I’d gone online and purchased a home version of a sous vide cooker. The gadget simply clamped to the side of a large pot that you fill with water. I seasoned rib eye steaks with salt and pepper, put them into Ziploc bags, and then clipped them to the pot. The recipe said it would take two hours to cook the meat.
Once I completed that, I prepared baked potatoes by cleaning them, coating them with oil and then sea salt, and putting them in the oven to bake. I planned to make twice-baked potatoes, so I needed to get them cooked for the first step in the process.
When I had the potatoes in the oven, Brook came into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around me from behind.
“How was your walk?”
“Good. I love this time of year. Did you have a good afternoon?”
“Yeah. I liked that game. It helped me get to know people better. And I think you’re right, I believe Dare has a crush on me.”
“I would be surprised if he didn’t. You took the time to get to know him, and you’re cute, in the right light,” I said, turning around to face Brook and putting my arms around her.
“What kind of light would that be?”
“Any,” I said as I leaned down and kissed her.
“What should I do about Dare?” Brook asked me.
“Nothing. Dare’s a bright boy. He knows you’re my girlfriend, and he can only worship you from afar. Plus, if you confronted him about it, it would devastate him. Just let the boy have his fantasy. It’ll work itself out on its own,” I predicted.
“You sound like you have experience.”
“I do. I’ve always had a crush on Adrienne, and she turned out to like girls.”
“Rumor has it you scored with your crush.”
“I know nothing,” I said, holding up my fingers for Scout’s honor.
“I guess that’s the difference between you and Dare,” Brook said.
“All I remember is there was a lot of wine involved. You should probably be careful about getting drunk around the little horndog.”
“David! That’s not nice. Dare isn’t a little horndog,” Brook complained.
“Keep telling yourself that. All guys are little horndogs. Some are bigger than others,” I said, waggling my eyebrows.
She just kissed me. Guys have fragile egos, and my girlfriend decided not to deflate mine.
◊◊◊
We had an enjoyable afternoon with lively conversation as a group, and then seemed to split up into smaller ones. Brook and I found ourselves talking to Tim, Tami, Wolf, and Sarah.
“We wanted to know if you’d come out to LA after New Year’s for a week. Caryn has rented a house for me while I’m filming the J-drama,” I explained.
“I’m not sure it’s in my budget,” Wolf said.
“We’re considering getting a chartered flight New Year’s Day. It wouldn’t cost you anything to join us,” Brook said.
I hadn’t heard that piece of news, but it would solve part of their cost.
“All you’d have to spend money on was your flight home,” I said.
Brook and I planned to be in LA during Christmas break and fly back home for her family’s New Year’s Eve party. We would return to LA the next day.
“I’ll book our flights back. It’ll be my Christmas present to you,” Sarah told Wolf.
“I guess I can’t say no, then,” Wolf said.
“We’re in,” Tim said as Tami nodded her agreement.
“Who else will be there?” Tami asked.
“Cassidy will be working security,” I said.
“I’ve also invited Pam and Tracy,” Brook said, which was news to me.
It made sense, though, because Caryn said that the house had six bedrooms. She’d decided not to rent Rita’s beach house because the show would be filmed at Pepperdine University. I’d seen pictures, and the home looked like something you would see in Italy. It was in the hills, and you could see the Pacific Ocean from the grounds. I knew it had to be good because both Halle and Brook agreed they’d be willing to live in it.
◊◊◊
I left them to go finish dinner.
“Can I help?”
Jill had come into the kitchen. I was hesitant at first but figured what the heck. Time I got to know my brother’s girlfriend. I put her to work making the twice-baked potatoes while I worked on the other side dishes.
“Why don’t you spend more time with your brother?” she asked.
I looked up from cleaning spinach and tried to figure out what Jill was getting at.
“I see and talk to him every day,” I said. “You might have seen us talk at lunch.”
“That’s not what I meant. Why don’t you spend time with Phil other than at school?”
“Did I not just take him to a baseball game?” I asked. “I also took him with me to Mexico and Canada over the summer.”
That was the start of the Cubs comeback. They’d ended up winning the World Series. My dream of leading them to that victory had been dashed.
“But you don’t hang out with him,” she complained.
Then I got it: I didn’t hang out with Jill.
“Did you want Brook and me to take you and Phil out to dinner some night?” I asked.
“That might be fun,” she agreed.
“Talk to Brook. She knows our schedule better than I do,” I said.
