Cub by Paul Coccia

Author:Paul Coccia
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459820845
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2018-11-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

“You did what?” Di asks. She’s wearing a fringed dress made from dollar-store shower curtains. Mama Bear sees her as he walks by, looks her up and down, then gives her a thumbs-up. She returns it.

“Shhh,” I tell her. We’re in HEAT, and the third round is about to begin. “I don’t want everyone to know. Zack could be filming.”

Di shakes her head. “As your hag—”

“You’re not my hag.”

Di continues, “I’m behind you going porn star.”

“Seriously, Di!”

“You should kiss guys. A lot of them. But you went from never kissing a guy to kissing two older ones. Are you sure you’re ready for this?”

“Completely,” I say, knowing I’m lying. “They’re both hot. They both like me. They offered me help. And it’s KCC, the KCC.”

“They’re married. To each other. They don’t need a boyfriend.”

“It doesn’t need to be like that. It’s just some kissing. And I liked it. They’re good kissers.”

“Because you have so much experience there.”

“Any louder and we’ll need to get you a mic. Thanks for broadcasting my sexual history.”

“There’s nothing to broadcast. It’s not like you’re a big stud.” She grabs my arm and looks at me. “Theo, are you sure this isn’t a big deal? You’re not one to take risks. In baking, yes. In life, not really.”

“I’m good. They’re good guys.” My stomach grinds a bit. “It’s all going to be fine. Better than fine. It’s like a dream. Two super-hot older guys want me.”

“Except you’ve been feeling so shitty about yourself. Suddenly these two guys are hitting on you and being nice and promising to do stuff for you,” Di says. “I don’t want to ruin anything, but—”

“Then don’t,” I say. “I’m going to see where it goes. They’re cool and attractive and powerful, and yeah, I don’t know why, but they’re into me.”

“Fine,” Di says. “But you should be careful.”

“Everyone’s telling me to be careful. Being careful nearly got me cut from this contest. Taking risks got me noticed. What do you know?”

I can see by Di’s face that I shouldn’t have said that last part. We stand there not saying anything for a while. It’s almost showtime.

“You’re on soon. You’d better go get ready,” Di says and leaves to take her seat.

The restaurant is full, as many tables as can fit crammed in whether they fit the décor or not. Even the bar is packed. There’s no standing room. The servers can barely move among the crowd.

I’m already sweating. My heart is beating fast. This is the most people I have ever been in front of. And I have to perform, to cook, to prove that I deserve a spot in the finals. I barely scraped through last time. This time I need to show KCC I have talent. I need to prove that I deserve his attention, his help, his respect. I need to be creative, risky, unexpected. I want him to see me as a top chef. Even if I’m eliminated today, I want to go out letting him know that I earned my place here and that he didn’t make out with some loser.

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