134 - The chapter where they can cook together

Christian

It took us a while to get everything into the house, and in the end, Theo borrowed Brigitte to get the rest of Cam's stuff, leaving Christian and me in charge of dinner while Sky and Liam went up to the boxes that were piled up in the foyer.

" What are we really doing? " she asked, dicing the chicken breast while I dealt with the other vegetables after having already put the peas to cook.

" Pea soup with chicken and vegetables " I explained " you need to be quicker.”

" We already had this conversation last year, Davis. If you're in a hurry, don't ask me to cut anything out," she complained, "And are you going to take Maeve's request to make us eat healthier seriously?”

"I'm just making do with what we have in the pantry, Rose. In case you forgot, we don't have that much money for pizza every day anymore and supporting Liam is not an easy task," I muttered.

Yes, that punishment was fair, since he'd been indulging us in various whims for the past few months, but I couldn't help but be surprised at how much he spent. He'd save a fortune if he just stopped smoking, not to mention the expense of paints, which he seemed to swallow every time he locked himself in the room he and Rose had turned into an art atelier.

" Let's go with healthy food then," she sighed, returning her focus to the chicken.

" Davis, do you want me to leave any of your boxes in Rose's room or does everything go in yours? " Liam asked.

" Mine, I'm not sharing a room with her " I didn't pay much attention to him.

I thought Rose was going to say something, but before she could say anything, a startled laugh came from the hallway, causing her to jump up next to me.

" Damn it, who opened the door to that closet? " she shouted, receiving Theo's laughter in response.

" Sorry, Rose. I went to put my coat away " Cam appeared in the kitchen doorway.

I finished chopping the vegetables, starting to sauté them with the onion and butter, not holding back a smile as Rose complained about the cupboard.

" Are you finding this funny? " she stared at me, finally finishing cutting the chicken.

" 'Rose, you're scared of a closet,” I pointed out.

" 'Do you think it's normal for a closet to laugh whenever it's opened? Because I don't," she returned grumpily.

We spent the next few minutes arguing about everything Rose considered abnormal in that house until the soup was finally ready. We settled down at the central kitchen island, and soon our friends joined us, seemingly locked in a small argument.

" I'm just saying that I'm going to do whatever you girls think is best, I meant it when I said you would decide." Liam walked into the kitchen, talking to his girlfriend.

" And I'm saying that you shouldn't put that responsibility on us, when it's something that could affect your life, especially," our friend said back.

" What are you talking about? " Rose asked, starting to eat her soup.

"Liam wants us to decide whether or not he's going to invite Audrey and Savannah to his birthday," Cam explained, walking over to the pot on the stove to help himself.

I raised both eyebrows at that sentence and could understand the way Sky felt. If it were up to either of them, obviously no Sigma Sigma Kappa girl would be invited, but it all involved campus politics. Audrey was still one of the most popular girls on campus, so if she wasn't invited to a party like Liam's, it could jeopardize Liam's own popularity, since the leaders of other fraternities and sororities might sympathize with her and decide not to attend, and that would definitely affect our group's freedom to attend any party we wanted.

But still, after all the girls had done to Sky and Rose....

" A whole weekend in the company of those two... I can't wait," Rose sighed dejectedly.

" I don't need to invite them, I meant it when I said my girls would decide," Lima reaffirmed.

"Yes, and they've been extremely kind the last few days, you have no idea," Rose muttered.

"And it seems that your cousin has really lost the good reputation she had among them, now she's always alone " Camille commented sitting on a vacant stool before tasting the soup " Wow, you guys made this? it's amazing!".

" I'll leave the credit to Christian," Rose winked at me.

"Well, regardless of whether or not they've moved away from her, my cousin will unfortunately be one of the guests. All my cousins will be," Liam sighed, "The point is, I'm fine with you now, and I can stand to lose my popularity if you don't want me to invite the two of them.”

"Liam, the party will be full, I doubt they'll do anything there, so let's just enjoy this truce," Rose suggested.

"They might set something up,' Cam warned.

"We know that, so we can just ignore any attempt,' I proposed, 'and as Rose said, we might as well enjoy the next few weeks of truce, since I doubt they'll risk being left out of it.”

" 'When are you going to start handing out the invitations? " Theo asked.

" Soon, my parents have made sure that the invitations they ordered will arrive this week, and this is the most tiring part, I deliver each invitation personally and in public " he explained.

For a moment I wondered how contradictory his parents were, one moment accusing him of spending money for nothing and warning that they would put strict limits on their son, another moment throwing a huge birthday party on a mansion in Florida, paying for the ticket and guaranteeing accommodation for all guests for the weekend.

I guess in the end, he will never stop being spoiled by them.