Free Games We Play by Isabelle Arocho

pulled off his dress shirt to get more comfortable. If some food got on his under t-shirt he wouldn’t care, the button down was another matter.
    He was still in the living room when Sasha came down. Her face was clean off all make up, her freshly washed hair was tied back the way she liked it and her pajamas were hilarious with a cartoon across the front of the large sleep shirt. Her green eyes narrowed on his face. “Say nothing.”
    Nick held up his hands in surrender. “I’m going back this way.” He pointed to the kitchen and left her alone before they ended up having a pointless argument over a shirt of all things. For the rest of the night he wanted it to stay as nice as it had been in the car. As he basted the chicken he realized a lot of their fights stemmed from the fact Sasha was insecure. She’d never admit it but she lashed out before you could make the first move and attack her. He had always known she was defensive to a fault but here in Maple Oaks he was seeing a lot more of the insecurity. Growing up with the likes of Stacy and Crystal he didn’t blame her one bit for being either of those things.
    He was closing the oven as she asked, “How’d you learn to cook?”
    He stood upright and turned to face her. “Were you checking out my ass?”
    “Of course.” With a shrug she moved over to an empty stool and sat. “So?”
    “How’d I learn how to cook? Both my parents taught me in their own way when they the other wasn’t looking. With big dinners every day you pick up on a few things. Let me guess, you avoid everything dealing with a stove?”
    “Actually no.” Sasha grabbed an apple from the counter and started peeling it with a paring knife. “There’s a difference between not knowing how and not wanting to. I’m the latter.”
    Watching her bite down onto a sliver of apple he forgot everything he was going to say. Nick knew a lot of different women and it was rare to find one so damn unintentionally sexy. He blinked several times before finding his words. “Dinner’s almost done.”
    “Don’t worry an apple isn’t going to fill me. I’m anxiously waiting to try out this food you’re raving about.” Again she doubted him and it was so easy to fall into a battle of the words.
    “Leave extra room for all the words you’re going to have to eat right after this chicken.”
    “Bring it McBain.”
    It was half hour later when the timer went off and it was time to serve the food. He was grinning like a fool as they sat down and she reached for her fork. “Go ahead.” He urged.
    With a roll of her eyes she placated him and started to dig into her food. It was probably childish but what else was new, he was watching her every move for a true reaction because he knew she was going to down play it with her words. With the chicken as the main star of the plate she pulled a piece free from the bone and ate. It didn’t take long for her expression of pleasure to give her way.
    “I thought so.” Nick gloated with a grin before turning his focus onto his own food.
    “I plead the fifth.”
    It was after dinner when he saw the stress of her encounter with Stacy and her friends wash away from her face that Nick decided to broach a subject they had let fall to the side until they were in private. They were drinking a glass of wine outside on the patio swing when he asked, “What happened to your parents.”
    “I did promise I’d tell you when we were alone.” Sasha voiced quietly while she was trying to find a way to get out of it and found that wouldn’t be fair. “It was an accident when I was ten. They were together on the rode and it was a pretty bad rain storm, the truck never saw them and they never saw the truck.”
    Nick reached across the bench and held her hand. “What happened to you after that?”
    “I have an older sister, she was already eighteen and the state let her become my guardian. I left town the same day of my high school graduation and Carolyn didn’t stay