"You can't say shit like that to me. Then I'd start trying to get you to come down all the time." She laughed, her smile growing wider as she noticed the slight flush. She figured that was just modesty. "I'm crap at cooking. I mean, it's edible. Usually." She wrinkled her nose as she remembered a few times it wasn't. "But there's always something I missing. I dunno. Whatever it is, you've got it. So you should keep it under wraps before I start trying to take advantage of you." She punctuated her advice with a little nudge of her shoulder against his.
"Seriously? What do they think it is?" The air around them seemed to change, their conversation growing steadily more heavy. Cassie watched the wave come in, too focused on Paul's words to notice if it was stronger than usual. "They'll figure it all out." She tried not to make her reassurances sound not so hollow but what was she supposed to say to something like that? "At least you've got your friends around, right?" Hopefully that was some consolation.