Preparing The Patties

"So!" Zack says, holding up the knife and carefully cutting open the two one pound tubes of ground beef "two pounds, eight of us, that's one quarter pound burger for each!" he does the mental math "I know we also brought some corn on the cob so we can prepare that up as well." Zack nods at the blonde haired girl.

"Great idea, Zack!" she replies, moving over to the brown paper bag next to the fridge. She rummages through it, pulling out eight ears of corn and moving them to the counter. "Guess I'll peel the husks while you make the patties?" she asks Zack.

"Nah, don't bother." he replies as he takes the knife and carefully cuts the ground beef into eyeballed equal portions "We can peel the husks back a bit, but if you butter, salt and pepper them but keep the husk on, you can grill it that way, the butter will kind of steam the corn while it cooks on the grill." Zack informs the girl "The husk will burn a bit but it'll keep the corn nice, fresh and moist." he smiles.

"Oh?" she looks at Zack "Cool. I didn't know that. Usually my family peels the husk and we just boil the corn." she grins.

"That way works too, but since we're grilling the burgers, we'll just throw all eight of these on the top rack and they should be done by the time the burgers are." he tells her as he finishes cutting the beef, he has them in about eight equal pieces.

"Here, help me with the patties." he nods his head, motioning Vicky over. "So, you take these and you roll them in your hands." Zack shows his actions, picking up the cut ground beef and holding it in his hands "You roll it around to form a ball in your hand first, like this" his hands spin in circles, causing the lump of beef to slowly form a ball of beef. "Like this!" he holds it up in his thumb and index finger at Vicky.

She thought it was cute. She knew what she was doing as she's made burgers multiple times before, but having Zack being so friendly and explaining himself to her was actually quite adorable. Picking up a chunk of beef she puts it between her hands and starts to roll it "Like this?" she questions "Am I doing it right?"

"Yeah, kinda!" Zack steps over to Vicky "But more like this," he places his hands over Vicky's and carefully moves them in small circles, helping her form the ball in her hands.

"Thanks!" she smiles out as it's done "You're good at this." she turns her head, just about a foot away from Zack's.

"Uhh, yeah!" he smiles before taking a step back "I like to cook, it's fun to mess around in the kitchen." he picks up another chunk and begins to roll it.

"Guess you learn something new everyday." she smiles at him as she too picks up another piece and uses the knowledge she already knew to begin rolling it up. Victoria couldn't help but think about Zack, watching him be confident in the kitchen. It was actually rather attractive that he was willing to teach her his knowledge, even though she didn't need it, it was quite adorable.

After all eight quarter pound patties were rolled into balls, Zack moves over to the sink and washes his hands before pulling out a cast-iron skillet from below the oven and giving that a quick washing as well.

"What's that for?" Vicky asks, "I thought we were grilling, why the pan?"

"You'll see" he gives the blonde a smile as he walks back over to counter. "So," he lets out, placing one of the balls of beef onto the cutting board. "You place the beef on here..." he points at it "Then instead of smashing the ball between your hands, you use a heavy flat item, much like the bottom of this cast-iron skillet." he turns it over, showing Vicky the bottom "It puts equal pressure all over the ball and therefore forms the patty better." he nods "Does it all in one equal motion, so you're not beating the meat unequally with your hands."

Vicky smirks at those words "Oh? I've never done that before."

"Yeah, my dad taught me a few years ago. He always watched me try to palm the ground beef into patties and they wouldn't turn out very well. Then I would re-roll it into a ball and do it again and again." Zack looks at Vicky who is constantly grinning back "But he said I shouldn't do that, that I'm beating the meat too much that it breaks down the tissues and doesn't make it as tender if you have to try it again and again." he shrugs "So, instead of struggling trying to beat my meat with my hands, he showed me the proper way to do it." Zack smiles.

Vicky brings her hand up to her face as her cheeks go flush. "So your dad showed you the proper way not to beat your meat?" a soft chuckle escapes her lips.

That's when Zack realizes what he's said "O-Oh god." he hunkers down "I-I..."

"I'm kidding." she teases, stepping closer to Zack. "But seriously, show me?"

Zack's eyes connect with Vicky as she's playfully looking back at him "Uhh, yeah." he grabs the cast-iron skillet and moves it over the balled up patty. "Like this." he grips the handle and one edge of the pan and presses it down over the patty, applying a good amount of ****. He then lifts it up "Tada!" he grins, showcasing the almost perfect, evenly spaced out patty below. "See! Proper patty making!"

"That's cool, Zack." her hand goes out to touch his own "I like that you know all this...thanks for sharing with me."

Her touch was electric. It sent a pulse shooting through his body. Even though it was just her fingers touching the back of his hand and wasn't sexual in any way what so ever, his crush was the one making the contact with him and that made him happy.

"Anytime Vicky." He eventually responds "As I said, I love cooking and messing around in the kitchen. If you ever have any questions, ask away." he takes the patty and places it on a dish, all the while taking another ball of beef and placing it on the cutting board. "Your turn?" Zack asks the blonde.

"Sure, you'll have to show me again though." she smiles back as she places one hand on the handle of the pan and the other on the edge.

"Like this." Zack places each of his hands on the back of her own, gripping down on her delicate soft fingers. "And now, you just push down." Zack applies a bit of **** but mainly allows Vicky to do all the work "And that should..." he pushes down a bit harder "Be good!" he exclaims as he removes his hands.

Vicky lifts the entire skillet up and sees the patty. Perfectly formed, perfectly even and just the right size "Yay!" she turns and smiles at Zack again "You're amazing Zack!" her lips open up and she gives him such a gorgeous full mouth smile.