Something was wrong. Mars hadn’t so much as peeked inside the kitchen all day. Normally, he brought a stack of papers and worked by the kitchen table simply to be close to Devin. They’d chat. Devin would sneak him a cookie and a cup of coffee or tea to keep him fueled.

Tapping his fingers on the top of the kitchen island, he watched the second hand move over the clock on the wall. What was taking so long?

Faelan had said they’d have a short meeting and then come here, but Devin believed they’d passed the limit for short.

He ate some M&Ms and wrote down how he ranked them. About the opposite of how Dillon had placed his, but it didn’t matter. They wouldn’t get a real result until everyone had had their turn.

Stretching his arms over the island and resting his head on them, he was careful not to set himself on fire or push the bowls over the edge. Then he sighed. A second later, the door to the office opened, and he pushed off the surface and plastered on a smile. Hanna was the first to appear in the doorway. “Oh, this is lovely.” She grinned widely as she walked farther into the room.

Rei followed, looking grumpy, then Murrie walked in with a huge grin on his face. “Give me the M&Ms!”

Devin chuckled. “You’ll have to wait for your turn.” He focused on the doorway again. He’d saved a plate of food for Mars since he hadn’t come to eat. He should eat proper food before he stuffed himself with M&Ms.

Faelan came next, and then nothing. There was no movement in the hallway, no sounds of approaching steps. Devin stared at the doorway. “Where is Mars?”

Murrie looked toward the hallway too. “Don’t know. Maybe he needed the bathroom. I’m sure he’ll come.”

Yeah, he’d come. Devin had been planning this for days now, and he’d talked it over with Mars several times. He wouldn’t miss it. It might only be a silly chocolate candy-tasting thing, but they could all use a bit of fun, and he knew Devin was looking forward to it.

“Okay, shall we start without him?”

“Let’s!” Hanna was bouncing with excitement, which made Devin grin.

“Okay, I need you to sit by the table, and then you’ll come up to the island one at a time. You’ll stand with your backs to the others so they don’t see your expression or how you place your bowls.” He gestured at the bowls. “You’ll place them in order from your favorite to your least favorite and then I’ll record the result and change the order so the next person coming up can’t see how you voted. Dillon and I have already done the test.” He looked at the others and shook his head. “Dillon didn’t pass.”

Hanna chuckled. “Meaning?”

“Meaning he placed the jalapeno last.” And the cherry first, but he didn’t want them to know yet. He suspected Dillon wouldn’t be the only one placing the jalapeno last. These people didn’t know good chocolate if it jumped into their mouths by its own free will. Though, all chocolate was good… as long as it didn’t taste of cherry, apple, or melon.

“Oh, I see.” She giggled and took a seat by the kitchen table, as did the rest. Devin glanced out into the hallway to see if Mars was on his way, but there was no sign of him.

“Ladies first.” He met Hanna’s gaze and gestured at the kitchen island. She shot off her chair and hurried over. Picking up one of the cherry ones, she popped it into her mouth, grimaced, and pushed the bowl away. Good woman.

She ate one of the jalapeno ones and grinned at Devin before placing it next to the cherry bowl. Next was the English Toffee Peanut, which she pushed in the opposite direction. The mint went in the same direction as the toffee, as did the Fudge Brownie. She placed the dark chocolate and the coconut in the middle, the raspberry ended up next to the jalapeno. As she ate one of the original, she nodded and pushed it toward the English Toffee Peanut, and Devin almost groaned. The last one she tasted was the coffee-flavored one, and it went into the middle.

“Can I taste some of them again?”

“Yeah, I have more if we run out.”

She nodded and ate one more of the English Toffee Peanut, Crunchy Mint, Fudge Brownie, and the original before placing them. The English Toffee Peanut came out the winner and the Wild Cherry last, which made Devin grin.

He wrote down the result, gave them points from one to ten, and switched the bowls around before Faelan stepped up to the island. The first one he ate was the coconut, and he winced. “Ugh, that’s nasty.”

“Now, now, there are worse flavors.”

“Nah, I don’t think there could be anything worse. Disgusting.” He pushed it far to the side. Devin made a note to not serve him anything with coconut.

Faelan made quick work of the others. The coconut was followed by the cherry and the raspberry at the bottom, and then he placed the original at the top, followed by the English Toffee Peanut, which meant the English toffee still was at the lead.

Murrie walked up next. He tasted every flavor in quick succession, found the original and placed it at the top, then he shrugged. “The rest doesn’t matter.”

“Of course, they do. You have to rank them.”

He placed the dark chocolate, coffee nut, and fudge brownie before the English toffee one, which wasn’t good for the rankings.

Once Murrie had gone back to the table, Devin moved the bowls around. “Okay, Rei, you’re up next.”

He looked toward the hallway. Where the hell was Mars?