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“Come on, Nesta,” Elain said, opening the door to the dining hall with an expectant look. “It’s not gonna be as bad as you think.”“Easy for you to say,” Nesta grumbled. She dutifully followed Elain inside anyway, trailing after her sister as she made her way toward the kitchen.After Nesta had yet another cooking catastrophe, her sisters had demanded that she learned how to cook properly. She couldn’t rely on other people to make her meals for her forever, and eating out everyday certainly wasn’t sustainable. Nesta had put up a token amount of resistance, but she was smart enough to know even that was futile. She needed to learn how to do this, so she’d finally caved and let her sisters find an introductory class.
Luckily for her, one of the campus dining halls offered some cooking classes, and Feyre had taken way too much glee in signing Nesta up for as many as she could fit in her schedule. The class recommended coming in pairs, whether that was with a friend or a partner, so her sisters had agreed to take turns switching off with Nesta so she couldn’t chicken out at the last minute.
“Hi! We’re here for the cooking class,” Elain told the guy sitting at the entrance to the kitchen. He dutifully checked their names against his list before waving them forward, making sure to point out where the aprons were before turning back to his phone. “See, Nesta? It’s not so bad.”
“We haven’t even done anything yet,” Nesta muttered, but she grabbed an apron anyway. Once it was tight enough, she made sure to thoroughly wash her hands before she and Elain found their way to the part of the kitchen where their lesson would be taking place.
Nesta was abruptly reminded of one of those cooking shows once she and Elain found their station. Everything was laid out neatly before them, from the proper knives to fresh herbs and various mixing bowls, and Nesta straightened out the cutting board before her just for something to do with her hands.
By the time the clock hit seven, it seemed they were in for a small class today. They were one of three pairs in the room; one pair who were clearly siblings or cousins with their matching dark skin and silver hair, and another pair who must have been a couple with all the playful teasing they were doing over their station. Nesta forced herself to look away from the woman’s bright red hair and golden skin in favor of turning her attention on the instructor, but that turned out to be an even worse idea.
“Welcome to Cooking 101,” the guy said. Nesta almost swallowed her tongue at how nice his voice was, and between that and how gorgeous and built he was, she knew she wasn’t going to learn anything tonight. “My name’s Cassian, and I’m going to be your instructor. I’m a senior education major with a minor in nutrition and food science, and tonight we’re going to make some good food.”
Nesta tried her best to get lost in the flow of the class, but even she knew she was more flustered than usual. Everything seemed to be going wrong, from measuring the wrong amount of salt to cutting her chicken in uneven slices, and by the time Cassian made his rounds over to them, she was more flustered than she’d ever been in front of a stove before.
“Everything alright over here?” Cassian asked.
Nesta was so caught off guard by how close he was to her that her grip on her knife slipped, resulting in a tiny, sharp nick on her left hand. “Shit.”
“Nesta, are you okay?” Elain asked, immediately stopping what she was turning to look at Nesta in concern.
“It’s fine,” Nesta answered. It really wasn’t bad; there wasn’t much, if any blood coming out of it. “I just wasn’t paying attention.”
“Jesus, I’m sorry,” Cassian apologized with wide eyes. “Come on, let’s go get you cleaned up.”
Nesta turned to Elain in alarm before turning to follow Cassian, holding her slightly-injured hand in front of her as she trailed behind him to the same sink she’d washed her hands in earlier. “Really, it’s fine…”
“I just have to get you properly cleaned and bandaged, and then you can get back to your cooking dreams,” Cassian told her. He rummaged through one of the cabinets for the first aid kit as she washed her hands, already pulling out a bandaid and some Neosporin while he waited for her to finish.
“Dreams is a strong word,” she replied with a snort.
“How come?” he asked, reaching out with a clean paper towel to make sure her finger was totally dry. He was taller than she’d realized, but he did a good job of not making her feel small as he came into her personal space. “You don’t want to be the next Gordon Ramsay?”
“It’s a miracle I haven’t burned anything yet,” she answered dryly.
He laughed as he gently applied the Neosporin, his hands warm and soft and careful on hers. “I’m sure you’re not as bad as you think.”
“Trust me, I’m worse.”
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing you’re in my class then, right?”
“If I manage to survive the night, maybe.” Nesta watched as he applied the band-aid around her finger. “Thanks.”
“Anytime,” Cassian replied. He stepped back and moved to put the first aid kit away, turning to look over his shoulder at her as he added, “I’m a great teacher, though. You’re leaving here learning something whether it’s the last thing I do.”
“Oh?” she responded, her cheeks heating as she decided to rise to the challenge. “And what if I don’t?”
“Maybe you’ll need some more instruction,” he fired back with a grin. “My office hours are always open.”
Nesta returned back to her station with Elain with a bandaged finger and Cassian’s number in her phone. If her sister noticed anything was amiss, she didn’t say anything, but Cassian made sure to stop by their station one last time with a wink as he tasted their food.
“Mhmm,” he said after he’d finished chewing. He slowly lowered his fork and made sure to look directly at Nesta as he added, “Delicious.”
Nesta somehow managed not to choke on her own bite at his suggestive tone, but Elain just preened and thanked him for the class. Cassian dropped a wink before moving onto another station, and eventually everyone boxed up their leftovers and made their way out of the dining hall.
“See?” Elain said once they were outside. “I told you it wouldn’t be so bad.”
“Yeah,” Nesta replied, thinking about the way Cassian’s hazel eyes looked in the kitchen lighting, “I guess cooking isn’t as bad as I thought.”