What If You & Me (Say Everything #2) - Roni Loren Page 0,71
as well. She wanted to learn how to trust a man again? Well, he was going to be the most trustworthy guy who ever lived. No more holding back with her. Honesty about who he was and what he was going through. Even if it was ugly or embarrassing. That was what he could give her.
“Are we all good?” Andi asked from behind him.
He shut the double-door fridge and turned around. “You did great. Everything’s here, plus some extras.”
Andi grinned and did a little fast clap. “Yay. I’m ready to learn. And I hope it’s a quick-cooking thing because oh my God am I hungry.” She cocked a thumb toward the tripod. “I’m already recording.”
He eyed the phone like it was a bomb ready to go off. “I can’t promise I’m going to get this right on one video take. Or twelve.”
She waved a hand. “Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m going to record us in one long take, and I’ll edit and piece it together. So if we mess something up, we’ll just pause and do it again. This is just for fun. My followers aren’t going to expect it to look like a show on the Food Network.”
He nodded. “Got it.”
She grabbed a blue-striped apron off a hook on the wall and looped it around his neck. “Let’s do this, Chef.”
He smirked as he tied the apron around his waist. “I don’t know why you’re putting the apron on me. You’re the one who’s going to be cooking.”
“True.” She peeked over her shoulder at the camera. “Pray for us, y’all.”
And with that, they were off and running.
Andi talked to the camera while Hill set things up. “Hey, everyone, today I have something a little different for you. After a long night of recording a podcast about a really sad case, my friend Hill offered to come by and feed me to cheer me up.” She looked over at Hill and gave him a little wink. “Isn’t he the sweetest?”
Hill chuckled under his breath. Andi wasn’t going to let go of that word. “I’m downright adorable.”
“Yes,” she agreed, looking pleased that he was playing along. “Yes, he is. And lucky you, I’m going to share him and his skills with you tonight because I’m sure I’m not the only one who could use a little help not setting her kitchen on fire.”
“I’m prepared for that, too,” Hill said, arranging items on the kitchen island next to the thick butcher-block cutting board.
Andi reached out and put her hand on Hill’s shoulder, making him pause in front of the camera. “Yes, this handsome guy is also a retired firefighter, so no one need worry for the surrounding villagers. We’re all safe here.”
A wave of awkwardness crashed over him at the thought of anyone watching this, but he took a breath and tried to center himself. This is just cooking. He finished laying out all the ingredients on the counter and tried to imagine he was teaching an impromptu class at the firehouse, that there were only friends in the audience.
He turned to Andi, giving the camera a side view. If he focused on her, he’d be all right. “Before you start cooking, you want to make sure you have everything you need for the recipe. If you’re missing something, you can google substitutions so that you’re not caught off guard when you get to that step.”
Andi opened a spice bottle of red pepper flakes and gave it a little sniff. “Whoa.” She blinked. “That’s going to be hot. How do you know if it’s okay to substitute something?”
Hill took the bottle from her. “Don’t inhale those or you’re going to be hating life.” He set the bottle down. “With substitutions, you’ll develop a feel for that the more you cook. Unless you’re baking, most of the time, substitutions won’t be catastrophic, but they may change the flavor profiles, so look for things that keep the heart of the dish.” He picked up a bottle of sriracha sauce. “For this dish, your key flavor profiles are sweet and spicy and Asian-inspired. So if you don’t have sriracha, you can experiment with a different hot sauce. If you don’t have brown sugar, you can use white sugar or honey. But something like the soy sauce is more integral, and it will change the profile if you switch it out.”
Andi smiled. “Sweet and spicy. I think that should be our cooking team name.”
“You’re not going to let me live down calling you sweet, huh?”