by M. J. O'Shea
“Not everyone can come out on top. There are some low scores as well. Chase and Sylvia, please step forward. Chase.” Chase’s heart went straight into his throat. He was one of the low scores? “Your trifle was delicious but safe. We know you’re capable of more than a hodgepodge of autumn flavors. Sylvia, you tried to go out on a limb this week and it didn’t pay off. Your trifle was a little weird—and not in a good way. The judges didn’t know if it was even a dessert. Between tasty but too safe and a poorly executed risk, the judges have decided to save….”
Chase’s heart stuck in his chest. He hadn’t had a damn bit of luck that week. None at all. He started wondering if he had to pack his bags already and hightail it home, or maybe just pretend for another week and hang around on the beach, which he’d loved. He wasn’t ready to—
“Chase.” Diego looked at him gravely. “You’re still in, Chase. That means Sylvia, you’re burned.”
Thank fucking God.
Chase leaned over and gave Sylvia a long hug. He’d miss her. A lot. Other than Kai, he’d spoken to her the most. Everyone else was still a little intimidating. Sylvia hugged him back and waved at the others while she walked behind the partition into the backstage area. Supposedly that was the last of her, but he knew they’d all see her for a final good-bye dinner. That’s how it had worked with the others, at least.
He couldn’t believe it. He was still there. By the skin of his teeth, maybe, but he wasn’t gone yet. For a few minutes back there he’d thought that he was really gone. The judges rarely picked the safe option over the risky one. Chase rubbed at his temples. He saw Kai in the corner, pretending not to grin, and Chase vowed not to get that close to elimination again. If he even had a choice in the matter.
Later, when the cameras were off and nobody was around, Kai hugged him for a really long time. Chase felt himself melting into Kai’s skin.
“I was really worried there for a minute. You can’t leave, okay?”
Chase chuckled into Kai’s neck. “Okay. I won’t suck again.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I do. I’m not ready to say good-bye.” It had only been a few weeks, but Chase was starting to wonder when he was going to be ready to say good-bye. If ever.
CHAPTER SEVEN
LIFE IS LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATES—THE CHOCOLATE WEEK
WELCOME TO Burned, where we find fresh new cooking talent… and a few culinary disasters!
Last week Jenna proved she was not to be trifled with, but Sylvia’s trifle was too weird to be tasty, and while her dessert was unique, she got burned, taking our remaining contestants down to nine.
This week the chefs are drowning in everyone’s favorite subject. Chocolate. The sky’s the limit, just as long as three separate types of chocolate are featured in their dessert. One more thing. Nobody’s allowed to make a dessert they’ve made on the show already. The judges want something new!
Just so you don’t forget, let’s go over the fabulous prizes. Our grand prize winner gets a year of pastry training in Paris, a whole kitchen’s worth of top-of-the-line commercial tools and appliances, and a hundred thousand dollars for his or her own business.
With stakes this big, we ask the one question on everyone’s mind: Do these chefs have what it takes to rise to the top? Or will they get Burned?
“WE REALLY have to sign papers just to leave for the night?” Kai asked after they’d finished the challenge Monday afternoon. Tommy nodded and shoved some documents toward them.
“These aren’t a big deal, just a standard nondisclosure.”
“But we’ve left before. We went to the beach. The others went out as well,” Kai protested. Chase understood. They’d already signed so many things, papers that said they couldn’t tell their families what was going on, papers that said they had to fight on screen. Papers, papers, papers. Chase figured it’d take a forklift to move just the pages he’d signed alone.
Tommy shrugged. “I didn’t know about your beach trip. The others signed NDAs when they left. It’s standard. Nothing out of the ordinary. You can’t divulge information about the challenges, the contracts, or the contestants to any outside sources.”
Chase read over the sheets in his hand. Tommy had been telling the truth. It really was only a document to make sure they weren’t giving up information about the show itself. It wasn’t anything big. He checked each section and then signed his. Kai finished reading and followed suit. Reluctantly.
“Is there anything else we need to do?”
Tommy shook his head. “You’ll need to make sure you’re back Wednesday morning for the shuttle to the studio. Other than that, you’re free to go.”
Chase couldn’t get out of there quickly enough. His challenge had gone well that morning and he’d actually earned time for the final on Friday instead of losing it, but he was ready for a break—from their castmates, from the condo, from everything except Kai.
They both stood. “See you Wednesday,” Kai said.
He and Tommy seemed to have come to some sort of truce since the showdown last Monday. It was still uncomfortable between the three of them because of all the crap with him and Kai having to fight, but it was better. Chase was happy about that.
They jogged out of Tommy’s office and onto the shuttle that would take them back to the condo. Everyone was smiling and laughing. There had been losers on the mini challenge just like there always was, but it hadn’t been nearly as brutal as some of the others. Chase still missed Sylvia’s presence, more than the other three who’d gone before her for sure. It was weird with her not there, but he still grabbed a seat and watched Kai sink into the one in front of him. Chase’s hands itched to touch him. He wanted to shimmy his arm between the seat and the window and get to Kai’s skin. Chase wasn’t sure what was going to happen that night, but he was sure that he wanted to touch Kai. Pretty much all the time.
“YOU OKAY?”
Chase fiddled with his sleeve and looked around Kai’s apartment. It was clean and functional but there wasn’t a lot of personality. Made sense, since Kai said he’d only been there for a few months before he auditioned for Burned. He’d been subletting it to a tourist from Australia while he was living in Bryant Tower with the others, but the kid had moved on, so the space was all theirs for a couple of days. They had arrived a few minutes ago after packing up a bag at the condo and hopping in Kai’s Jeep for the short drive. He was nervous. He’d been alone with Kai in public, but they were alone alone. That was a different story.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” Chase finally said. He was fine. Just nervous.
“What’s up?” Kai rubbed his hands up and down Chase’s arms. “I can tell when there’s something wrong with you, you know?”
Chase sighed. “Nothing wrong, I guess I’m just… I don’t know.” He didn’t want to admit it. He was twenty-eight years old, damn it. He felt like a teenaged virgin with a crush on an older guy. “A little nervous?”
“Nervous? Why?” Kai didn’t look judgmental, just sweet and concerned.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure what’s expected here tonight and I want you. I really do, I’m just… well, I’ve mostly been in really long-term relationships. I haven’t been with that many guys.”
“I haven’t been with that many guys either.”
“More than two?” Chase cringed.
“Okay, yeah. A few more than two, but not a ton either. Don’t feel weird about it. I promise I’m not all that far ahead of you.”
It made everything a little better for Chase that Kai wasn’t some Lothario with a black book list longer than the ingredients for a Gateau St. Honoré—something it took Chase forever to master back in pastry school.
“Just to ask, how’d a guy as gorgeous as you only end up being with two people?”
Chase shrugged. “I wasn’t out in high school. I had a girlfriend but we were very platonic. She was the only one who knew I was gay other than my sister.” He’d always felt bad about that, like he should’ve been more h
onest with people. “I don’t even know if it would’ve been a big deal. I just never told anyone. I had the same boyfriend all through college and until I was twenty-five. There’s been one other boyfriend since. We broke up about six months ago, and I’ve spent most of that time building up the ice cream shop and making it successful.”
“That makes sense. I get the not being out thing. I’m not out at home either.”
“You had a girlfriend?” Chase asked. Kai wasn’t one of those guys he could see with a woman. It just didn’t fit him.
“My surfboard?” Kai chuckled. “I spent a lot of time at home surfing and then cooking later on. I worked with a lot of local farmers in high school. I wanted to know where the food I was cooking came from. Didn’t leave much time for dating. I’ve dated men since after culinary school, but I didn’t bring them home. I haven’t.”
Chase nodded. “I’d like to see where you come from.”
The second he said it, he wondered if it was a bad idea. Kai didn’t do boyfriends, and even if he did, he sure didn’t do boyfriends at home. Or boyfriends after only a few weeks, albeit very intense weeks, together.
Oddly, Kai smiled. “You know, that sentence would’ve freaked me out a lot more a few weeks ago. You’ve gotten under my skin, Chase Christiansen.”
Chase blushed.
“And about tonight?” he continued. “We don’t have to do anything you’re not up for. I didn’t bring you here as a sure thing. This isn’t a booty call. I just wanted us to have some time together away from everything, and I thought being here would be, like, relaxing or something.”
“I can do relaxing. I like relaxing.” Chase smiled.
“So how ’bout we cook some dinner and hang out for a while?”
“You can tell me more about Hawaii. I’d die if I got to go there.” Chase couldn’t imagine how gorgeous it was.
Kai grinned and stuck out his hand. “Let’s go unpack the groceries, and we can get started.”
IT WAS nice cooking with Kai. Both of them specialized in desserts, but they’d been trained in other areas too. Chase took their produce: big bushels of spinach, plump peppers, mushrooms, and onions, and made a seasoned stir fry to go over the salmon Kai was grilling. Whatever sauce he’d whipped up smelled amazing. Chase couldn’t wait to taste it. He worked on potatoes too, waiting for them to boil, then smashing and frying them in salted oil until they were crispy on the outside and tender and squishy on the inside. Kai sliced fruit to bake with a crumbly crust, and Chase mixed some plantation tea together for them to drink. He hadn’t tried it, but Kai swore by the stuff, so he figured he’d give it a go.
They talked and laughed while they cooked, finally relaxed from all the stress of being on the show and being near too many people to really get to know each other. Kai told Chase funny stories about his neighbors in Kaneohe, about the family down the street who grew all sorts of vegetables and herbs in their backyard… and other stuff. How he grew up surfing and practically went to school in the farms nearby and on the other side of the island in Waianae.
“I’d love to see all of it. You make it sound so amazing.”
“Better than Wisconsin?” Kai teased.
“Different. But then again, maybe not that different. I mean, I have a nosey sister too, right? And my parents’ farm isn’t all that different than that place you were talking about in….”
“Waianae?”
“Yeah. Waianae. I mean, our weather isn’t as great and there aren’t palm trees, but all the farms around us were family friends, and people liked to buy from us and them because it’s local food, you know. And it was another community of people who liked helping each other with their kids and trying to make things better. We don’t have the culture that you guys do, the language, but it’s not that different.”
“Maybe I’d like to see Wisconsin too,” Kai said with a smile. “If nothing else, I have to try your ice creams.”
Chase chuckled. “All of them?”
“Sure, why not?”
“You’ll probably want to stay away from the cheesecake one.”
Kai rolled his eyes. “Ew. Cheesecake. I still can’t believe I won that challenge. I barely even tasted it.”
“Lucky. Or amazing. I’d buy either one with you.”
“Lucky for that. Amazing most of the time.” Kai made a face and Chase elbowed him, chuckling.
“Salad ready?” Kai asked.
“Yeah. Ready.”
Chase grabbed the simple green salad and plonked it onto Kai’s tiny dining table. Between the fish, potatoes, salad, and vegetables, he had no idea how they were going to eat their way through everything they’d made.
“Never have two chefs make dinner together, huh?” Kai said, eyeing the whole spread.
“Right? And there’s the cobbler baking too.”
Kai groaned. “That might have to be breakfast.”
Chase reached out and cupped his face, brought it closer over the tiny table, and smooshed a kiss onto Kai’s generous lips. “Let’s eat,” he said.
Dinner was relaxed but silly and fun. It wasn’t until Chase was back in Kai’s bedroom in his boxer briefs, with gorgeous Kai only a few feet away, on the opposite side of the bed, that the nerves came back.
“What’s going on in your head?” Kai asked.
“Thinking about how hot you are,” Chase said. “And how much I wish you’d take your shorts off.”
Kai pulled down on the edges a little. “Yeah?” he asked.
He had a tan line that was probably a permanent part of his skin by then. He was still golden underneath, just a pale gold, pure and honey sweet instead of the intense bronze gold that covered the rest of his skin. Chase wanted to lean over and lick it. Kai was addictive, but Chase didn’t mind having an addiction like that. He wanted to experience it. Chase hadn’t ever had the impulse to bite before, just to lean over and sink his teeth in, see if someone’s skin tasted as good as it looked. He wanted to bite Kai, mark him up, taste all his parts.
Chase groaned. “You do crazy things to me, you know?”
“I do?” Kai teased a little more, drawing his briefs down to show a trail of silky dark hair and the beginnings of a thick cock. Chase wanted to growl and rip the damn things off.
“Yeah. You’re such a fucking tease too.”
Kai raised an eyebrow. “I don’t see yours going anywhere.”
Chase stared him right in the eye and reached down to drag his boxer briefs all the way off. “Your turn,” he said. He barely recognized his own voice. It was hard when he barely recognized himself as well.
Kai swallowed and looked Chase up and down. “Um, damn. Okay. My turn.” He slid his briefs off until he was all naked honey skin, smooth and begging for Chase’s touch.
Chase didn’t know what it was about the voice he’d just used or if it was a thing for Kai, but whatever it was, it was working. For both of them. Chase crawled across the bed and sat on the edge. He ran his hands up and down Kai’s naked sides.
“What do you like?” he asked as he ducked in to lick at Kai’s exposed hipbones. He wanted to make Kai happy. Actually, he wanted a lot of things, but Kai shivering and happy underneath him was right at the top of the list.
“I’m versatile,” Kai said.
“That’s not what I meant, really, but good to know.” Chase grinned and wasn’t convinced. “I meant what do you like? There are other things that can happen here, you know. It’s not all about whose cock goes where.”
“I do like, well, cock.” Kai actually looked embarrassed. “Sorry. This is kind of new territory for me. I’m more the take-someone-home-from-the-club-and-not-talk-about-it type.”
“I like to talk,” Chase said. “And I want you to tell me what you like.” There was steel in his voice, and it surprised him as well as Kai if his wide eyes were anything to judge by. “So you like to bottom?” Chase asked. “What else?”
“Not always.” Kai sounded a little put out, but then he grunted and grabbed at Ch
ase’s hair. “Can you please just fuck me?” He looked impatient and wrecked already, like he’d been thinking about it all day, all the ways he could have Chase. Or maybe all the ways Chase could have him.
Chase leaned in and kissed the tip of Kai’s cock, then sucked on the head a little. “Tell me what you want,” he said again in a low voice. “I want to know what’s going to make you happy.”
“I want….”
“Tell me, Kai.”
He watched as Kai closed his eyes, like he wasn’t sure he wanted to say what he was about to say. Chase’s heart pounded hard and he dragged Kai down to the bed, then splayed himself overtop of Kai’s body. He thought he might know where this was going with the way Kai reacted when he used that voice, with the way he reacted when he did it. Things weren’t the same with them like they’d been with his exes. There was a dynamic he didn’t quite understand, but he thought he knew how to act on it.
“I want you to be in charge,” Kai finally said very, very quietly. “I want you to make me do stuff. Dirty stuff.”
Chase swallowed hard. He’d been right. He thought of Kai’s shivers and the way his pupils went all dilated in his sultry eyes. He thought he might know what both of them wanted from each other. “Has anyone ever done that to you before? Told you what to do?”
Chase grabbed Kai’s wrists and slowly, purposefully brought them up and pinned them to the bed over Kai’s head.
“No.”
“I haven’t done it to anyone either.”
“You don’t have to,” Kai said in a rush, pulling his arm away and looking up at Chase. “If you don’t want to.”
“Can I try?”
Kai nodded.
