Chapter Twenty-Two
“So you might have noticed that I’m on the wrong end of the counter for this episode,” Kai explained, beginning to wonder if there was something about this side of the studio that encouraged people to talk. “Which is because we’ve decided for this last episode to see how much we’ve learned from each other.”
He looked down at the recipe he had again, chewed on his lip, and then decided he’d be fine. “So naturally Wyatt assigned me something he never would have made himself.”
“Hey, I’ve made plenty of those, and they’re a nice thing to be able to break out for birthdays and stuff. I wouldn’t make one every week for the family. Probably.”
“You would, though, wouldn’t you?” Kai asked.
Wyatt glanced over at him, grinning. He was already getting to work on the Thai curry Kai had assigned to him, and part of Kai wished now that he’d picked something a little more foolproof.
On the other hand, Wyatt had forced him to learn how to pipe a rosette, and he didn’t exactly seem to be struggling.
Putting together the cake batter was easy enough, though it might have been easier without Wyatt saying things like whip it harder while he’d been working on the egg whites, which was apparently the big secret to the whole thing.
Folding them into the batter had been a strange and delicate task, but by the time he had two pans filled halfway and put in the oven, Kai was fairly confident that he was getting this right.
The smell coming from Wyatt’s side of the kitchen was amazing, which implied that he was getting it right, too.
Normally, this moment was when Wyatt would have paused to ask what Kai was doing, but Kai didn’t have time. Instead, he dumped butter and icing sugar into the stand mixer in the quantities he had on his recipe sheet, and flicked it on.
The icing sugar puffed out of the bowl as the paddle of the mixer hit it, dusting Kai’s face. He sighed, licking his lips as Wyatt chuckled.
He was gaining whole new levels of respect for Wyatt today. How did he do all this in a measly half-hour and explain it and keep up with what Kai was doing? Kai hadn’t given him nearly enough credit for how good he was at hosting.
“I’m just demonstrating what would happen to someone who had no idea what they were doing,” Kai said, grabbing a paper towel to wipe his face off with.
“Well, if you wanna prevent that in future, you wait until the butter’s about halfway whipped and then start adding your sugar a little at a time,” Wyatt explained cheerfully, without even the barest hint of judgement.
He was too good for Kai. How the hell Kai had managed to get and keep his interest was still a mystery.
He’d gotten through making his own curry paste and even remembered to put on a glove while he handled the chili, which was a miracle, because Kai never did that.
His fingers were basically fireproof anyway.
“You seem to be getting along fine,” he pointed out, since he needed to say something.
“Learned from the master.” Wyatt turned to grin at him, and Kai’s heart actually fluttered in his chest. He’d never really taught anyone to do anything, and he’d never actually shown Wyatt how to do this.
“I watched an old episode of your show where you made this,” Wyatt continued. “You were so young and adorable.”
Kai didn’t even remember filming that episode, but he was flattered that Wyatt had gone back and watched it.
“I bet you’ve seen all my shows,” he said, teasing.
“I have, actually,” Wyatt said. “I’ve been working my way through them since we started this.”
Kai swallowed. That was news to him, and he wasn’t sure how to handle it. He knew, logically, that people must have been watching, but he’d never really known someone who was watching before. Even if it was years later.
“Wow. Sorry for nearly boring you to death then, I guess,” he said.
Wyatt shook his head. “No, I learned a lot. And you were cute back then.”
“I’m not cute now?” Kai asked, figuring that this was the last episode and if it became really obvious that he was screwing Wyatt—and more importantly, really liked him—that was fine. It’d help the final episode ratings.
“I think you’ve levelled up to handsome,” Wyatt said, tossing his chicken in the pan.
Kai blushed and turned his attention back to his own work, his insides fluttering at the thought that Wyatt had just called him handsome, sincerely, in front of everyone who was ever going to watch this show.
He spent the rest of the episode preoccupied with how nice it was that Wyatt seemed to really like him. He hadn’t felt like this in a long time, and not toward someone who would have been so good for him. Who would have lifted him up instead of tearing him down, who respected his work, who…
Who was Wyatt, really. No one Kai had ever been with before even began to compare to him. He left all of Kai’s previous boyfriends in the dust.
Not that they were boyfriends. Were they? That seemed like the kind of thing they’d need to discuss, but this was the last episode, so maybe it was the kind of thing they could discuss after. Maybe they could be that, now.
“I’ve always wanted to say this,” Kai began as he got the other cake out of the fridge. “Here’s one I prepared earlier.”
This one just needed to be filled, frosted, and decorated, which was easy enough. He’d made probably a thousand rosettes now, and he was confident he could get the twelve he needed for this cake right.
“It’s fun, right?” Wyatt said, grinning over at him.
Kai caught himself staring a half-second too long, suddenly distracted by how much he liked it when Wyatt smiled at him.
He mentally shook himself, focusing on the task at hand instead of how pretty Wyatt’s eyes were when he smiled.
By the time he was done, he had what he thought was a pretty passable celebration cake. Hopefully, Wyatt would think so, too.
“You done over there?” Wyatt asked as Kai wiped the last stray smear of buttercream off the cake stand he was presenting his work on.
“Just,” he said, stepping away and watching Wyatt’s reaction carefully.
Wyatt made a soft, pleased noise as he inspected the cake, turning it around slowly and checking it from every angle.
“Check out the finish on this. Anyone’d think you were some kind of professional,” he teased. “I guess the skills transfer, huh?”
Kai blushed. He could feel tension he’d been carrying all day melting out of him, relief washing over him in its place.
“I’m proud of you,” Wyatt said. “And I’d definitely take you on as an apprentice if you ever decide you wanna learn baking.”
Kai laughed, his stomach flooding with warmth at the sound of Wyatt’s voice. He really did seem proud, like Kai had pulled something truly impressive off.
Kai looked at him, taking in the expression on his face, and felt his heart flip. Wyatt being impressed with him made laughter bubble up in his chest, a tight swell of joy that he almost felt he couldn’t contain in his body.
Wyatt glanced at him, and the bright smile on his face faded to something softer and more sincere as their eyes met for a few heartbeats too long.
Kai’s breath caught in his lungs, and his stomach flipped over as he realized that he was…
Was…
Oh no.
Oh no.
He was in love with Wyatt. Wyatt, who’d been kind and patient with him even when he hadn’t really deserved it, who’d given Kai the security to show him all his soft spots without worrying he was going to poke at them.
He swallowed.
Well, all things considered, Wyatt wasn’t the worst person to fall in love with.
Hell, now that he’d had the thought, he even liked the idea. Wyatt had been amazing, and if there was even the slightest chance he felt the same way…
Kai could have been happy with him. Very happy.
Ridiculously happy, even. Wyatt was everything he hadn’t realized he wanted, all the things he should have been looking for all this time.
And the sex was incredible, and he’d never been happier than when Wyatt held him after and murmured goodnight into his ear and made him feel safe and wanted for maybe the first time in his life.
Damn.
“Well, if you ever start your own bakery, I’ll consider it,” Kai said, forcing himself to look away from Wyatt, but unable to stop himself smiling.
He was in love.
The giddy rush of excitement at the thought of loving Wyatt felt really, really good.
He kept smiling to himself as he went over to taste Wyatt’s dish, barely even caring whether it would be any good or not.
Of course, because Wyatt was Wyatt, it was amazing.
“This is unfair,” he said after his second mouthful. “You’re not allowed to be good at my job, too.”
Wyatt chuckled. “Like I said, learned from the master.”
Kai could hardly wait to go home with him tonight.