GRIFFIN
"You don't like chocolate?" Ariel gawks, big eyes even wider with surprise. My lips quirk in a smile that I squash before it gets too big.
We're sitting on the kitchen table, across from each other eating the eggs and pancakes she made. They are quite good.
"I don't see the appeal of sweet shit. Food is food. I would rather eat a nice steak." I shrug.
Her face screws up in disgust. "I can't eat red meat."
"And you think not liking chocolate is an outrage." I eat more eggs.
"Well you're eating the pancakes, and they have chocolate chips." she smiles all smug.
"Not these ones." I show her my plate. She made a few before she found the chocolate somewhere in my cupboards. She slumps.
"What about milkshakes? You must like milkshakes, they are a classic!" her eyebrows furrow with a frown.
"No." I rebuke.
"But they're made of icecream." her frown deepens into a pout. I feel my mouth twitch. Again.
"I am afraid that is the problem, tempesta." I finish off the last of my food.
"We can never be friends." She shakes her head. She looks up to meet my heated gaze. "What?" She asks.
I had something other than friends in mind.
"Nothing." I stand up, pulling out my phone and checking it as I walk to the counter to get coffee.
"You didn't bring your plate to the sink." Ariel calls behind me. I turn and look at her standing there, her plate in hand, hair slightly damp.
"You do not need to either. The housekeeper will be here shortly." I tell her, turning back to make the coffee. How the fuck do you make coffee?
I hear feet padding then dishes being placed in the sink, then I feel the small figure come up beside me. I look down at her.
"You know you have to actually make it and not just stare?" She asks. I glare at her. Her eyes glint in amusement. "You don't know how to make coffee?" She laughs. I glare harder. She smiles.
Why isn't she fucking scared of me.
"I can make it. And you can watch. It's an important skill to know Mr. Moretti. It'll help if you ever lost all your money." She smiles mischievously.
"That is not in the realm of possibility." I comment, watching her open the cupboard right above her head. She looks up with her lip between her teeth, then her face relaxes to a smile and she releases the plump lip from it's cage, it returns bright red.
Fuck me.
She reaches up, her fingers wiggling to reach for something. The crew neck raises at the bottom, revealing more and more skin of her creamy thighs and I will my eyes to look away but they prove stuck.
Her small grunt of frustration finally makes me look up, and I watch her, futilely attempt to get a bag of coffee grounds. I walk closer, my front to her back, I feel her soft curves against me and it makes my head spin. She freezes as I reach above her head to get it and hand it to her.
Ariel turns, looking up at me, caged between the counter and my body.
"Thanks. I could've gotten it though." Her cheeks dusted with a bright red tint. I hold back a smirk at her stubbornness.
"Perhaps, but I got it faster." I say, indulging her. She wouldn't have but she didn't need to know that.
"Did you know you're really full of yourself?" She asks.
"No." I let a small smirk appear this time. She rolls her eyes, pushing at my chest to make me step back.
"And stop caging me into corners, it could send the wrong message." She puts the coffee into the machine, starting it. "How do you take your coffee?" She asks.
"Black."
"Ew." She scrunches up her nose. "I should've guessed. No sugar?" She confirms. I just nod. She makes the coffee then pours it into a cup handing it to me. "There." She smiles.
"You aren't drinking any." I observe.
"I'm trying to cut caffeine. It makes me anxious." she tells me. Then why would she take the time to make mine?
"I'm going to go now. Thankyou for letting me stay and stuff." she gestures with her hands.
"You're not going by yourself." I dismiss. "Get your things. I'll be 5 minutes." I drink the warm coffee in one go, putting the cup on the counter as I walk into my room to change.
When I come out, I see the kitchen spotless, not a dish in sight, the sink is empty aswell. My eyes look for the small brown haired girl and I spot her by the window, looking into her purse, her back to me.
"Tell me everything." An annoying voice squeals from her cell phone on the coffee table.
"There's nothing to tell, Cia. Really," Ariel huffs, rummaging through her small purse. I should let her know I am here.
"What do you mean. I can't believe Stefan convinced you to go home with him, he must be really hot if you went." The voice sighs dreamily. "Was it great? How big is his-"
"Lucia Russo!" Ariel scolds.
Something ugly and green spreads through me, making my blood feel like acid running through my veins at the mere thought of another man touching her, being that close to her. Ever.
A ridiculous thought of 'I should have never let her go in college' stuns me. Who the fuck was I?
"What?" The voice questions.
"Look, nothing happened. He left me, midway. He tried to kiss me but it didn't feel right so I dodged it. Maybe that's why." Ariel sounds unsure.
Did she fucking want him to stay?
"But anyway, I really am at a," she pauses. "A friends." My jaw clenches.
"Of course. I should've known. You are after all the first 22 year old virgin on earth."
My shoulders tense. Fuck. Is she serious? I could have gone my entire fucking life without that knowledge.
"You do know that it isn't a joke if somethings true?" Ariel asks, her voice small and doubtful.
"I know I'm sorry. I just don't understand what you're waiting for." The woman over the phone sighs.
"I don't know. Something real. Safe." Ariel shrugs. "You know what, this is a very improper topic of conversation. I'll see you at home tonight." She grabs her phone.
I turn around, walking back into the room.
Fuck. My. Existence.
