You’ve never cooked a day in your life, have you?” Aiden asks as he peers over my shoulder.

I hold the onion a little tighter between my fingers while my knife-wielding hand slices through the translucent-green layers. My eyes sting like a bitch. And it doesn’t help that I’m so nervous about this dinner I can’t focus.

“No,” I admit as tears roll down my cheeks.

“Don’t cry. It’s okay if you can’t cook,” Aiden says as he wraps one arm around my waist and wipes my tears away. “I still love you just the same.”

I laugh and sniffle at the same time as evil, onion-y, sulfur-laced air jabs me right in the face. This is a strange sensation. “It’s just the onion,” I say.

“I know, princess.” Aiden gives me a light peck on my forehead. He grabs the cutting board, onion and all, and takes it away.

“Hey,” I protest as I wipe my tears with my forearm, “I was doing stuff to that onion.”

“You can continue doing stuff to it here,” Aiden says as he places the cutting board on the stove. He points up. “This nice, big vent is going to suck up some of those irritating chemicals. Freezing the onion before cutting helps, too, but we don’t have the time.”

“I should’ve bought something from my usual place instead. I think I can pass off some of those dishes as mine. Like the nachos, for example,” I say as I turn around to face the stove, keeping my eyes on the big, sharp knife in my right hand. I shouldn’t be trusted with this weapon; I could actually hurt someone with this.

“Before tonight, I would’ve told you to just watch some cooking videos on YouTube and follow the directions. But after seeing you attempt to cut the onion without peeling off the skin . . . I don’t know.” Aiden checks the water that’s boiling in the pot. “Maybe you should stay away from the kitchen altogether.”

“And you’ll cook for me?” I ask, smiling.

“Sure, on my days off,” Aiden says without any hesitation. He seems to have embraced this sharing-an-apartment thing, even though this is only supposed to be temporary and he’s going home tonight.

If it weren’t for him, I would’ve given in and called for delivery. But Aiden has been cooking since his mom started working. Throughout the week, they’d take turns preparing the meals.

I feel embarrassed knowing how much Aiden had on his plate when he was still in med school—he had to follow the same jam-packed schedule I did, work part time on top of that, and be responsible for some house chores, too.

Meanwhile, I only had med school to worry about. My dad wanted me to focus on my studies to the point where he used to send someone to come deep-clean my apartment once a month.

Now that I’m paying for everything myself, I’ve decided to fire the cleaning lady. I still eat out all the time, though.

“Ouch! Son of a…!” I stare at my finger as blood escapes through a tear in my skin and forms a little red droplet at the tip.

“Are you okay?” Aiden takes my hand and guides me to the sink. He turns on the tap and holds my injured finger under the cold water. “Good thing I fixed the tap, huh?”

I hiss as the water hits the open wound, but soon it stops hurting so much.

“Maybe you’re too anxious to cook today, princess,” Aiden says. “Why don’t you sit there at the kitchen island and let me finish up?”

“No, let me do the stuff that doesn’t involve sharp things, at least. I told my parents I was going to cook for them. I want them to see that I can take care of myself now. Maybe then they’ll finally see me as a grown-up.” I let the water drip off my finger and let it dry.

“Not all grown-ups cook,” Aiden says as he turns off the tap.

“I know . . .” I stare at the stainless-steel kitchen sink. “I guess I just feel like I need to do everything I can think of to help my case.”

When Aiden levels his gaze at me, there’s concern in his eyes. “You know you don’t have to do this on your own, right? I can stay if you want me to.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s going to help.” I can’t predict how my dad’s going to react after I tell him I’m once again dating the boy he spent a fortune getting rid of. He can get pretty mean when he’s angry, and I’d rather not have Aiden there to see that ugly scene.

Aiden lets out a big sigh. “I wish there was something I can do.”

“But there is. You’re going to have a talk with your mom, and I’m going to have a talk with my parents.” I put my hands on Aiden’s muscular arms. “That’s the best way to do this. Hannah says that’s how she and Earl deal with their respective families.”

“If you say so, princess.” Aiden pulls me into his arms. “My mom’s easy, though. I just want her to understand that I’m not leaving you. There’s really nothing she can do to me to change my mind.” Aiden pauses as he looks down, deep into my eyes. “Your dad, on the other hand . . . I just hate the thought of him doing something to punish you in some way.”

“It’s okay. He’s just my dad. He’s not going to seriously harm me. Like you, I just want my parents to understand that I’m not leaving you. There’s nothing they can do to me to change my mind. I’m supporting myself anyway. What can they do to me?”

Aiden goes quiet, as if he’s thinking about all the different ways my parents can actually hurt me.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

“Yeah. I’m just worried for you.”

“Don’t be,” I say, even as doubt creeps into my mind. “Just kiss me.”

As Aiden’s lips land on mine, gentle as rain, I melt in his embrace.

For the past few days, we’ve been holing up in our own little love nest. But we both know this can’t last.

Now my parents are here to celebrate my first two weeks at my job. They’re visiting to hear all about my experience as a medical resident. My dad knows the Chief of Medicine at the hospital where I work, too, so he may want to drop by while I’m working.

But they don’t expect to hear anything about a new boyfriend, and they certainly don’t expect me to even be in contact with Aiden.

To be honest, the thought of confronting my dad and the possibility of things going wrong terrify me. That’s why I wanted to just keep things the same and not say anything to our parents for a while.

I was scared that something would happen to tear Aiden and me apart again, and I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could, just in case I never get to be with him again.

But that’s dumb. We’re both adults. Our parents can’t tell us what to do.  

It’s time to come clean. Aiden and I aren’t doing anything wrong, and we refuse to hide in the shadows.