RJ was outside on the porch, so only Valin was inside, typing furiously on the couch. His fingers were a blur—I'm surprised his laptop hasn't exploded from all the kinetic energy he's creating. He looked up at us, smiling.
"Nice of you two to finally get up," he said with a hint of passive aggression.
Zai left my side and flicked his forehead. Valin stopped typing and shrieked, instantly raising his hands in surrender.
"What?! Whatever it is, I'm sorry!"That's when Zai started whispering threats. I knew they were threats because of how frightened Valin looked—even though Zai's expression stayed the same: amused.
Then Zai sat down next to his brother and pulled me into his lap.
RJ came inside at that moment. "Snowe, your eyes are puffy. Have you been crying?"
I hid my face. Valin was literally crying right beside me, but he points out my eyes?
RJ then approached Valin. "Move over."
"You're heartless! I'm hurting right now!" Valin whined, but still scooted over to make space.
"You're not going out today?" RJ asked, ignoring him completely.
"Snowe's off work," Zai replied, hugging me closer.
"I see… Does that mean you're cooking tonight?" RJ asked me directly.
"I... sure." I hadn't really thought about it.
"Yeah, and the house is a mess," Valin chimed in, already recovered.
Zai shot him a glare. Valin instantly tensed up.
"You're right," Zai said, running his fingers along my thigh. "Ever since Snowe married me, she's been slacking off. I can cook and clean better and faster, but it's nice to let someone else do it."
I gasped and touched his hand to signal him to stop rubbing me.
"Why are you talking about me like I'm not here?" I asked.
Zai chuckled lightly and said to his brothers, "It's time you both learned how to take care of yourselves."
Valin visibly flinched, but RJ just went back to his phone, placing an order for food.
"I just want food cooked by a cute girl! What's wrong with that?" Valin groaned and stomped upstairs.
Every time I think I've adjusted to Valin, he opens his mouth and proves otherwise. But none of these brothers are normal. There are three left… I wonder if I'll ever meet them.
"I'll make lunch for the two of us, at least," I said, slipping away from Zai's warm embrace.
His face showed a brief flash of disappointment before it returned to his usual, cheerful mask.
"I'll help," he offered, following me into the kitchen.
We started making sandwiches and fries. As I was slicing potatoes, Zai began kissing me, his hands slipping under my shirt.
"Zai... you're distracting me," I murmured.
He pretended not to hear me, one hand creeping upward toward my breast, the other already between my legs.
"I'm holding a knife," I added sharply.
He chuckled. "Is that a threat? Should I be worried?"
That's when I noticed RJ watching us from the living room. When our eyes met, he quickly looked away and left the house.
Zai once told me I need to learn to say no to him… and if I keep making half-hearted excuses, he won't take me seriously.
"Zai... stop. Not right now."
He actually paused. A second later, he withdrew completely and went silent. I finished chopping the fries, but the air had gone thick with tension.
Why is he so quiet? Is he mad?
RJ returned. "I ordered food."
"Oh great!" Zai replied brightly. "Tell Valin we made enough for him after all."
No, we didn't. We made two sandwiches.
"I'm going out for a while," he added. I opened my mouth to respond, but he was already out the door.
He's definitely mad at me. My chest tightened with anxiety.
"Snowe… the grease is smoking," RJ said, snapping me out of it.
I turned off the stove.
"Do you think… Um... Does Zai seem angry to you?"
"I don't care," RJ replied dismissively.
Tears welled up in my eyes. I turned away to wipe them, but he noticed.
"Hey… don't cry," he said softly. He approached and gently wiped my tears with a paper towel. "He didn't look upset," RJ reassured me, finally. I knew he couldn't lie, but I don't know why he didn't just tell me that before I started crying.
I took the towel from him and stepped away. "Thank you… You can have my portion too."
RJ looked skeptically at the uncooked potatoes I'd left in a bowl.
"How long do you fry these for?"
I sighed and pushed through my feelings to finish cooking. Valin came downstairs just as the food was done and shouted excitedly.
"I got your text!" he told RJ. Then, to me: "I'm so glad you decided to cook for us anyway!"
"Yeah."I hadn't. I just didn't have an appetite. And Zai had abandoned his food because I turned him down.
Why did I stop him? The second his hands touched me, I was in the same mood as him. But when I saw RJ, I felt ashamed.
I must've really pissed Zai off. What if he doesn't come back? What if he never touches me again? What can I do to make him forgive me?
I was hugging my knees on the front porch, weeping. The moon was bright, and the air was cold. I don't know how long I sat there before Zai finally came back.
"What are you doing out here?" he asked.
At the sound of his voice, I leapt up and threw my arms around him.
"I'm so sorry! I'll never say no to you again! Please don't hate me…"
Zai gently pried my arms off and sighed, then kissed me softly, then deeper, stealing the breath from my lungs.
"Dummy," he said against my lips, "you could tell me no a hundred—or a hundred thousand—times and I'd still be in love with you."
"Then… why did you leave?" My voice squeaked, raw from crying. His words filled me with such relief that I almost cried all over again.
"I needed to cool off, Snowe. You said no, and… well, that doesn't exactly turn off how I was feeling. I took a walk."
"You didn't… take a walk to another woman, did you?"
Zai chuckled, then kissed me again, this time over and over, holding me tightly.
"Who knows?" he teased.
I bit his ear.
"Ow!" he yelped. I pouted.
"You better give me a real answer!"
Zai just smiled, then leaned in and kissed me again, full of tenderness.
"There's no woman in my life but you," he said, and this time, I could feel the honesty in his voice.
I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head against his chest.
"I'm glad you came back."
Zai picked me up, my thighs wrapping around his waist as he carried me inside.
"I'm doing my best for you, Snowe… Don't forget that."
"Were you really about to go all the way in the kitchen… with your brother watching?"
"Of course not. But I was about ten seconds away from carrying you into the bathroom."
"We had just done it less than an hour ago! And I was cooking!"
"I wasn't hungry," he said.
I sighed. "Well, I am hungry. I was so upset when you left that I didn't even eat."
He stopped on the stairs and turned around.
A moment later, he sat me on a barstool in the kitchen. Then, he moved like a whirlwind, pulling out chicken, vegetables, spices, and flour. It was as if the food chopped itself. I watched, transfixed, as he cleaned and seasoned the chicken with skill and care. Then he slumped beside me.
"I have to wait for the stove to heat up," he said. I noticed two skillets already prepared.
"What are you making?"
"I'd rather surprise you," he replied. "But you should be able to guess."
He washed his hands and pulled on a sleek black apron I hadn't seen in a while. About thirty minutes later, he placed a plate in front of me—crispy chicken, rice, and stir-fried vegetables.
"Sorry, I didn't have time to marinate the meat," he said.
I picked up the drumstick and took a bite.
"The skin is so crispy!"
He rolled his eyes. "Duh."
"It's so yummy! What kind of cooking style is this?"
He smirked. "You've never had fried chicken before?"
I shook my head.
"Life on Infaniya sounds even bleaker than I thought."
We ate in peace. I couldn't stop raving, and Zai looked secretly pleased—his proud smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
(In the future, I tried fried chicken from several restaurants. None of them tasted as good as Zai's.)
After we cleaned up the kitchen, Zai gently took my hand and said,
"I'm going to do better. If an audience makes you uncomfortable, I will control myself. I'm sorry, Snowe." My heart felt warmed from his words,
"And I'll... do better with being firm and vocal about my boundaries so you're not caught off guard again."