The Assignment

“Wake up, Pat! This is big news. She invited me over during the week. I might officially be moving away from fuckboy status.”

He let out a big yawn.

“That’s all you have to say?”

• • •

I arrived at Aspyn’s house at 7 PM sharp. The smell of whatever she was making immediately hit me. It smelled like savory tomato sauce and…something that resembled cheese. I took a long whiff in. “Damn, something smells good.”

“Yeah, we’ll see how it tastes. Not sure it’s gonna match up to the smell.”

It was hard not to reach out and kiss her on the lips, but with Kiki in the room, I knew I couldn’t. I kissed her on the cheek and made my way inside her house.

Aspyn looked down at the white box I was carrying. “You didn’t have to bring anything.”

“Yeah, well, I promised Kiki a real dessert.” I turned to her niece. “Remember?”

“I forgot about that.” Kiki grinned.

“I brought some brownies. They have real sugar and chocolate and everything. And the best part is, I didn’t make them.”

“I love brownies.” Kiki rubbed her stomach.

“Phew. Okay. Good.”

Aspyn took the box from me. “That was very sweet.”

“It’s my pleasure.”

The three of us sat down to dinner in the dining room. The lasagna Aspyn had made looked edible, though I was certainly curious how nut cheese was going to taste.

Aspyn served us each a slice.

“It’s made with rice noodles, and the cheese is made from cashews.” She looked over at Kiki. “Give it a chance.”

Kiki took a bite and immediately spit it out.

Aspyn glared at her. “Come on, really?”

“I hate it. That’s not cheese.”

“It’s nut cheese,” Aspyn insisted.

“Nut cheese?” Kiki scrunched her nose. “Not cheese.”

I wanted to laugh, but I knew that would piss Aspyn off, so I refrained.

Aspyn threw her hands up. “Well, if you won’t eat it, what are you gonna have for supper? I don’t have anything else.” She blew out a frustrated breath. “I normally make her something different, but I wanted one night where I could just make one meal for everyone.”

God, it wasn’t easy parenting an eight-year-old. I could barely open a can of food for Patrick, let alone meal plan for myself and another person every single night of the week.

There was no way in hell I was going to make her feel bad about the lasagna. I didn’t give a shit how it tasted; I would pretend to enjoy it. I took a bite, and without even registering the taste, I pretended to love it. “Mmm… Kiki, I don’t know what you’re talking about. This is delicious.” I moved it around in my mouth.

“You started talking before you even chewed,” Kiki challenged. “I watched you.”

She has a point. I chewed a bit more and then swallowed. Okay, it wasn’t great. Still, I said, “See? Chewing and loving it.”

“You’re such a liar,” Aspyn whispered. Then she took a bite herself before throwing the fork down. “Oh my God. It totally sucks! The cheese is inedible, and the noodles are hard.” She looked over at her niece. “I’m sorry for yelling at you, Kiki. You were right.”

I reached out and placed my hand over Aspyn’s. “I’m here for the company?”

Aspyn moved her hand from under mine and rubbed her eyes in frustration. She was tired. I could tell. She’d worked a long day and come home to make a meal no one appreciated. I needed to do something.

Standing from my seat, I said, “I’m gonna go pick up a pizza for Kiki and me and some sushi for you. Just give me a half hour.”

Aspyn looked up at me. “You don’t have to.”

Kiki chimed in. “Yes, he does.”

“I want to.” I rubbed Aspyn’s shoulders. “Relax and chill. Pour yourself a glass of wine or something. I’ll be back.” I winked at Kiki. “Black olives, right?”

She jumped in her seat. “Thanks, Troy.”

An hour later, I returned with the food, and we sat down and devoured the takeout—the failed not-cheese lasagna a mere memory.

Halfway through dinner, Kiki announced, “Troy, guess what Auntie Aspyn put in my lunch box last week?”

“Not one of my cookies, I hope?”

“No.” She giggled. “You’ll never guess.”

I took a bite of my pizza. “Give me a hint.”

“It’s something you use to turn something on.”

I squinted as I looked over at Aspyn. All my dirty mind could conjure was a vibrator.

“I’ll just tell him, Kiki, and get this torture over with.” Aspyn rolled her eyes. “I put the TV remote in her lunch box, okay? Cue the laughter.”

My eyes went wide. “What would possess you to do that?”

“Clearly, it was unintentional. I must have been packing it so fast that I grabbed everything in sight.”

“You said this was about a week ago, huh, Kiki?”

“Yup.”

Looking back over at Aspyn, I smirked. “Something must have been distracting you.”

She blushed. It gave me great pleasure to know I’d consumed her thoughts enough to make her lose her mind for a moment.