Chapter 24
If the word stubborn had a mascot, Amber’s face would be it. If I googled the definition of difficult, her name would be the noun.
I finish off the tacos. They were delicious. When Amber finishes, she wipes her mouth and applies lip balm. Now I’m watching her like a fucking idiot, wondering what she tastes like.
She pops her lips and says, “Ready?”
“I’m just waiting on you,” I mutter.
She scowls. “Real nice.”
I chuckle, following her out to the parking lot. When I trail behind her to open the truck door for her, she turns to me and politely says, “I can get my own door.”
I’m tall enough to not listen and open it anyway. “I got it. Get in.”
She flicks those stunning eyes at me and listens.
When I start the truck, I say, “I know where to go for dessert.”
“Ice cream?” she asks, and I shake my head. I think watching her eat ice cream would put me in a coma. I’m trying to get this woman to lighten up, not murder me with cream on her lips.
“Better,” I say.
“So, is everything okay with you?” she asks.
“Yeah,” I answer.
“No,” she replies, and I glance over at her. “Matt, I can tell something’s wrong.”
“It’s that obvious, huh?” I ask. “It’s just shit with my mom. She’s been hiding something from me.”
“And that hurts?” she asks, hesitating.
“It’s annoying, but I guess I should be used to it. It’s nothing new.”
“And I’m your distraction?”
Shit, that’s where she was going with this?
I swear that I didn’t mean it in the way she’s making it out to be.
She is a great distraction, but I like being around her.
Everything’s a fucking challenge with her.
I don’t think anyone has given me as much shit as Amber has.
But the difference between anyone and her is that her hatred, her tone, her friendliness is all honest. She’s real, and in a world of status, braggers, and users, I appreciate it.
“Yes,” I say, and I don’t know if I’ll regret it later. Her face expression softens, so I ask, “Is that a problem?”
She’s staring forward, taking too long to answer. And then she says, “You’re taking me to Crumbl?”
I nod as a smile breaks on her face.
She says, “You…” Her brown eyes gleam as she watches me. “Do you know that cookies are my favorite thing in the world?”
“Well after you mentioned that you were more obsessed with cookies than with me, I figured you loved cookies.”
“Good guess, Pearson. I’m impressed.”
“You’re impressed?” I ask, making a funny face. Out of all the things to be impressed by, it’s this?
She shrugs. “Attention to detail, remembering small things. It’s–”
“I’m not mindless,” I say, glancing over at her. “You think I’m just an idiot?”
She shrugs. “Maybe.”
I shake my head while she laughs at me.
“Sometimes,” she says.
I pull into a parking stall and say, “Wait here.”
She folds her arms as I step out of the truck and open the door for her.
“You’re lucky that I’m very excited about these cookies.”
“I’m lucky?” I scoff.
She nods. “Yeah, otherwise, I wouldn’t respect you enough to wait for you to open my door. You know that I can open my own door, right? I feel like it’s very inconvenient for you.”
I take note that I have to keep opening the door for her to mess with her. If I listen to her, she won’t respect me. I need to keep gaining this respect. The glow on her face tells me that I’m on track.
Crumbl smells like heaven when we walk in.
Amber says, “This is my favorite smell.”
I don’t bother to read the specials of the week like Amber is. I get in line and wait to be called. Amber walks up next to me and says, “I want to get a regular chocolate chip and I’ll try the confetti.”
“You are cute,” I say sarcastically, but by the shock on her face, she didn’t take it that way, so I test her boundary and put an arm around her. She’s being generous. “Relax. I’m going to get you more than two cookies.”
“Two is all I can handle,” she says under my arm. I remove it just as quickly as I did it.
“I don’t believe that.”
She smiles, poking my rib. I laugh, dodging her fingers.
“I can take your order,” the cashier says. I walk up and order a box of the weekly specials.
“A 6-box of the specials and then a 4-box of chocolate chip cookies.”
Amber says, “Don’t order extra chocolate chips.”
I shrug. “You can eat them all tonight.”
She glares at me, so I say, “Or freeze them for later.” I look at the cashier. “I’m ordering it.”
“Thank you,” Amber says to the worker and then turns to me. “Do you ever listen?”
I clench my teeth, paying the cashier. “Do you?”
“Whatever, Pearson. Like I said before, I can only handle two cookies tops.”
As we’re walking to my truck, I have two boxes of cookies in my arms, so I say, “I have the cookies, so open your own door for once. Pfft,” I spit.
She walks to the driver’s side and opens my door for me. I pause as she waits for me to get in.
“Wow, Hughes. Nobody has ever opened my door for me,” I say, getting in.
“Do you like it, princess?” she asks.
“Yeah, this is kind of nice. Do you wanna buckle me in too?”
“Buckle you in?” she scoffs. “Buckle yourself in.” Right as she says it, I think she regrets it because I see her slowly changing her mind as she hesitates to shut my door. I put the cookies in the back seat. She huffs. “Fine, but only this once because you bought me cookies for dessert.”
She pulls the seatbelt as much as she can and then steps up to reach over.
First, her scent hits me and then her long hair tickles my forearm.
Her thighs are pressed against my leg. She’s trying to get her hair out of the way so she can see.
I help her and then I hear the seatbelt click.
She steps back, falling on the ground with her two feet.
I loved that more than I should have. Now I know why Michelle always wanted me to buckle her in. It’s hot.
“There,” she says, proud of herself. She grabs the seatbelt strap and it flicks back on my chest. “Good. It works.”
She shuts the door and walks around the front of the truck. I wait for her to get buckled as I point to the back. “Should we buckle in the cookies too?”
She laughs.
“So, wanna eat them at your place?”
“My place?” she scoffs. “You are just inviting yourself everywhere that I am, aren’t you?”
I smirk. “I thought you were used to that by now.”
“So, uh, why can’t we go back to your place?”
I shrug. “I live with three other guys.”
“Oh,” she says.
“Yeah. I’ll leave it up to you.”
She takes a moment to think. “Whatever house is closer because I really want a cookie. Do you smell that? They smell incredible.”
“Yeah, they smell pretty good.” I start the truck and drive off.
“Whose place is closer?” she asks.
“That would be mine.”
She turns the music on as we drive to my place. I’m peeking over at her, wondering what it will be like when she has to pretend to be my girlfriend. She’ll have to be much more submissive than the state she’s currently in. I’m not sure I’ll like that.
When we pull up to my place, she says, “Do you want me to open the door for you?”
I joke, “Yeah, and unbuckle me.”
She leans over and presses the button. The seatbelt reels in as she lifts a brow. “I will not be reaching over you, Pearson.”
“Why not? It was kind of–”
“Let’s get out of here. I really want a cookie.” She opens her truck door, ignores me, and grabs the cookies from the back.
She doesn’t wait for me as she walks to the front door. I take a box from her arms and then open the front door, letting her walk in first.
“Who’s this?” Christian says when he turns around. “Oh, shit. I didn’t see you, Matt. I thought some hot chick was just walking in here.”
“Hi,” Amber says.
Zack is playing video games with him but hasn’t looked at us yet.
Christian says awkwardly. “Hi.”
“Christian. Amber. Amber. Christian. Zack.”
“Hi,” Amber says again.
Zack looks over and nods. “What’s up, Amber? Hey, you guys work together.”
Amber grins. “Yup. That’s me. Matt’s coworker. Want some cookies?”
“Fuck yeah,” Christian says, but I’m stopping her.
I say, “After. You can offer it to them after.”
“I told you I can only handle two,” she says while Zack and Christian are watching us.
I shake my head, taking the boxes to the kitchen table. Bringing them to my room would be incredibly awkward, and she might fight me because of it.
I open the box and say, “Take a bite out of each one.”
“No, I’m going to share. I don’t care about the cannoli or the raspberry lemonade.”
I grab the raspberry lemonade and hold it to her mouth. I whisper, “Just take a bite.”
She whispers, “You want to feed me?”
I look at her lips. “Yeah, that’s why I bought them.”
I’m big enough to be blocking Christian and Zack’s view right now. I bring the cookie to her lips, and I’m surprised she’s not fighting me on this. It’s a good thing she loves cookies.
“Mmm,” she says, eating it. I take a bite and then put it back in the box.
“It’s rich,” I say.
“Yeah. Kind of tangy.” She finishes what’s in her mouth. “Not a huge fan, but it’s not bad.”
I grab the cannoli cookie and bring it to her mouth. She whispers, “You’re feeding all of them to me?”
I shrug. “If I can get away with it, then yeah.”
She takes a bite. “Oh,” she says with raised eyebrows. She has cream on her lips. “Not a fan.”
I take a bite. It’s creamy and tastes almost like custard but not quite. “Yeah, that one’s weird.” I put it back in the box and grab the vanilla cream cheese. “This one should be better.”
She opens her mouth to take a bite, and there’s something about feeding her that is turning me on. I think it’s how gentle and trusting she’s being. Maybe it’s the eye contact right as she starts to chew. Or maybe it’s just her.
“Good?” I ask as she nods, cleaning her lips.
I take a bite and say, “Yeah. Much better. That’s good.”
The confetti cookie is next. “Don’t you even think about it,” she says. “That one is mine.”
I reach for it, but she’s pushing my hand away playfully.
“Just a bite,” I plead.
She grabs the cookie and says, “I get to feed you this time.”