While Amara hadn''t cooked, she had helped by making the rice. So, as Finnian brought the dishes to the dining table one by one, she was serving the rice into bowls.


    Finnian, still wearing a teddy bear apron that waspletely at odds with his personality, nced at Dorian and Elysia, who were sitting on the sofa like royalty. "Are your legs broken or are your hands?" he asked dryly. "Can''t you help her serve the rice?"


    Dorian: "..."


    Elysia: "..."


    Fine, fine. They quickly got up to help Amara.


    Amara had heard Finnian and was mortified. "It''s fine, you two don''t have to," she said quickly. "I''m almost done."


    "It''s okay, we''ll help," Elysia said, reaching for a bowl.


    Amara snatched it back. "Maybe not. You two have never done this before. I''m afraid you''ll drop the bowls."


    Dorian: "..."


    Elysia: "..."


    Was it their imagination, or were Amara and Finnian both sharp-tongued sometimes? In that sense, maybe they were a good match after all.


    Soon, Finnian had brought all the dishes to the table, and Amara finished serving the rice. The four of them sat down, one on each side of the square table, and began to eat.


    Among the five dishes Finnian had made were sweet and sour pork, mapo tofu, and spicy eggnt. Amara knew with one nce that they were all her favorites.


    Aplicated feeling welled up inside her. This meal was clearly made for her. Why was he doing this? Didn''t he have better things to do with his time?


    Amara ate in silence. While Elysia and Dorian had tasted Finnian''s cooking before, seeing two dishes was nothingpared to the impact of five.


    They took one bite and their eyes lit up. "This is incredible," they said, looking at the five beautifully presented and aromatic dishes. "You''re skilled enough to be a professional chef."


    Finnian didn''t act humble, nor was he arrogant. "Not a professional chef," he said. "But I can handle some home cooking."


    Dorian rolled his eyes at him. "Give you an inch and you''ll take a mile. But it really is delicious."


    Dorian wasn''t usually a fan of spicy food, but Finnian''s spicy dishes were so good that he ate a lot. Suddenly, he remembered something. "Aren''t these all of Amara''s favorite dishes?" he asked.


    Why bring me up again? Amara felt awkward, but before she could respond, Elysia chimed in. "They are! Every single one is Ama''s favorite She loves spicy food, but she cant eat too much because of her sensitive stomach."


    "I controlled the spice level," Finnian, who had been silent, interjected. "She can


    handle this much."


    Amara paused mid-chew.


    It was true. Thinking back, aside


    from the sweet and sour pork, the other four spicy dishes were all ata level she could tolerate-spicy enough to be satisfying but not enough to cause a stomachache h? had controlled it on purpose.


    A bittersweet feeling washed over her, one she couldn''t quite name.


    Dorian was amazed. "How do you do that? By controlling the number of peppers?"


    Finnian nodded. Dorian was impressed. "Wow, you really put a lot of thought into it."


    He was intentionally trying to praise his friend in front of Amara, but she was so embarrassed she wanted to crawtinto a hole. She really didn''t understand why Finnian was being so good to her.