Love Arranged (#1)

Chapter Thirty-Five

But in my defense, I hadn't eaten since breakfast because Jess was already ringing me up so early in the morning, telling me to get up because she'll be picking me up to go to her house.

In a way, my body was calling out for these damn things.

But now that I've gathered enough energy to confront Evan regarding his issue with Beth, I finally pushed my third plate aside (which was shocking considering back then I'm only ever able to consume at least one plate) as I turned around to see that Evan finished as well, all the while as I stood up and made my way towards him.

We were in the kitchen and the others were done too, and Evan decided to wait for me as I was too busy basically digging my face into my plate like an animal.

"So... hey." I greeted as Evan turned around from his seat to face me "I'm done-"

But I wasn't even able to finish my sentence when a very unladylike burp came out of my mouth, automatically causing my hand to shoot up as I covered it, embarrassed.

He couldn't help but smirk "I'm assuming you enjoyed your meal?"

I squeezed my eyes shut, wanting to sink to the floor "Why are you attracted to me again?"

He laughed as he stood up from his chair, taking my hand in his and looking at me as if I didn't just produce the most barbaric sound of all time "Because you go from acting like a princess, scolding me about not washing my hands before I ate to devouring three plates of burgers and emitting a burp that I would've assumed was Zach's if I didn't know it was you." he teased as I rolled my eyes, though I couldn't resist the smile creeping up my face.

"I was hungry and I didn't get to eat breakfast because Jess woke me up so early that I didn't get enough sleep as well," I said, and just then I yawned to confirm it.

Evan scrunched his nose at that "Yeah, and your breath still smells like burgers too."

Oh. My. God.

I groaned as I covered my face "Ugh, why am I so gross today?"

The sound of his laughter resonated loudly inside the room, his hands still on my cheeks as he gently pulled my palms away from my eyes so I could look at him.

"You're not, don't worry."

I snickered, "Yeah sure, prove it."

He grinned mischievously before he quickly pecked me on the lips, causing my face to heat up as he leaned his forehead against mine, laughing softly.

"If you were gross, I wouldn't have done that."

"You're so cheesy." I retorted, amused.

We stood there for a while just staring at each other, with his warm, rough hands caressing the sides of my face as I lifted my own and intertwined them with his, my thumbs fiddling with his own as he looked at the gesture, grinning.

I smiled back at his reaction, leaning toward his touch "But I like it when you're cheesy though," I added, "It's comforting."

He hummed at that, quite pleased. "Then it would be more cheesy if I were to say I have to go ask Jess if we can come home early so you can get some rest?" he suggested as my lips curled up at the idea "And maybe then we can also talk about... Beth."

The light-heartedness of the situation immediately simmered down as I pulled away from him, and it was obvious my withdrawal bothered him as he watched me move with saddened eyes and a frown glued to his face.

"Yeah sure," I told him. "Go ahead."

He just stared at me for a prolonged moment before he heaved out a sigh, taking a step forward as he gently grasped my chin, tilting my face up so I would face him.