Getting the Axe - Nikki Mays Page 0,56
the hardest time trying to get him to eat healthier. He acts like I’m trying to end his life instead of prolonging it.
I continue chopping them up. “They’re going in the tricolor pasta salad,” I say while studiously ignoring his sneer.
“Why do you have to ruin it like that?” He whines, actually freaking whines like a child. His niece acts about a million times better than him when it comes to trying new foods.
I huff and place the knife down on the cutting board. After our initial “incident” I make sure that I don’t have any pointy objects in my hands when we start to verbally spar. Ya know, just in case.
I turn to face him and put my hands on my hips. “It’s not going to ruin it. It adds a lot of flavor to it. If you don’t like them, just pick them out and place them on the side of your plate, just like Ella does when she doesn’t like something. How a small child is capable of behaving better than you is ridiculous.”
His eye starts doing that twitching thing and I know that he’s mad about me bringing up the family dinner last week. “I don’t eat mushrooms.” He grits out while giving me an evil look.
I roll my eyes heavenward and try to find patience. “Okay,” I say slowly when I bring my eyes back to his. “But it wasn’t necessary for you to bitch and moan the entire time. Your mom worked hard on that chicken marsala. All you had to do was keep your mouth shut and pick the mushrooms off and place them to the side. And I’ll repeat as your six-year-old niece did. But what did you, a grown man—well physically anyway—decide to do? You acted like a spoiled child and complained the entire time.”
He crosses his arms over his massive chest and flexes a bit. I know exactly what he’s trying to do, but I refuse to look. I’m keeping my eye on the ball. “It wasn’t just me.” He mutters when he realizes that I’m not going to allow myself to be distracted by his perfectly sculpted chest.
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “No, you're correct, you and your two brothers acted horribly, together.” It was absolutely insane how much they complained about what she made for dinner. A dinner that we were all at because she wanted to tell us all that she and Mac were moving in together. I swear, I wanted to kick all three of their butts for behaving so badly.
“She knows that none of us like mushrooms.” He defends sadly.
“It doesn’t matter!” I hiss at the dope that I love with every fiber of my being, even if I want to strangle him sometimes. “It’s Mac's favorite meal. Your mother made that to comfort him since she obviously knew that you three wouldn’t be able to behave like actual adults.”
“Then maybe she should’ve made our favorite meal since she was giving us bad news.” He grumbles petulantly.
I poke my index finger into his chest. “Oh, no, you don’t! Don’t even start with that garbage. We both know that you like Mac and how much he cares for your mother. If anything, them moving in together is great news. You three need to get your heads out of your butts and stop acting so childish. You guys like him and she loves him. That’s all there is to it.”
He narrows his eyes at me and I can see his jaw working, but he smartly decides to remain silent.
“I mean it, Noah, you are going to be a very sad man who is only going to have the companionship of his hand if you don’t act right today. Do you hear me? I am super excited about having everyone over and your grumpy butt will not be ruining that!”
“Well said.” We both startle at the sound of Dee’s voice. “I couldn’t have put it better myself, sugar.” She walks in carrying a few bags and kisses my cheek before giving me a wink. She turns and purses her lips at Noah and sticks out her cheek for him to kiss, making me snicker.
“Hello Darlin’,” Mac walks in behind her loaded down with a few trays of what I’m assuming is food, if the wonderful aroma is anything to go by. He kisses my cheek as well before asking, “where should I put all this?”
“Follow me.” I give him a wave and the two of us