|49| • Amelia
So this was Evie's new apartment.
His apartment was on the third floor, at first glance you could tell it was a spacious one.
The living room was wide and connected to a dining area, the kitchen being to the right of it.
I was about to take off my shoes seeing how glossy the vitrified tiles were, but he said I shouldn't — it was my home anyways.
Goodness, this man said such flattering things with a gentle smile while my heart palpitated as if I'd just run a mile.
Evie took me around, it had three bedrooms, one being a guest bedroom.
The master bedroom where he was staying was huge, it could easily fit two people — not that I was thinking of moving into his own room!
But I mean...cuddling in that soft-looking king-sized bed wouldn't be bad.
"This is lovely." I huffed out, how could he pay for this?
Was he really that well-off? He even still offered to pay my tuition to Gaston's Culinary Dream.
Hah, I felt like a leech. Were girlfriends meant to enjoy such luxury?
I smiled sadly, turning to face Evie was pulling off his flannel, leaving the fitted black top on his body.
It hugged his biceps, clinging to his hard chest and abdomen. My hands itch to at least feel it—
Amelia!
Goodness!
"Yeah? You like?" He asked hopeful, a smile on his lips. This made me giggle. Somehow I thought I was involved in his thought process when picking out this apartment. Nodding, I moved closer to him slyly. Rocking the balls on my feet.
I was in his home, we were now alone. There was no Saffron, no Abel, no Papa. Gee, this was a tad bit weird. As if reading the expression on my face, his hands moved to cup both sides of my waist pulling me closer. "Hey, what's wrong? You don't like it?"
I snapped out of it. How couldn't I like this beauty?
Nervously, I wrapped my arms around his shoulder.
"I do, silly! I'm just...nervous actually.
" We were close, his forehead inches from mine as he bent.
"Nervous? Why?" Everest asked, clueless.
Was I really going to be living here if I got into culinary school? I and Evie? With no one else?
"I..." I didn't know how to put it, nibbling on my lips, the only thing that seemed to help right now was being close to him, feeling his warmth. So I hugged him, pushing myself against his chest. He seemed taken aback by my sudden action but hugged me tighter.
After what seemed like a minute, I felt myself being lifted off the group. "Evie!" Where was he taking me that I couldn't walk to?! How easy was it to lift me off the ground? He did it so effortlessly! Clutching my legs to his waist, I hid my face in embarrassment, feeling like a little kid.
"I'm not going to drop you, you know?" He chuckled, sounding amused. "You better —" "Evie!" I was cut off by my own squeal when he twirled us around, my body almost disconnecting from his. I squeezed my grip on him tighter. This time, he laughed. "Not funny!"
"C'mon baby, trust me." Glaring at him, I pouted my lips, not wanting to kiss the floor with my teeth.
"You fit so well in my hold." He told me, his voice gentle.
My legs were still wrapped around his waist, hands steadying on his shoulder.
"Soft too," Everest said, caressing my waist and hips before giving it a poke.
"Evie!" I squealed, I was ticklish! The man hummed innocently, doing it once repeatedly.
"I'm going to fall! Stop!" I giggled, trying to get out of his grasp by wiggling but at the same time holding into him so I wouldn't fall. He was quite tall! Hence I was quite off the ground!
"Evie!" I whined, feeling water well up in my eyes, my head hot from laughing.
"I never knew you were so ticklish." He was enjoying this, the look on his face said it all.
"P-please!" We were now on the bed, he had taken off my sandals and hovered over me, his dangerous hands going over my body.
I was almost out of breath. The swats I attacked him with did nothing but motivate him.
"Please what? I don't get it." He asked, trying to keep a straight face but the smile broke through, when was the last time I was tickled? From giggles, I was now full-blown laughing, twisting all sides to get away from him but it just made it worse.
"E-Everest Simon! I-if I get m-my hands on you!" I squealed, trying to push him off me while laughing. "You'll do what? Hm? I'm not as sensitive as you little lady." He finally stopped, giving me time to pull away. I moved to the head post, guarding myself with my hands while catching my breath.
"Evil." I couldn't even say anything else, my tummy hurt from all the laughing. He smirked, snorting. "Evil? Me?" Here he was, crawling towards me. "Evie! Stop there!" He didn't stop until he was in front of me.
"Evie!" I was already moving my body in reflex, thinking of how his hands would poke around my sides until I was gasping again. "I haven't even touched you." He snickered, raising his hands. I squealed, swatting them away.
Everest gave me an expression before bursting into laughter of his own.
"You wriggled like a worm in salt." He said still laughing.
Huffing with my hot face, I glared at him.
"Evie! Please stop!" He mocked on a high note, showing me how I wiggled.
Flustered, I took the large pillow neatly arranged on the bed and hit his abdomen.
He was still chuckling, it was like it didn't even do anything!
Climbing on him, I tried tickling him as well but he just smirked at me, unmoving!
Huffing, I folded my arms, glaring at him as he sat up so I was straddling him.
"Told you," Everest said with a grin, his hands shaking around my waist. I squealed, about to get away from his grasp.
"Relax, baby."
His gentle words made me stay, still tending against his grip.
"I'm not going to tickle you anymore." The light mood has slowly gone, replacing itself with a more intimate mood.
We were alone for just a few minutes and I was already feeling my tummy twirl in excitement.
Biting my lip, I traced into his hold as he told me to.
"I missed you so much last night." Everest admittedly, dropping his head on the nap of my neck, resting on my shoulder. He pulled me closer so I was sitting on his inner thigh. I wore a dress so it hiked up until my entire thigh was revealed.
"I know, you called me, remember?"
When he called last night, I was worried, he had never called so late, sounding so vulnerable too. Playing with his hair, I let the comfortable silence take control.
He said he was thinking of the past, taking the blame for what happened to Gabe, of feeling sad even when people were around him.
I didn't blame him, I kind of understood.
"I wanted you close to me, I wanted to hold you tight and fall back asleep.
" He continued, holding me as I'd disappear.
So men like him got vulnerable too. It made me feel more connected with him.
"M-maybe I can sleep over tonight?" I hadn't gotten into the culinary school yet, so I hadn't moved in.
I wanted to be close to him tonight, to sleep in his arms. Before he called, I had fallen asleep thinking of him, and how it'd be when started to live together.
I heard some couples broke up for that simple reason, not being able to live together.
I hoped I and Evie weren't going to be like that.
"Really?" Evie asked, sounding ecstatic.
"Of course, you can." His brown orbs were honestly so pretty, and his smile too.
I held his jaw, the beard tickling my palms. "Then after the try-out, I could just come back here instead of taking me home," I said, liking the idea very much. He nodded, kissing my cheeks.
"That sounds like a good plan." He kissed closer to my lips, before trailing down my neck with him soft kisses. "Are you ready for the tryout?" He asked, proceeding to kiss close to my collarbone. My breath hitched, both hands against his chest.
The last time he did this, I asked him to. My cheeks heated up at the memory. I was practically melting inside then, even now. Clearing my throat, I tried to think straight. "Y-yeah! I practised a-all week for this." He was nibbling on my neck!
It felt weird...but a good kind of weird.
"Make sure you give it your all, okay?" How could he say that while sucking on my neck! What a pervert! Shutting my eyes, I nodded, my breath shallow. This was definitely going to leave a mark, but it felt good so I didn't want to tell him to stop.
He slowly ended his nibbling, giving the now-sensitive spot a gentle kiss.
Blushing, I turned away from him, my heart thumping loudly.
He could most likely hear it from how fast it was beating.
"Did that hurt?" He asked taking my chin to look at him.
Eye contact right now made me squirm. He looked so intently at me!
"N-no..." I trailed off, flustered.
He seemed to worry so I continued, "I-It felt good." I said, invisible steam coming off the top of my head from how hard I was blushing. If I was any lighter in complexion, anyone would think of turning into a tomato.
He smirked, biting his lip. That was quite attractive.
"Really?"
Narrowing my eyes, I nodded, the spot on my neck still tingling. This time, he kissed my forehead. Why was he kissing my lips!? Goodness, I was definitely going mad. Was this his way of teasing me? Kissing all over my face but not my lips? Pouting, I moved my hand to cup his jaw.
"Yeah, baby?" He asked innocently, a taunting smirk on his face. So he knew what he was doing.
"Kiss me darn it."
I huffed, inching my head closer before taking his lower lip in a kiss. "I thought you'd never ask." He chuckled, deepening the kiss. Everest's hands went around my waist, giving it a squeeze, before moving down, closer to my butt.
Wait a second, didn't I have an audition for the dream school about four hours from now?
"E-Evie wait, the audition." I stuttered as he kissed the remaining words off my lips. "You're the one who asked for it." He teased, kissing my bottom lips before pulling away. I blushed, still playing with his hair. I liked how soft it was.
"I like when you play with my hair." He said, leaning into my neck. "It calms me down." I was tempted to stay this way for a few more minutes, simply playing with his hair as his hands roamed. "It calms me down too," I say, gently moving his shoulder so I could get up.
When I did, I stretched out, my dress falling to my thigh. I decided on a mint green dress that hung to my waist and flowed to my thighs. I have covered the full length of my arms too.
Everest shifted on his bed to meet me, "When do you want to leave?" Since I was coming back here, I didn't feel as sad to be leaving so soon.
"We can go in a few minutes if you're ready."
He nodded, standing up to fix his bed. "Can I...use your bathroom?" I asked, not wanting to use the one in the guest room — call me clingy but I still wanted to be in his space. Evie smiled, "You don't have to ask, sweetheart."
My heart fluttered whenever he called me that.
Nodding, I happily skipped into his bathroom, closing the door gently behind me before resting my back on it with a sigh.
Was this a dream? Everything that had happened so far was nothing short of amazing.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I clutched my hand to my chest.
I didn't want us to change.
I loved us...
I loved him.
Shaking the fairly scary thoughts of things getting sour between us, I looked around his bathroom. Like a creep, I snickered to myself. So this was where Evie got naked and took his bath.
Wait, forget I said that!
Going to the sink, I rindless my hands, drying them with tissue paper. The toilet was scented of cinnamon and vanilla, was that the shower gel he used? His towel was cream-coloured, and the briefs that hung to dry were black. Squealing, I quickly tuned around. I felt like such a stalker right now.
When I had satisfied my curiosity, I went back into his room. He was already changed. Everest now had in black slacks and a white dress shirt which he didn't tuck in, giving it a casual edge. The first few buttons were undone and accessorized with a chain.
He looked yummy.
I mean — handsome. Gosh, who was the real pervert in this relationship?
"You look handsome, Evie!" I said with a grin like I didn't just call him yummy in my head.
Spraying his perfume, he finished off by putting a bit of gel on his hair.
"Thanks, sweetheart. I forgot to tell you how pretty your dress is.
" He hummed, extending a hand which I gladly took.
"Right? I like how well it fits." I said, smiling proudly for picking out such a piece during my shopping. "Are you ready to go?" He asked, putting a strand of my hair behind my ear. I nodded, suddenly feeling nervous.
I was going to show Chef Gaston why I wanted to be part of his culinary school. Gosh, that sent shivers down my spine.
"I'm ready."
The building was nothing short of amazing.
We reached the location in about an hour, I didn't know it wasn't so far from Evie's apartment.
It made the entire thing more convenient if I got in.
I grew even more nervous as I saw all the people around, many of them were close to my age, some older.
They were all here to get in, weren't they?
According to what I read, the school was accepting only Fifty pupils, which was why there was a tryout.
He wasn't going to accept a beginner into his culinary school.
He wanted intermediate chefs and professionals.
Gosh, this was beyond nerve-wracking. I almost felt out of place, had I practised enough? Should I just push it to next year?
A large hand caressing my thigh made me calm down a bit. I looked towards Evie, trying to smile through my fear. "Baby, you'll be fine. Okay? It's fine to be nervous, you just have to push through that." He said, leaning in to kiss my cheeks.
"Okay?"
Taking a deep breath, I nodded. Just push through it.
Easier said than done. "S-so where would you be?
" Unfortunately, Everest wasn't going to follow me in, he wasn't signing up for the cooking school as well.
That meant I was going to be left on my own.
I didn't want to be, my tummy swirled in anxiousness.
"I need to run some errands anyway. So I'll leave and come back in about two hours. Would you be done by then?" He was really leaving, won't he?
"I-I'll just call you when I'm done." The stutters didn't stop, of course, they didn't! I was in a foreign place, about to take a huge step in my life. He nodded, unbuckling my belt and his.
"You got this." He said, kissing my forehead since I'd applied gloss to my lips.
"I got this," I repeated, less confidently.
Hugging him, I finally got down from the truck, tightening the grip on my bag. When I closed the door, the thought dawned on me all the more. I was here, in Gaston's Culinary Dream.
This didn't feel real.
Waving him goodbye, I watched as he winked and drove away, leaving me on my own. This was it, it was time for me to stand on my own. Was I even ready for that? Holding my breath, I turned towards the crowd, seeing how everyone moved, spoke to each other and laughed.
I suddenly felt out of place.
Could I really take this step for myself?