More Than Friends | Cody Herbinko

Unholy Angels Part 1

We go downstairs, and Mom and Dad are sitting in the kitchen eating some eggs and toast.

"Morning, honey!" Dad chirps, taking a bite of his eggs as he reads the paper.

"Do you want some eggs?" Mom asks me, sipping her coffee.

"I'm good, thanks." I smile, and she nods. "We're going to the mall, so we'll be back later."

"Sure, have fun," Dad says. I give them a wave and go outside. Hopping in Cody's Jeep, I let Cody put on 1D.

I message Arden some more, goading him to come to Pennsylvania.

"How's Operation Douchebag going?" Cody asks, driving along and taking a left turn.

"Good. He won't agree to come here, yet, obviously, but I'm getting there."

"Nice," Cody replies with a grin. He makes another turn, and I message Arden again. I see Cody move out of the corner of my eye, and he puts a hand on my thigh. I look at him and raise an eyebrow. "I've always wanted to do that."

"Touch my thigh?"

"No!" he laughs. "I mean put a hand on a girl's leg while driving."

"Dangerous," I comment.

"I'm a bad boy." He shrugs as he stops to let an old lady cross the street.

"So bad," I say wryly.

"So fucking bad," he replies before bursting into laughter. He puts both hands on the wheel again, and I laugh with him.

"That was kind of awkward, babe."

"I know, but I still liked it."

"Same," I say with a chuckle. We eventually arrive at the mall, and Cody pulls into an open spot. We get out, and I take Cody's hand in mine. Walking into the mall, Cody looks at me.

"What?" I ask him, smiling.

"You know what we should do?"

"Hmm?" I hum as we walk along.

"We should get matching tattoos."

"That would be cool," I reply, looking at Cody's butterfly tattoo.

"Like, you should get this same tattoo, and we could put each other's names under them or above them or wherever," Cody says with a bright smile, his eyes twinkling at the thought.

"That'd be so fucking cute, like, total relationship goals," I say, swinging his hand.

"We obviously can't get it today, especially since you haven't even asked your parents, but it would be nice, sometime." We walk past the Italian restaurant that we saw Lindsey and Jared in, and I feel Cody tense a bit beside me.

"It would be nice." I sigh contentedly. "It would be amazing." I say, looking at his face. "You okay?"

He looks into my eyes and nods. "I'm okay because I'm with you." He kisses my cheek, making me blush. We arrive at Starbucks and get in line. Considering it's still pretty early, it's surprising that they already have a line. Once we can order, I get a chocolate caramel muffin and a caramel macchiato. Cody orders a coffee and an old-fashioned glazed donut.

"I already ate, but I want to share a donut with you."

"That's so fucking cute," I tell him, knocking his shoulder with mine.

"New couple?" the barista asks with a laugh.

"Yeah. How'd you know?" I say.

"The new couples are always the cutest," she says with a grin.