A/n: omg last chapter was such a ride! I loved seeing all your reactions and comments ❤️
Also I'm hoping that y'all who have been following this story while it's still being posted and hating on me for continuously ruining things for these guys have stopped hating me now 🤣
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We spent the next few days baking and laughing and kissing in the kitchen while waiting for the oven to preheat. Whenever Everett had work shifts we spent the time hanging out at the cafe, kissing whenever his parents weren't around and just basically being in love. It felt like a wonderful thing to say...being in love.
Look at me, I've turned into a sap.
I shook my head to clear it of its sappy little thoughts as I leaned over the cafe countertop. Everett was crouching beside me, arranging brownies in a horrible, untidy row.
"Come on man." I groaned as I saw what it looked like from the display side. "At least make them look presentable."
"Sure dude, whatever you say bro," he joked, tugging me down and kissing me behind the counter. My lashes fluttered shut for the sweetest, dizziest moment.
"Hey! Boys!" Everett's father clapped his hands loudly, glaring at us as we reluctantly broke the kiss. "Not during your work shift. Come on."
Everett's mom just giggled and slapped her husband lightly on the shoulder. "Oh let them be, Rob."
"Is your mom okay with us dating?" I whispered to Everett as he went back to arranging the brownies, "I thought she didn't like me much."
"Oh, that...uh." He fumbled with the tray. "No, she's fine."
"Why didn't she want to let me in the other day?" I asked skeptically, realizing he had avoided the topic then too.
"Erm, maybe she just wanted me to get over you. I guess she was sick of hearing me talking about you all the time."
"You were talking about me?" A smile tugged up the corners of my lips.
"Maybe more like obsessing," Everett admitted, "I might have been constantly whining about, um...all the mixed signals you were giving off."
"I'm sorry about that, that was really dumb."
"I was just sort of confused, but I should've probably asked you straight out." He dumped the last of the brownies all on top of each other. "I guess we were both being idiots."
"Yeah." I grinned. "Makes me wonder how we managed to convince Holly we even knew each other."
"Hey, I think todays actually the last session," Everett said, cocking his head to the side, "Do you wanna go? You know, for old times' sake." He grinned.
"Yeah, that would actually be pretty fun." I paused. "But first let me fix that display."
"What's wrong with my display?" Everett asked, staring at his handiwork.
A few of the brownies were broken and loose crumbs were scattered around the tray. He had somehow managed to get some on his face as well.
"Were you eating those?" I asked.
"Only the broken ones."
I glared at him. "You just say that and then you break them on purpose."
"Me? I would never!" Everett tried to sound offended as he picked up another brownie from the corner and shook it hard. "But if this one somehow happens to break, I'll share it with you."
"You can't bribe me," I said indignantly as I shoved Everett aside, fixing the awful brownie display into something people would actually want to buy.
We walked to Doctor Wrinkle's office once that was done. The air was turning cold, crispy leaves blowing in the wind. Everett's hand slipped into mine, interlocking our pinkies. We kissed against the side of a bright red mailbox, dallying for so long that we were almost late for the appointment.
But when we got there, we were led into the empty counseling room and told that Holly would be there shortly.
"I guess she thought we wouldn't be back," I said, glancing around the colorful office. It felt cozy to me now, walls lined with bookshelves and sofas piled with throw cushions.
Everett slid closer to me on the couch, an arm slipping around my shoulder. "I guess we're just stuck here in this empty office then, all alone...with no one to give us counsel."
"Yes, that's too bad," I muttered, "Whatever shall we do."
"I can think of a few—"
I rolled my eyes and interrupted him with a kiss. Everett's fingers wound in my hair as I felt him smiling against my lips. I snaked my arms around his waist, pulling him on top of me.
The air grew hot as his mouth moved against mine. Sweet caramel filled my senses as his tongue ran against the edge of my bottom lip. My hand slipped beneath his shirt as the kiss deepened.
The office door flung open so suddenly that I pushed Everett off my lap and he tumbled to the floor.
"Hey!" He glared up at me, rubbing at his freshly bruised forearm.
Holly stood at the doorway, bug-eyed and slack-jawed. Blinking, she twisted her hair into a topknot and stuck a coloured pencil through it to keep it in place. "Are you guys actually dating now?"
Everett and I stared at her in utter shock until the words registered in my mind, a surprised exclamation leaving my lips.
"You knew?!"
A/n: y'all...I think I found Everett's dating profile