Neither had Sunny meant to attack him. She had been aiming for teasing while trying not to be so goddamn sensitive, though perhaps that was not the wisest choice. He wasn't incapable or anything, but didn't banter in the way she did. "But that's not what I wanted," Sunny answered, her eyes down. Less on her task, though, than chastened. "I wanted..."

She shrugged. "When a Nigerian girl likes a guy very, very much," she said, using the cadences of The Talk whether or not he was familiar with the allusion just because she needed the humor, "she cooks for him. Except I thought it'd be nice to do it together."