Apologetic sweetness

From his husky tone and languid expression, one could tell that Darren had just got up from bed. He was obviously having a good crash and Kyley had just ruined it.

He was only putting on a pair of pants and his muscly hairy chest was bare. Darren placed one of his thick arms on the wall and opened the door with the other.

Kyley was stomped at the sight of his gorgeous body and her eyes widened fixatedly on him, subconsciously taking in every bit of detail about his toned muscular body, and trying hard to resist the urge to touch them. She was left stomped and speechless at this sudden sight of him.

Before long, she batted her eyelids to regain her thoughts and instantly looked away. Kyley remembering that Darren had asked him a question opened her mouth to speak but her mind was blank! Darren s suddenly appearance in this irresistible state had left her thoughtless.

Grrr!

Kyley almost ran away when she heard the sound of her stomach grumbling. She looked at Darren in shock as if to figure if he heard, and she instantly regretted ever coming to knock on Darren's door. Seeing the wey smile on Darren's face, Kyley lowered her head in embarrassment.

Her face reddened and she wanted so badly to be swallowed by the ground.

Darren stared at Kyley with a wry smile.worn on his face as he thought about what to do. He had been having a good sleep when he heard a knock on the door. Surprisingly, it was Kyley.

' She must be famished from having not eaten enough in the morning.' Darren thought. He knew she had no idea how to cook so he didn't blame her, however, for waking him up.

"Haah!" Darren heaved a deep sigh and yawned. " Let's go make you something to eat then" Darren said and moved out of the room. He shut the door behind him and said to Kyley who looked at him with a surprised expression " coming?" He asked.

Kyley who was wondering why he didn't get mad just nodded her head in a daze as Darren walked on towards the stairs. She quickly followed behind him with her gaze lowered as they headed to the kitchen.

" It's near evening already, what would you like to have for dinner?" Darren asked as he peeked at the light that came through the window. The house was slowly dimming and one could barely make out the features inside, indicating it was getting dark outside.

Kyley fell into deep thought as she thought about what Darren said. She didn't have anything in mind really and she was fine with anything.

" Anything you wish to make" so she said. She trusted Darren's culinary skills to always bring the deliciousness out of all meals.

Darren looked over his shoulder to look at Kyley as they walked towards the kitchen, causing the latter to raise a confused brow. She wondered if she said something that she shouldn't have said. Does he feel offended?

" I-I'm sorry. I just don't have anything in mind?" Kyley stuttered to say in apology. She had no idea if what she'd said before was rude and had gotten Darren infuriated for some reason but she still apologized.

Kyley's heart sank at the thought of infuriating Darren with rude words after he was trying to make me a meal even though I had disturbed his rest. 'But I honestly didn't mean to...'

Darren stopped on his way hearing Kyley apologized and turned around to quickly say. " No, not at all. That's not it. Just... I wasn't offended okay? I was just surprised that you trust my culinary skills to such extent to make me decide what to make for your taste bud... It's quite a compliment for me you see" Darren related the reason behind his look just now and scratched the back of his head as he said. Darren just doesn't know how to take compliments.

" Oh" Kyley uttered in surprise. She pursed her lips and looked away not knowing what else to say.

" Right. I have something great in mind to surpass your expectation of me" Darren raised a finger as he said and turned around to continue his walk towards the kitchen, the smile on his face as he did an excited one.

" ..." Kyley smiled wryly at Darren's brutal honesty and followed behind him shortly. Sometimes, she thought he was really sweet. But she didn't like that he always has to make her apologize first before she saw this side of him.

Getting in the rustic kitchen, Kyley didn't wait around as she quickly moved to the cabinets she had memorized earlier and began bringing out all the things she could remember. She donned a serious expression as she didn't want to fall behind in assisting Darren. After all, she was the reason why he had to cut his sleep off to come into the kitchen this early in the evening.

Darren looked at this with a slightly surprised expression. Then he smiled wryly as Kyley placed the ingredients on the countertop and said, " Um... Kyley?"

" Yes?" Kyley looked up at him with the most solemn and utmost dedicatedly unbothered expression that Darren had ever seen her make.

" I won't be needing all of that"

As though a hammer was hit on her head, Kyley felt a strike at her dedication as Darren said. Her gaze widened and she just stared at Darren for the longest while in disbelieve. Her expression shifted from serious and dedicated to sorrowful and disoriented. She just wanted to help...

Kyley looked down at the stuffs she'd brought out on the table with an uncertain expression how to act now. She felt like a clown in an office, miserably out of place.

" But... I'll be needing this." Darren moved forward to grab the jar of salt on the table and said with a big encouraging smile after seeing the disappointment in Kyley's face. " Thank you"

Kyley hearing this broke into a relieved smile hearing this and nodded her head severally.

" You really have no idea how to boil water" Darren shook his head and chuckled at Kyley. Sometimes, he felt like Kyley was a child that had just begun growing up, and that he was her father.

However, he felt sad for her. ' Just how hard was it for her growing up?' Darren couldn't help but wonder as she was still basically a child at heart. A child that had been forced to grow by time and trauma, and not by proper education and guidance.

Kyley on the other hand frowned hearing Darren's remark. " I can do that!" She muttered silently and looked away with a small pout. How could anyone not know how to do that? Kyley was pissed at the way Darren teased at her.

" Hahaha!" Hearing Kyley's tiny retort, Darren laughed and began picking the things he didn't need to make the meal he was about to make and returning them to the cabinets where he previously stored them.

" It takes time okay? Just sit by and slowly learn from this master" Darren flaunted his culinary skills, although in a humble and advising time.

Kyley hearing this just rolled her eyes. ' Showoff!' she retorted internally.

But she knew he made a good point. She really needed to learn a thing or two about cooking. Kyley didn't think she could stand Darren's teases for very long.

" Although foods are sold in the city restaurants, it's still important that you know your ingredients." Darren added as he moved to the stove to heat it up and start cooking.

Kyley nodded taking notes and moved to the spot nearest to where Darren stood, she sat on the countertop and watched him as he made dinner. Sometimes his actions confused him and but she didn't ask him and just took note of it as well as the things he used to make the meal. Kyley trusted Darren's culinary skills without a single iota of doubt.

Soon, Kyley started to see the food form into something that she recognized. It was beef stroganoff.

As the delicious smell of beef and mushroom gravy wafted through the air and entered her nostrils, Kyley's stomach grumbled once again.

Grrr!

" Coming" Darren chuckled and said out loud in a tease. Kyley frowned but just laughed it off as well.

She couldn't help but enjoy the moment...

Once Darren was done making the meal, he placed it on the tray.

Off to eat now, shall we?" He said as he carried the tray and walked out of the kitchen. Kyley gently got off the countertop and hurried behind him.

Just when she got out, she saw Darren walking towards the stairs and frowned " Where are you going?" She asked with a baffled expression.

Darren who had reached the stairs turned around and said with a doubtful gaze " upstairs?"

" What about the dining?" Kyley looked to the side as she asked. She didn't know how to ask but, didn't they have breakfast together in the morning, so why was he taking the food upstairs.

' I mean, I've been eating upstairs in my room all these while but didn't that change today?'

Kyley didn't understand why he would want to them to eat separately. She knew he definitely wouldn't eat his meal with her in her room.

' Is it that he doesn't wish to eat with me? Do I eat in a manner that he cannot stand?' Kyley couldn't help but be worried. She stared at a point on the floor as she wondered. She couldn't fathom just why...

Kyley could tell that something was up, and it hurted her to think that Darren was avoiding her.

" Hah! To the dining it is then. If you promise you'll let me go to bed right after" Darren seeing how Kyley reacted to the idea of her eating in her room sighed in defeat and said.

To be honest, he only suggested that she ate upstairs because it was almost nighttime and his secret would be exposed if he made her stay up late. He added that he needed to continue sleeping so as to make Kyley realize that he didn't want them to stay up late after dinner.

Kyley raised her gaze in shock when she heard Darren and couldn't help but express guilt. She realized that she hadn't considered that she was the one who got Darren up to cook for her.

' He probably still needs to rest and thus, wouldn't be able to eat with me...' Kyley felt bad that she hadn't thought about this.

She wanted to apologize but she didn't know how to. Just as she was about to tell him to help take a rest and that he could go back to bed, Darren shook his head and said, " There's no backing out now. We'll have dinner at the dining then we'll both go back to bed" he said affirmatively. He didn't want Kyley to start suspecting that he was trying to avoid her, although he was.

Women can be quite instinctive at times...