Chapter 15
Allister
There's nothing moreaggravating than not having the perfectly ripe tomato. I know, I know. I'm a fucking vampire... but even though I didn't actually need to eat didn't mean I had to give up my love for cooking.
While Drake and I were alive, or human, that is, Drake would woo his ladies with his muscles and wit. I, on the other hand, used my cooking as my way into their hearts and their bedchambers.
Hence the tomatoes.
One cannot make a perfect garlic and basil pasta sauce with mushy tomatoes. Some might say they are going to be cut up anyway, but it's not just about texture. It changes the taste which meant the whole batch would have to be tossed and redone.
"Not the spaghetti, Al," Drake moaned as he came into the kitchen and glanced at my half-prepped meal. "You might as well kick us all out of the running for Piper if you are already pulling out your cooking."
“What can I say?” I smirked as he collapsed into one of the island chairs and leaned on his hand with a grumpy pout. "I play to my strengths."
Drake rolled his eyes. "You already have a strength. Use that silver tongue of yours to persuade your way into her panties, not your food." He gestured to the pan of simmering sauce. "It's just cruel."
I rolled my eyes. "And what will Piper do when she finds out I used my powers on her to seduce her?"
Drake shrugged as if he didn't care, but my brother wasn't the kind to put his emotions right out there, at least not to others. Being a twin did have its benefits. He cared far more than he let on, hiding his feelings behind his jokes and laughter. But I knew the real him. The real him loved poetry and was so romantic he threw his whole heart into every relationship, leaving me to pick up the pieces afterward.
"Do I smell Allister's famous spaghetti?" Rayne commented, sniffing the air as he strolled into the kitchen. He glanced inside the large pot of boiling noodles and then eyed me suspiciously. "What's the occasion?"
Before I could answer, my twin snarled, "He's cheating by winning over Piper's stomach first."
Rayne's head turned from Drake and then back to me. Arching a brow, he drawled, "Really? You realize she's a bottomless pit, right? She'll inhale this in two seconds without a thought. If you want to win her over, you're gonna need more." He picked up one of my left-over tomatoes and tossed it from one hand to the other with a grin. "Much more."
I grabbed the tomato midair and turned my back on them. "That's why this is just for her. Not any of you. So, hands..." I smacked Rayne's hand before he lifted the sauce spoon up to his mouth. "... off!"
Rayne stared hard at me as if tempted to reach for the spoon again before thinking better of it. He shrugged a shoulder and moved to the fridge instead. "Keep your noodles. You'll need them. I've already got a head start."
Drake threw his head back and laughed. "He has a point there, Al. Our little brother is already two steps ahead of us." He waggled his brows at Rayne.
"Don't call me that.” Rayne scowled. “You know I hate that. I might have changed at a younger age than you, but we're damn near the same age now."
Drake lifted his hands and gave a lazy shrug. "What can I say? You look perpetually eighteen. I can't help but treat you like a kid."
Rayne gave him an incredulous glare before shaking his head and leaving. Drake and I exchanged a look and chuckled. He opened his mouth to say something else, but we both turned toward the back stairs and exhaled deeply.
Piper was coming.
While her bleeding period seemed to have ended, it didn't take away from the addicting scent of her everyday self that preceded her, a combination of lilacs and some kind of powder I could only assume came from her deodorant all enhanced by the very scent of her. It was a heady mixture, for sure.
"Do I smell spaghetti, Gretchen?" Piper grinned as she skipped down the steps. First, her lovely smooth legs came into view, and that was something I could stare at all day long, especially when she decided to wear a pair of those impractical shorts of hers. It was times like this that I wished the women in my human life hadn't been so prudish in their clothing choices. Not that any of them compared to the woman coming down the stairs.
No, Piper had an angelic like feel to her with just a touch of devilishness. She could give you the sweetest smile before snapping your head off for saying the wrong thing. I'd thankfully not been on the receiving end of one of those tantrums yet.
Her blonde hair framed her face like a halo, putting her rounded face and pert nose on display. Besides the mouth I couldn't stop dreaming about was the way she held herself, like she wasn't quite sure of her footing in the world. In a purely physical fashion, she had proven that by the many things her clumsiness has broken.
Another of Piper's many adorable quirks.
When her eyes landed on my brother and me, her steps faltered. She tripped over one step, and my brother and I were at her side in a flash, but it wasn't needed. She caught herself at the last moment.
"Uh..." She let out a shaky laugh as she wrapped her arms around her midsection, a motion that pulled up her t-shirt to show a sliver of skin. With her eyes bouncing between the two of us, she cautiously stepped into the kitchen. "You're not Gretchen."
Drake grinned. "Not since the last time I checked, but I'd be happy to let you do a full body search, if you like?" He held his arms out to the side and wagged his brows at her suggestively.
Piper blushed and ducked her head. "That won't be necessary."