Chapter 10: Skylar

My cooking contest is about to start. All my classmates are nervous about the contest, but I am nervous because I will be preparing the dish for Cole, and I want it to be perfect. I do not want to goof up.

I usually don't feel this way, but Cole is not an ordinary guy. He is someone I am insanely attracted to, and he consumes my thoughts like no one else.

I am gathering all the ingredients required for my first round of the contest when I feel him enter. I do not know how, but I just can feel his presence, and when I turn, I see him standing there looking proud.

The rest of everybody fades in the background. I can hear girls giggling and praising him, but I don't care because his eyes are only for me. He walks over to me and slides his hand on my waist as he did at the end of our date that day. He leans in to brush his lips on mine and whispers, "Hi." The simple hi sends my heart into a frenzy.

I can feel everyone's eyes on us. The girls are glaring at me while the boys are glaring at Cole. I want to laugh at the irony, and to prove that I am with the hottest man on the planet, I do something bold. I hold him by his face and give him a full kiss. We are so wrapped up in our bubble that the judge has to clear his throat to separate us.

I leave him embarrassed by my boldness and start to blush. He caresses my blush with his fingers and goes to take a seat in the audience.

The contest begins, and we get 120 minutes to make our first dish. We have been told to make a sweet that reminds us of our childhood. We will be evaluated on the basis of the taste, the uniqueness, and the plating.

I start by preparing the souffle mixture since it will take the most time to cook. Once the batter is in the refrigerator, I start melting my chocolate and preparing a galaxy glaze for the same. I run and remove the souffle from the refrigerator and put it in the oven for thirty minutes.

I put the melted chocolate in an egg-shaped mold and cover the perimeter of the egg. Once done, I run to the freezer and put it in there. I return to my station and start working on my marshmallow fondant. Once the fondant is also ready, I make the molding chocolate and give it a shape.

I want to create an Easter souffle egg filled with goodies for the panel of judges and the audience. I also wish to make a basket with cake. So I start with my cake batter and then put that also in the oven. Once all my things are ready, I look at the clock. I have a good 45 minutes to plate my dish. I begin making the baskets first. Once the baskets are ready, I remove the chocolate from the egg molds and then fill the chocolate eggs with the goodies I prepared.

Once everything is set, I start placing the eggs in the baskets. By the time I am done, we hear the ding indicating time up. The judges start calling everyone one by one to taste the dishes. When it's my turn, Cole is the one whooping and cheering like a cheerleader. It helps me boost my confidence.

I place my dish in front of the judges, and they look at each other. The judges ask me what I made, and I tell them that I have made their Easter eggs with cake baskets. They look at me impressed and go on to taste it. All the three judges take a bite and go back to their seats without giving a comment.

I am standing at my spot, anxious for their comments. One of the judges just came forward and tapped his spoon on the table. "Ding Dong darling!!! You have killed it. It is the most delicious dessert I have had in one of such contests."

I look at the judges wide-eyed and then see Cole cheering me, making me realize that I did it. I jump with joy and go to my table as we still have two more rounds remaining. Once everyone's desserts are tasted, the judges go to the screen to show the top five performers along with their scores out of thirty for the first round. The first name that pops up is mine with a full thirty. My excitement knows no bounds, but I calm myself down and prepare for the next round.

The next two rounds go in a breeze, with one of the rounds being about making the starters and the other revolving around making a mini main course. Surprisingly, I come first and win the $20,000 cash prize plus a chance to work on a recipe that would be put up in top restaurants. This is the best opportunity for any chef.

Once we are done with the contest, I go to change my dress from the chef's dress. I wear a simple sleeveless back top, and blue ripped jeans. Knowing Cole, I knew he would wear black, and I wanted to twin with him. I can't believe that I won. I am still reeling from the shock of winning when I walk outside.

I see Cole standing and waiting for me with his hands in his pockets, making him look hotter while all the girls were fawning over him. Not even once did his eyes wander. Just that thought was enough to make my legs weak.

He spots me and smiles. He walks over, and without thinking, I hug him. I feel him freeze, and I move away. I say, "I am so sorry. I was just excited that I won and that you got to taste my dishes."

He takes my hand and says, "No need to be sorry, I was just shocked. I have never been hugged my entire life."

I look at him and gasp, "Never?"

He looks at me and leads me out of the building towards his car. When we reach his car, he says, "Never, my parents, especially my father believed in the concept of tough love. He never allowed my mom also to hug me. So, I want to do it right. Come here." with that, he pulls me into a hug.

In his hug, I feel very safe. Before I can tighten the hug, he lets go. I look at him confused and start laughing. He says, "Why are you laughing?"

"Being a hug expert, just a small tip, never leave the hug before the girl leaves the hug. If the girl likes the hug instead of leaving her, tighten the hug." I say.

"Did you just criticize my hug?" He wiggles his eyebrows and asks.

I laugh and say, "No, just giving you tips for the future. It will come in handy with your female friends."

"I just let you hug me. No one is allowed to hug me apart from you." He says.

The way he says it sends shivers of pleasure down my spine. "Really?" I ask.

"Really," He says.

Before we get in his car, I ask him, "Where are we going?"

He says, "Since we already such delicious food, I thought both of us would not be hungry, hence I was thinking, how about we got to your place and talk?"

I light up at the idea and say, "Sure, that would be great. Let me help you with the directions."

Once we reach my place, I look at Cole, he seems angry for some reason, and he is gripping the car steering too hard.

I place my hand on his thigh and ask him, "Are you okay, Cole? You look angry."

"I AM angry Skylar, why are you living in this dump? I thought you get paid well?" He says from between his teeth, probably trying to control his anger.

"I do get paid well, but I even have to send money for my parents, my father has retired, and I don't want them to work at this age. I would rather stay here than allow my parents to suffer." I say timidly.

He looks at me, all anger gone from his eyes, and he takes my hand and pulls me to himself for a side hug. "You are so sweet. I am sorry for reacting this way. It's just that this area is really dangerous, and I don't want you to be hurt."

We leave the car and walk into the building. He gets more uncomfortable because there is no elevator, and I can see him trying to control his anger. I hold his hand and lead him to my place. Somehow my touch calms him down.

When we enter my house, he says, "The security is terrible here. I can smell the pot being smoked three floors down. How are you living here? You don't even have a decent lock!! Anyone can break into your place. I am sending my security guy tomorrow to get a better lock installed here."

His tone is final, and I don't want to argue with him. I feel safe with him, and my heart skips a beat knowing that he cares so much about me.

I take him to the couch and say, "Sure, but right now, let's enjoy the time together. So I had a few things planned for us to do, but first I want to know, will you be asking me out again?"

He laughs and says, "Yes, Skylar, I would be asking you out again. I love spending time with you. You are the ray of light that makes my day better. So yes, I will be taking you out again."

I blush when he says that and tell him, "Okay then, I will be making you have fun. It would be best if you loosened up a bit. So next time we are going shopping and then a movie."

He pales as soon as I say that and he genuinely looks terrified by the idea. I laugh at his mortified face and say, "Don't worry, it will not be that bad. I promise. You have me with you."

The way we are sitting on the couch makes me lean towards him more. He seems to stiffen at our proximity. I feel his hands around my waist, and he pulls me on top of him. The air crackles with our heat and chemistry.

Once I am on top of him, he pulls me into a kiss. The kiss is amazing. It's like his kiss has become my drug. I need it no matter what. How can a person become so addicting in such a short period of time? We are so into the kiss that we don't realize that I am lying on the couch and he is on top of me.

I feel his tongue trying to make its way into my mouth, and I grant him access to the same. His hands move towards my dress and cup my boobs gently. I feel my core going into a frenzy. I want more. I need more of him. Once he is done kissing me, I feel him leave feather-light kisses down my neck, and then I feel him bite into my skin and leave a hickey. The bite hurt me at first, but then it turned all the more pleasurable.

I moan into him. Suddenly as if realizing what we are doing, I feel his retreat. I feel a sudden loss. The cold air makes me shiver. That time, I realize how warm he made me feel. I try to touch him, but he moves away. I suddenly feel used. Tears form in my eyes, and before I say sorry, I hear him say, "I am so sorry, Skylar, I should not have done that. If I would have continued, I would not have been able to stop myself from claiming you as mine. I am very sorry. I don't want you to feel that I am using you only for sex, baby. What I feel for you is so deep that I want to do this when the time is right."

The tears that had pooled up in my eyes threaten to fall, but now for a completely different reason. He feels the same way about me as I feel for him. I am glad that he wants to take things slow.

We get up from the position we are in, and I go to get some beers for us. By the time I am getting beers, I see him looking at all the trophies that I won for cooking and Volleyball. He comes over to the kitchen and says, "I did not know that you played Volleyball."

"Yes, I loved playing Volleyball. My sister, on the other hand, loved swimming. But after her death, I could not find myself playing it again. I always felt that I would betray her if I played it."

He looks at me, shocked. He says, "I did not know that you had a sister. What happened to her?"

"She had a cyst which turned cancerous. We could not treat her. I watched her fade away every day. The light in her eyes kept on diminishing. She was my other half. Losing a twin is the worst part. I feel as if my soul is split into half after her death. I miss her a lot." I was full-on crying by the time I completed talking about my sister. Cole walked up to me and hugged me tightly. He was trying to soothe me by playing with my hair. It did help me calm down.

He looked at me and said, "I am so sorry. I was unaware of your loss. I should not have asked." I hug him and say, "It's good that I shared it with you. I don't want to hide anything from you."

We suddenly hear a knock that makes us jump away from each other. I go and open the door. I see Lisa standing out, looking tired but radiant as always. I hug her and then slap her shoulder.. "Where were you? I haven't seen you this entire week. Is your father alright? Do you want me to come with you? You had me worried about you."

She laughs into my hug and says, "I am fine, mom. It's just been a long week at work, and we had a conference for which we had to travel. Hence I was not home. Dad is doing fine."

I pull her inside and say, "I have someone here. I want you to meet." I lead her to Cole and say "Lisa, meet Cole Weitzel, I man I told you about, and Cole, this is my friend and neighbor Lisa."

They look at each other as if they have seen some ghost. I understand Lisa reacting that way. I mean, Cole is HOT. But what confuses me is that even Cole's reaction is the same.

I say, "Do you know each other, or are you having a stare fest?"

Cole recovers from the reaction of seeing Lisa and says, "Yes, sorry Skylar, I just was a bit shocked to meet someone who looks so much like you after you mentioned your sister's death."That does make sense. Lisa and I do look a bit similar due to our body type. He extends his hand towards Lisa and says, "Hi, my name is Cole Weitzel. It is very nice to meet you."

They shake hands, and I hear Lisa say, "Nice to meet you too."

But after that, it gets quiet again. This meeting is so not going as I thought it would.