Broken Beautiful Hearts(111)

“Us,” Cam says. “I want to learn, too.”

“What happened to cooking is for chicks?” I’m not trying to give Christian a hard time. I’m actually curious.

“I changed my mind.” Christian takes out the bowl he’s seen me use. “I mean, you’re not staying here forever. Not that I want you to leave, but I figured I’d better learn ’cause Pop’s scrambled eggs suck.”

Hawk points at him. “Now you’d better learn how to cook those eggs, because I’m not making you breakfast anymore after that.”

I walk over to the counter and take the carton. “You’re going to need a fork, too.”

Christian tries to crack an egg into the bowl, and he ends up crushing it into his hand instead.

“Nice.” Cam laughs. “Try to get some in the bowl, bro.”

“You have to tap the egg against the edge of the bowl.” I demonstrate with another egg. “Like this.”

“Now you tell me.” Christian rinses his hands under the faucet. “That seems like the kinda thing you should’ve said at the beginning.”

Cam picks up an egg. “I’ll do the cracking.” He does a slightly better job and he manages to get most of the egg—along with all of the shell—into the bowl.

“See? It’s not as easy as it looks. You suck, too,” Christian says.

Cam wipes his hands on his sweats. “Cooking is trickier than it looks.”

I take another egg out of the carton and hand it to Cam. “Try again. If you can stop a two-hundred-pound guy from tackling you, then you can make scrambled eggs.”

I stand between the Twins, watching them compete to see who can get the least amount of eggshell in the bowl.

I’m going to miss them when I go back home.

They’re not who I thought they were when I arrived in Black Water. But I’m probably not the person they were expecting, either.

The doorbell rings, and Dutch howls. Hawk checks his watch. “Your mom couldn’t have made it here this fast.”

Cam wipes his hands on a dish towel. “Actually, it’s Grace. I invited her to come over. You know, after she waited for me—” He glances at Christian. “I mean us, last night.”

“We both know she wasn’t waiting for me.” Christian takes a fork and stirs the eggs in a circular motion instead of beating them.

Cameron jams his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants. “Are you cool with that?”

“It’s a little late to ask now. You already kissed her,” Christian says. “But it’s cool.”

“I heard about the kissing,” I call after Cam as he rushes to answer the door.

“One kiss,” he yells back.

Christian is still stirring the eggs like cake batter.

“You have to beat them.” I take the fork and show him, but Christian snatches it back and angles the bowl away from me.

“I’ve got this. You can start teaching again when we put the eggs in the pan.” He points the fork at me and accidentally flings raw egg across the kitchen. “Whoa. Like I said, this cooking thing is harder than it looks.”

Dutch howls again when Cam opens the front door.

I nudge Christian with my shoulder. “That was pretty cool of you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I knew Cameron and Grace were meant for each other the whole time.”

He’s lying, but I don’t call him on it. “You’d better be careful, Christian Carter. People might find out you’re a sweetheart.”

“Shh. Keep it down. Grace is here. That kind of talk would ruin my reputation.” He takes out a frying pan and a stick of butter. I try not to laugh when he drops the whole stick in the pan.

“How many eggs are you planning to make, exactly?” I ask.

“What? Too much?” Christian reaches for the hunk of butter in the center of the pan.

“Don’t touch—”

He touches the butter—and the pan—and yanks his arm away. “Damn. That’s hot!”

“Come here.” I turn on the faucet and blast the cold water. “Put your hand under. Maybe we should start with something easier than scrambled eggs.”

I catch a glimpse of Grace and Cam in the hallway. He whispers something in her ear, and she smiles at him. I’ve never seen him look so relaxed. And happy. I wish Owen was here, too. But he’s talking things out with his mom.

“Hi, y’all,” Grace says as she walks into the kitchen. Cameron is next to her, with one of his fingers looped around one of hers. She looks nervous.

“Want some coffee?” I ask.

She yawns. “I could drink a whole pot.”

Christian looks over, and Grace lets go of Cameron’s finger. She wraps her arms around herself and walks toward the counter tentatively.

My uncle gets up from the table. “I’ll be right back. I’m gonna call and check on Sissy.”

Grace waits for Hawk to leave and turns to Christian. “I just…” She hesitates. “I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay with me and Cam.” She looks over at Cameron, who’s smiling at her.

I wait for Christian to laugh it off or make a joke. Instead, he gives her his sad puppy face. “I’m not saying it’s easy to see you with someone. But if you and Cameron are happy together, that’s what counts. So I’m good with it.”