"Bathroom." He paused and looked at me, his bright, blue eyes blinking at me. "Someone should probably go check on him. He's been up there for thirty minutes."
"He is old."
"He's probably asleep on the toilet."
"Why don't I keep an eye on the steaks and you go check on Grandpa?" I jumped up and held out my hand for the flipper-thing.
I loved my grandpa, but I wasn't going to visit him in the bathroom. No way.
Dad chuckled and handed the utensil to me. "Try not to burn them."
"I can cook, you know." Mostly Greek food, but that was neither here nor there. Steak I could manage.
Dad patted my shoulder and left me to it.
I rolled my shoulders and cast my gaze down to the steaks. They were cooking slowly, and from where I was standing, I could hear my mom laughing in the kitchen with Ilsa. They were giggling like a couple of sixteen-year-olds, and I smiled, shaking my head.
I really needed to organize a girls' night. I had the feeling I'd need it soon enough.
"Well, look who showed up."
I'd know that voice anywhere.
Parker Hamilton.
"Trust me, if I knew you'd be here, I'd have set off for a colder climate. Like Alaska," I replied without turning around.
"Damn, and here I was thinking that your lack of clothing was for my benefit." Laughter twisted his words.
I knew he was doing it to get a rise out of me, and I was determined not to give him what he wanted.
The time that had passed hadn't changed a thing--it was the same old game with him. Rile up Raven. I used to fall for it, but not anymore.
"I'd rather be hit on by a drunken frat boy than do anything for your benefit, Parker."
"Then go put some clothes on, because I'm feeling pretty benefited right now."
CHAPTER TWO
Parker
My words had the desired effect on Raven Archer.
The steak she'd been holding in her hand clattered off the grill and to the wooden floor of the porch when she dropped it. Her dark hair swung around her shoulders with her smooth turn to face me.
Annoyance immediately flashed in her bright, blue eyes as they fixated on me. Nothing had changed-she still had that quick, fiery temper that was oddly attractive on her, and she was still unable to control it, if the pursing of her bright, red lips was anything to go by.
"Wonderful," she said slowly, keeping her gaze trained on my face. "You're not just an asshole anymore. You're a pervy asshole."
My lips quirked to one side. "I've been called worse."
She rolled her eyes and spun back around. She grabbed the cooking tongs from the hook and moved for the first steak.
"You're flipping it wrong," I told her for no other reason than to annoy the shit out of her. There was no wrong way as long as it didn't break.
"Oh, I'm sorry, do you do it differently in New York?" she fired back at me, flipping the second steak exactly the way she did the first. "Because let me tell you all the ways I give a fuck."
She didn't continue talking.
"Is that because you don't give a fuck or are you trying to put your words together?"
"I actually have the perfect words put together for you: Fuck off."
I grinned. "Do you want your gold star now?"
"Is it hard enough to shove up your ass? If so, hand it over."
"Oh god," Ryan groaned as he walked outside. "You're fucking adults. Can't you be nice?"
"No." Raven put the tongs down and turned to face him. "Not when you leave him unsupervised. You know he needs minding or he misbehaves."
I snorted. "You're the one barely dressed."
"I'm an adult. I can wear what I want."
"He has a point," Ryan agreed warily. "There isn't much fabric on that dress."
Raven hit him with a look so piercing I felt it. "Compared to the things your ex-girlfriend wore, I'm practically dressed for Church."
"It'd go up in flames if you walked in there," I said, perching against the end of the table and stuffing my hands into my pockets. "Demons can't enter holy buildings."
That sharp gaze snapped from Ryan to me. She held it with an unwavering intensity.
I was almost impressed.
"Ryan, control your pet."
She couldn't have injected anymore snark into that line if she'd tried. I don't know if it was meant to annoy me, but all it did was make me laugh. Her attempts to bite back to my uncontrollable need to annoy her were more cute than they were offensive.
"Can't you two just be nice?" Alexandra Archer asked, stepping onto the porch with a bowl of salad in her hands.
"No," Raven snapped to her mom. "Not as long as he opens his mouth."