that went on at a party. I heard bits of pieces of what he was saying, but my eyes kept wandering to gawk at Nathan whenever he had his back turned.

He moved around the kitchen with such confidence that it was clear that he was no newbie to cooking. And there was something about how he brought the wooden spoon to his mouth for tasting or the way that his wrists flexed as he sprinkled on the spices; that was oddly attractive. My thoughts were becoming so concerning that I subconsciously lifted a hand to my forehead to check there were no signs of a head injury.

Soon, I gave up all tact all together, and boldly watched him. I was convinced that it was the smell of the food that was making me stare at him so intently. Well, either that or I had completely lost my mind.

"Soph?" I heard a voice loudly interrupt my thoughts.

 I jumped a little in surprise and turned to Brandon. "Yeah, sorry, what?" I asked softly.

Brandon's smile broadened a little. "Did you hear a word I was saying?" he chuckled. "Pft...yeah, of course," I lied. "You were talking about.... about my gym manager?" I guessed.

"Not even close," he snorted.

 I gave him a sheepish smile. "Okay, fine, maybe I wasn't listening, but can I at least get credit for a good guess at what the conversation was," I mumbled sweetly.

Brandon smiled back at me in mischief. "I mean, I can't blame you. If I were preoccupied with staring at Nathan's arse as intently as you were, I wouldn't know what the fuck I was on about either," he teased in a low voice so Nathan couldn't overhear.

My jaw dropped open, and I didn't hesitate before hitting Brandon upside the head. "I wasn't even fucking looking," I hissed in between gritted teeth.

At that moment, Nathan decided to turn around. He looked between the two of us in confusion. "What are you guys whispering about?" he asked with a curious smile.

"Nothing," I squeaked out far too quickly. 

"Right...," Nathan drawled. He shot me a weird look before turning back around again to continue on with cooking,

I heard Brandon lightly chuckling under his breath like the jackass he was, and feeling beyond pissed I gave his elbow a harsh pinch. This made him laugh harder. 

"I bet that's not the only thing you want to pinch," Brandon teased as he gave a pointed look towards Nathan's arse.

"Fuck off," I whispered before sulkily pulling out my phone.

After around twenty minutes of aimlessly playing games on my phone, male cologne shrouded my senses and soon enough an arm lowered over my shoulder to place a steaming hot plate in front of me.

I slowly lowered my phone and took in the sight of the most beautifully presented pasta bolognese I'd ever seen. It was lightly sprinkled with finely grated cheese, the smell of which was wafting off the plate in the most taunting manner. The fancy bastard had even managed to find a coriander leaf in our mess of a kitchen supply and had placed it neatly on the top.

Completely speechless, I stared at it, wondering if what I was seeing was real or perhaps some kind of mirage. The last time I'd seen a proper home-cooked meal like this was when my mum was still well. 

And that almost seemed like a lifetime ago...

I was pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of Nathan clearing his throat. I lifted my head and was surprised to find him looking rather nervous. His eyes were slightly widened and were looking back and forth frantically between mine as though searching for approval. 

 "So, erm, what do you think?" he asked cautiously. I opened my mouth to reply, but I was immediately interrupted.

"What I fucking think?" Brandon laughed. "What I think is that I could marry you for this shit," he murmured out in between mouthfuls of pasta.

Shocked, I watched as Brandon engulfed spoonful after spoonful like some kind of crazed beast.

 "Woah, slow down there, buddy," I said as I gently placed a hand on his wrist. The moment I touched him, he pushed his plate protectively closer to him and growled.

I stifled a snort. "Yikes, didn't know I was living with a werewolf," I snickered.

I twisted around to face Nathan. "Erm...Natalie did you by any chance slip some illegal substances into the sauce? Because I'm not a doctor or anything, but I'm pretty sure that's not normal...," I trailed off as I nodded my head over to Brandon's demonic pasta-eating self.

Nathan cracked a smile. "No, Sophie, I'm pretty sure I didn't slip something into the sauce. It's just good," he shrugged.

His confidence unnerved me, and I narrowed my eyes. "Is that so?" I asked suspiciously.

"Shut the fuck up already, and eat the blessing," Brandon snapped over-excitedly, barely able to get the words out over his frantic chewing.

I rolled my eyes and let out a long sigh before picking up my fork. I twirled a decent amount of the pasta onto it before slowly bringing it up to my lips. I couldn't deny that it smelled good. I paused and looked Nathan dead in the eye. 

"I swear to god, if there is even a slight trace of rat poison in this, I will rip your balls off and shove them down your throat," I threatened sharply, my face straight and devoid of all humor.

"Okay, first off, you have anger issues that you need to work on," he murmured slowly. "And secondly, eat the fucking food already," he snapped impatiently.

 "Alright, alright," I mumbled before ending my dramatic show by finally putting the forkful into my mouth. Slowly, I started to chew, and as I did, my taste buds were absolutely swarmed with pleasure. The cheese melted off my tongue and worked in a delicious blend with the spices of the bolognese. I almost resented the action of swallowing as I didn't want to part with the beautiful sensation that was being created on my tongue.

Once my mouth was finally empty, I slowly looked back up at Nathan. "I...just..I...er, this is fucking good," I finally stuttered out, overwhelmed to the point of incoherency.

 Nathan's eyes lit up to match his slowly growing smile. "You're welcome," he chuckled.

As the three of us sat around the counter eating away in comfortable silence, I couldn't help but feel happy. I wasn't sure if it was because I had a nice warm meal to eat, or because I was happy my fall out of the tree hadn't been too nasty. But for some reason, I couldn't shake the feeling that it was because there was a certain arrogant boy sat right beside me.

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Author's note:

Hope you enjoyed the chapter ;)

Next Update: Monday (6-8 PM - UK time)

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