and brings them over.
“If you don’t need anything, Remy. I’m going to go and check in with Nevin and Serafina,” Levi says, grabbing my attention.
“Okay,” I say smiling at him. I know he’s struggling having Michael in our space, but as I told him last night, he won’t be here for much longer. I think he’s just having fun ruffling Levi’s feathers more than anything, but he does seem genuinely invested in finding out who is causing all of these issues. Though how he can be away from Avalon for this long is beyond me. He wouldn’t even leave for the war. I walk over to Levi and let him lead me from the room with his arm around my waist.
“Call me if you need anything while I’m out,” Levi says softly as he moves me so my chest is against his.
“I will.” I smile up at him.
Chapter Twenty
I spent the rest of the day feeling more than a little useless. Everyone else has something they’re working on, and for the first time in a long time, I’m not really needed. I get the feeling they’ve been taking on more themselves because of everything recently, but it’s kind of left me at a loose end. It feels weird. I’ve wanted time to relax for so long, and now that I have a minute to catch my breath, I have no idea what to do with myself.
So, I’ve been, very carefully, trying to make dinner. Mac and cheese, so not something I haven’t done before, except this isn’t mac and cheese out of a box. Who would have thought making it from scratch was this hard?
I stir the sauce into the macaroni and then move it to the ceramic dish, putting extra cheese on top, because there’s no such thing as too much cheese, and pop it in the oven. I manage to set the timer, and then load the dishwasher before turning my attention to the garlic bread. I pull Nonnie’s homemade garlic butter from the refrigerator and slather it generously over the bloomer that I sliced in half, just like the recipe I found online said, then I wrap it in foil before popping it in the oven too.
I take a swig of the whiskey I poured out earlier and feel pretty proud of myself. I didn’t burn anything to the ground, or set off the fire alarm. My biggest worry, is that there’s too much salt, but I mean, the cheese will totally mask that right?
At the very least, I tried.
I drop a text to all of my guys to let them know that dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes. Whether they decide to show is another matter. Their health could be at risk either way. I smirk to myself, because it’s going to be so funny watching how trepidatious they all are eating something I cooked. Personally, I think it will be amazing. I can’t be that terrible.
I take another sip of whiskey when Michael and Roman appear in the kitchen with smiles on their faces. “You look pleased with yourselves.”
“We are,” Michael says, moving to the sink to wash up. Roman moves towards me, I scan him, but he’s already clean. He wraps his arms around me and kisses me with so much heat it leaves me breathless and wanting more.
“Wow, you really are pleased. What happened?” I ask.
“We got him to talk.” Roman grins as his words hit me.
“You did? What the fuck did he say?”
“The others are on their way back, I’ll tell once everyone is here.” Roman squeezes me tighter.
“I, however, have to get back to Avalon. I’m going to be more use to you there, and I’ve already been gone too long,” Michael says as he watches us. I catch a glimpse of sadness in his eyes, but it’s gone so quickly, I almost question if I saw it. I pull slightly further away from Roman, not because I don’t want to be there, but I realize I’ve not even thought about Michael maybe still having any kind of feelings for me the last few days that he’s been here, which is terrible.
“Are you sure you can’t stay for dinner, at least?” I ask, trying not to sound as apologetic as I feel, because I know he’d hate that more than seeing me with the guys.
“You cooked?” Roman asks, shocked.
“I did, without burning anything down. It shouldn’t be long.” I smile, because I really feel like I accomplished something.
“I can’t