Chapter 10 #2
He shared, but swore to all hell, if he lived to be a hundred he would never understand women and the way their brains got from one point to another.
He leaned into her space, ignoring the pull of her so he wouldn’t be tempted to stick around too long where he shouldn’t. “I’m not going to be an asshole just so you feel better about your opinion of me.”
“It’s like you’re totally unwilling to try.” She nibbled at the coating of the candy in that way he’d discovered she liked to do. But this time her heart obviously wasn’t in it. She gave up and threw the whole thing into her mouth, eating it like a normal person, then she crossed her arms.
This, unfortunately, lifted her breasts up, up, up higher toward his line of sight.
Nice guys did not look down. He was trying very hard to be a nice guy, so he refrained. “Molly?”
Damn, his voice sounded scratchy. Not smooth at all. “Hmmm?” The sound came from deep in her throat.
The intense desire to reach for her in the dark, to touch her, to lift the armrest, and to fall into the space between them became a craving.
But…he didn’t have to move further into her space, because she leaned into him.
His breath caught, and someone pushed the pause button on life.
There were only inches of nothing but air between them. Her lips parted like she was either going to kiss the hell out of him or go after him with a verbal attack.
Honestly, he didn’t know which he would’ve preferred. But if she kissed him, she’d taste like caramel and chocolate and Molly, and he thought he could be really into that flavor combination.
The questions in her eyes echoed throughout him because, honestly, he didn’t know what the hell was happening between them.
So, he did the one thing he absolutely shouldn’t do. The two of them basically alone in a dark theater… He tweaked her on the nose like she was one of the boys, and he was being silly and hiding it from her.
Dad humor for the win.
Her eyes went wide, and her lips parted in apparent shock. Honestly, he hadn’t expected himself to do that either.
“Watch the movie.” He held the thread of her stare for only a moment before settling against his chair.
His retreat didn’t work because she followed him further into his space.
“I don’t like the movie,” she said. “And give me my nose back.”
He held up his hand, so she could claim her invisible schnoz.
She took it and mimed putting it back on her face. It made no sense why she still leaned over the property line of the arm rests into his area.
“Why don’t you like the movie?” he asked. She pinched her lips together.
Oh, hell no. She had a reason. And now he was invested in this conversation and wanted to know that reason.
“Molly?”
“I’m not saying.” This time she mimed zipping her lips. Things had been simpler when they ignored each other instead of interacting. Funny, though, he was becoming a fan of complicated.
“If you don’t like the movie, you can go do something else,” he suggested. Anything else. Anything other than chatting him up and making him question why he’d decided he needed to fast from female company.
“Perhaps I should read a book?” She lifted her eyebrows. “I like thrillers, too.”
Okay, fine, yes he’d hit up a coffee shop with a book instead of going on a date the other night. He wasn’t sorry about it. And he didn’t particularly like getting called out, either.
“Did you bring a book?” he asked, blinking innocently because she’d started it.
“No.” She fell back into her seat, letting out a little puff of air.
“Amateur,” he said under his breath, but loud enough that she’d for sure hear him.
She elbowed him in the arm. “I am the queen of dating. If I wanted to bring something to do, it wouldn’t be a book.”
Which begged the question…
Okay, he had to ask… “What would you bring?”
The sly way she smiled made him squirm, and he didn’t even know why.
“I’m not telling,” she said, all singsong. She gave him a feline grin that made parts of him stir that had been still for a very long time.
She was catnip, that was for sure.
“Are you going to make me guess?” he asked, since the movie had gone on ahead without them. And, really, this conversation was much better than anything happening on the screen.
“You can guess, but you won’t get it.”
“You’re probably right.” He could concede that easily. While he had spent a good amount of time on her YouTube channel, if there was one thing he knew nothing about? It was the dating habits of women. “Molly?”
“What?”
“I’m trying to watch the show.” He wasn’t. Not really. “By all means, let’s watch.” Her attention turned back to
the movie, even though he knew she wasn’t really interested either. Her arms stayed crossed, and she frowned. Then she yawned. Dramatically.
“Are you really so bored?” he asked.
She nodded. “They need to blow up a lot more automobiles to hold my attention.”
He pulled his phone from his pocket and held it out for her. “Do you want to play Candy Crush on my phone until the next car chase?”
“Do you have Crossy Road instead?”
“What’s wrong with Candy Crush?”
“You just bonk two candies together. It’s boring.”
“Are you kidding me?” He did have Crossy Road,
too, but Candy Crush was better. “It’s crushing candies together.”
“I can’t help if it feels more like a bonk.” She lifted her eyebrows. “Fine. Give me the phone.”
She reached for it, but he snapped it out of her grip before she could make contact. “No prank calling my brothers.”
She didn’t miss a beat, saying, “Can I snoop through your email, then?”
There wasn’t anything interesting there, but still… “Are you going to use the information you gather for good or for evil?”
Her expression was one of pure cartoon evil. How did she do that?
“I haven’t decided,” she said ominously.
He tucked his phone back in his pocket. “Then I’m afraid I can’t give my blessing.”
“I can always download Candy Crush on my phone, you know.”
“Ah, but I can give you level seventeen-hundred-and-forty-four.” Uh-huh, he played a good amount of Candy Crush while he waited for his boys.
“Are you two gonna hush up?” Molly’s neighbor lady—Agnes, yes Agnes was her name—glanced at them over the back of her seat.
Molly pointed at him. “It’s his fault.”
He shook his head and ran his palm over his face. “We’ll be quiet.”
“Dad?” Kellan asked from Gavin’s right.
Gavin jumped. Where had he come from? “What, kiddo?”
Kellan had an authentic glint of fear in his eyes that
made Gavin sit up taller.
The other two boys were milling in the aisle. They’d clearly gotten bored with the show, too.
“I think I might’ve accidentally put a Skittle up my nose,” Kellan said.
Might’ve? Accidentally?
Given the terror in his son’s expression, Gavin would put money that there was no might’ve or accidentally about it.