Say You Love Me(16)

“It was really Mila that wanted some advice from you,” Sally said with a wary smile, her eyes looking like a deer in headlights as her face went slightly red.

“Oh, God, she’s not having problems with TJ already, is she?” I groaned and shook my head. “I’m not sure what she wants me to do.”

“I don’t think she’s having problems with TJ.” Sally smiled and shook her head. “You’ll have to ask her next time you see her.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “Though it wasn’t nice of her to stand you up as well. You showed up at my place pretty early.”

“Yeah, she should have let me know.” Sally nodded and looked down. I noticed that her tongue was licking her lips again and I wondered what they tasted like most right now: chocolate, blueberries, syrup—or a mix of all three.

“Though I suppose a free breakfast doesn’t hurt.”

“Free?”

“Yeah, it’s on me.” I winked at her. “Does that get me any rewards?”

“Rewards?” She looked at me curiously.

“Rewards, points, treats?” I grinned at her, not sure why I was flirting with her, but not wanting to stop.

“Why would you get a reward?”

“Because you want to give me one?”

“Ha-ha, I want to give you a reward?” She glanced up at me under veiled eyelashes. “What makes you think that?”

“The way you’re licking your lips and staring at the pancakes so lovingly. I think I’ve taken you to fantasyland.” I winked at her.

“Fantasyland?” She cocked her head and laughed. “With some pancakes?”

“I think I’ve given you a food orgasm, at least.” I stared into her eyes. “Right?”

“A food orgasm?” she said, her face turning slightly red. “Really?”

“Yeah. Though I suppose a real orgasm would have been nicer.” My voice dropped as I stared at her, wanting to see how she’d react, knowing I was close to crossing a line. A line that was almost invisible.

“Uhm…” She looked away from me and I felt a knot turning in my stomach.

“Too far?” I asked her a bit too loudly, but wanting her to know I was joking, even if I was only half-joking. I was confusing even myself at this point.

“Yes, too far.” She laughed, her eyes looking back up at me, a light of some emotion I didn’t really recognize reflected in her irises.

“You’re used to it, though. With me.” I laughed and reached over. “Let me try these awesome pancakes before you scarf them all down.”

“You want to try them?” She looked surprised. “After all that smack talk?”

“Hey, I’m the king of smack talk.” I laughed and grabbed her fork and pressed down into the pancake and then took a large bite. It was overly sweet, though the pancake was of a good texture. The blueberries melted in my mouth along with the chocolate and I could feel an immediate sugar rush going to my head. Sally was looking at me expectantly, wondering how I was going to react to her meal. I was about to make a joke and tell her it was gross and overly sweet and a sure race to diabetes, but something stopped me. “Not bad.” I chewed and swallowed and gave her a smile. “I guess I know why you’re so sweet,” I said and gave her another small wink.

“I told you they weren’t that bad.” She smiled back at me happily, her face alight and glowing as she stared at me. “Now give me my fork back. You can’t finish them.”

“Darn.” I laughed. “I wanted to eat about ten more bites.”

“Oh, Cody.” She burst out laughing. “You don’t even like them.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked her questioningly.

“You don’t like sweet stuff.” She giggled. “You forget I know you well.”

“I don’t mind sweet stuff.”

“You much prefer savory to sweet.” She shook her head. “And I saw your face when you took a bite just now, you winced for a second. And then you touched your forehead as if the sugar had run there immediately.”

“You noticed all that?”

“What can I say? I’m observant.” She grinned. “So while I thank you for pretending you thought my choice of breakfast was delicious, I know you didn’t actually think that.”

“Aww, foiled again. You got me.” I sat back. “So you got any plans for the rest of the day?”

“Not really.” She shook her head. “You?”

“I was going to watch the game.”

“The game?” She looked confused and I laughed. “Basketball?”

“Nah.” I grinned at her. “It’s football season.”

“Oh, okay.” She gave me a weak smile. “I had no clue.”

“It’s okay.” I laughed. “Most girls don’t care.” I paused then. “Wait, some girls care, I know that. Don’t think I’m sexist.”

“I don’t think you’re sexist.” She grinned. “I don’t care if you think I’m into sports or not. We both know I’m not.”

“You used to play tennis, though.”

“Yeah, but I never watched it.” She looked up at me then in surprise. “I can’t believe that you remembered that. I didn’t even play for very long.”