Quarterback's Secret Baby(13)

"Tasha, I'm serious. Look at me. I didn't mean it like that. I meant I'm enjoying this," I gestured around at the kitchen and then at her. "All of this. I'm glad you invited me over. No one ever made me cornbread before, you know. And yeah, hands up, you caught me looking. But that isn't what I meant."

She was looking at me quite intently as I spoke, scrutinizing my face. She paused, as if thinking, and then just gave a little shrug. "OK, Kaden. That's cool. And no one ever cooked for you before? Not even your mom?"

"Well, maybe a few times my mom cooked, but both my parents work a lot. And you're the first girl apart from my mom, yeah. Is that strange?"

"I don't know. I guess if your mom was working maybe not. But my mom worked and she always made sure we had a home-cooked meal prepared - at least when we were little. Everyone does it their way, right?"

"Right." I nodded. Tasha had tried to conceal the smile on her face when I told her I was enjoying things, but she hadn't quite managed. And damn if knowing she was having a good time didn't just make me feel even happier.

"OK," she said, when the cornbread had cooled slightly. "Sit down, you big goof."

She sat down across from me, refusing to take a bite before I did. And when I did, she paid close attention to my reaction. Luckily, Tasha's cornbread turned out to be one of the most delicious things I ever tasted.

"Mmmph," I said after cramming the entire piece into my mouth. "Mmm...oh my God. Tasha. Oh my God! This is so good. This is-"

"Do you want another piece?" She asked, glowing with happiness at my reaction.

"Yes!"

She cut me another piece, bigger this time, and I was just about to devour it when a female voice came from upstairs.

"Tash? Can you come help me with Rosa for a minute?"

Tasha looked at me. "Can you give me a sec? She probably just needs me to watch her in the bath for a couple of minutes."

I held up my hands and grinned. "No problem. Anyone who makes food like this can do whatever they want. Take your time."

As soon as she was out of the room I helped myself to another piece of cornbread. And then another. Soon, there was only a single, small piece left. It didn't even occur to me not to eat it, as I was under the impression that she'd made it for me only. When she came back down to the kitchen about ten minutes later and spotted the empty pan, she didn't quite manage to hide the look of disappointment on her face. I knew immediately that I'd screwed up.

"Oh, shit. Tasha, I thought it was cool if I ate the rest. Were you - did you want more of it yourself? Shit, I'm sorry."

To my surprise, she actually looked embarrassed. Why would she be embarrassed when I was the one who'd just eaten an entire pan of cornbread? "No," she shrugged, trying too hard to seem casual. "No, Kaden, it's cool. I made it for you."

She was lying and we both knew it. I jumped up to take the dishes to the sink and wash them, to try and do something to make up for being such a pig. Tasha stopped me. "No, Kaden. No dishes. I'll do them."

Her voice was tight and I was angry at myself for wrecking the mood. Sheepishly, I sat back down at the table while she rinsed the plates off under the tap. An uncomfortable silence descended on the small kitchen, broken only by the arrival of a woman I assumed was Tasha's brother's girlfriend. She raised her eyebrows when she saw me and stepped forward to introduce herself.

"Oh, hey. I'm Alisha - I didn't know Tasha had company."

"Kaden," I said, standing up to full height and shaking the woman's hand. "Kaden Barlow."

"Kaden Barlow. Do I know you? That name sounds familiar."

I shrugged, not wanting to look like a conceited ass in front of Tasha by telling Alisha that I was the captain of the Reinhardt High football team. Alisha shrugged and walked over to the empty cornbread pan on the counter.

"Did you put it in the fridge already?" She asked Tasha, who turned around quickly, shaking her head, clearly trying to get Alisha to stop talking. "I'll just take out Ray's piece - he doesn't like it cold. Then we can have the rest for lunch tomorrow."

I slumped back down into my chair as it dawned on me what I'd done. Tasha had made the cornbread for her family. I knew they didn't have very much, I knew that, and I still didn't think twice about eating the whole damn lot. I was an asshole.

"Shit," I said again, quietly because I was so embarrassed. "Tasha, I didn't realize - aw damn, I'm sorry. I-"

I cut myself off before offering to make it up to her. What was I going to do? Bake more? I couldn't even boil an egg. And if there was one thing I knew about Natasha Greeley it was that she had a very well developed sense of pride. There was no way that offering to make it up to her in money would have done anything but make the whole situation much, much worse.