It's a Love-Hate relationship

CHAPTER 36: What kind of creature are you?

I munch in immediately and let out a sigh of the greatest relief. The coolness of the ice cream with the slightly spicy taste mint brought along to my taste buds is absolutely delectable, with the tiny chocolate chips being a huge bonus to the entire taste exploding in my mouth right now.

"You might wanna control your animal sex sounds."

I choke on my ice cream and almost drop it, glaring at Caleb for spewing such nonsense.

"What?! You're the one who's moaning." He crosses his arms over his chest, his eyes trailing from my eyes to my lips. I gulp at the sudden realization and slowly eat my ice cream, my traitorous cheeks blushing to the highest extent.

"Do you want me to make you one?" I gesture to my cone and ask him but he simply shakes his head and hands.

"Uh...I don't do ice cream."

"What?!"

He nods in confusion and scratches the back of his head.

"You're telling me you've never...had such kind of ice cream?" My curiosity peaks at his silence and I eagerly wait for his reply.

"Delectable and weird but tasty desserts are served in restaurants I go to. Those are the only places you could say that I've had various ice cream desserts at. I've never really had normal ice cream otherwise." By the time, he's finished with his speech, my jaw is wide open shamelessly but all I can think about is that...Caleb freaking Anderson has never had ice cream.

The right way or wrong way. None of the ways.

Damn.

"You have a sad life, my friend." The words tumble out of my mouth before I could stop them and I realize the depth they could have on him as flashbacks from the lakeside return to my mind.

He doesn't like his Rome.

His family, his home.... He doesn't like talking about it and my stupid statement might just have triggered something and I decide to distract him from it.

"Without ice cream. That is. Everyone has to and has to eat ice cream. You're missing out on heavenly delights, Caleb." His previously averted eyes meet mine again and his lips twitch in amusement.

"What exactly am I missing on?"

"This." I hand him my cone and tell him to wait. I quickly make another cone and hand it over to him. His eyes skeptically look at the ice cream cone as if he's internally investigating it. I shake my head and push his hand towards his face. I laugh as some of the ice cream lands in between his nose and lips. His mouth widens and he glares at me.

"Stop treating it like it's poisoned. Just have it. Besides, you have the best flavor in the universe to try as your very first.

"I want to put that damn ice cream on your face but knowing you, you probably won't mind it and instead lick it off." He sighs, shaking his head at me.

"You got that right. Now, eat it!"

He slowly moves the ice cream towards his mouth and takes a bite out of it. His blank face shows nothing as he continues savoring the taste in his mouth. All of a sudden, his eyes widen and he digs into his ice cream even more.

"Mm...this is so ducking food."

I laugh at his incoherent words and he clears his throat after wiping out some of the excess ice cream with a tissue.

"I meant to say, this is so fucking good." He says and continues praising his ice cream.

"Got to be. My choice after all."

We continue eating our ice creams, a comfortable silence settling in between us. I pout after my ice cream finishes and look at Caleb, only to find him staring at me. My breath gets stuck in my throat as he continues to analyze my face. His eyes dart from my lips to my eyes, back and forth.

"W...what?"

He doesn't answer me and takes two huge strides towards me, his cologne plus the fresh mint scent invading my senses and knocking my brain off its chair, with my heart taking over. His fingers touch my jawline and I take in a sharp breath, anticipating for what he would do next. It trails up until my lower lip and rests there all the while staring deeply into my eyes. I couldn't, at any cost, take my eyes off him. He swipes his finger along my cheek and then takes a step back.

"You had ice cream there." He wipes his hand with a tissue and smirks, completely aware of the fact that my knees are wobbly with the hot effect on my face. I look down to my feet, trying to think of anything to say but my mouth is dry and empty.

"So, what other flavors are there, tiger toes?"

"Tiger toes?" I furrow my eyebrows at the strange name and he simply shrugs.

"You're always fierce towards anyone. Your anger is always here." He pokes my nose and saunters in the kitchen as if it's no big deal. I gasp, my fingers rubbing my nose and at the same time missing the warm touch he has despite just eating ice cream.

"Choose whichever flavor you want." He says and points towards the different pints of ice creams in the cool room.

"You are opening the flood gates, Caleb. There is no turning back!" I say excitedly as the thought of the various flavors already makes my mouth water.

"Well, then let's both pick a flavor and then vote on the best." I laugh and jump towards the shelves, the sugar rush already kicking in.

And the night has just begun.