He kissed me.
And I kissed him back.
It's seemed he regretted it though so maybe he did it on a whim or he's just touch starved. I do know one thing though, I don't regret it at all. To be very honest, I had been wanting to kiss him since the second week living with him.
I had the fattest crush on him and it wasn't just because he was hot (That was a plus), but because I had really gotten to know him and his weird, yet charming, quirks. Like when he mumbles to himself and his eyes start to flutter. Or how hes on time to everything, opposite to me who is late for everything. One time I even pranked him and told him that he was late to something Kal invited us to when in reality we were 5 minutes early. He started apologizing to me over and over again until I told him I was just kidding.
He also did little things that showed me he cared. When we would eat together he always gave me my food first, whether it was take out or if he cooked. When I hang out at the bar he always keeps his eyes on me and tries to stay with me while glaring at anyone and everyone who tries to hit on me. And then there was last night on the walk home from the grocery store. He was so protective it was like someone else was in control of his body. It was kind of hot.
But was he protective because he sees me as a friend or god forbid a little sister like Kal does? Then again, you dont kiss your little sister. I hope you dont.
I felt giddy because of the kiss but the realization of his regret made my heart sting a smidge. I wanted to talk about it, but him fleeing to his room didn't really allow us to do that. I don't want to force him to talk about it, but if I don't we may never speak again.
I let out a frustrated sigh and stay where I am. I've never been the pushy type so I decided not to force him to speak with me. Hopefully it will come up naturally and we can talk about it.
Spoiler: it did not come up naturally.
A day went by. Then a day turned into 5 days. And 5 days turned into 7. He avoided me like the plague. I was majorly butt hurt by this, but tried to keep my cool.
I would say a small hi when we crossed paths or even tried to make conversation when we happened to be in the room together. Everett, however, would only grunt in response or just say a stoic "Yeah."
Needless to say, he was pissing me off.
I talked about it with my best friend back home who said I should just lock him in a room and force him to talk to me, but there was no way I could do that. And The last person I was going to discuss this with was Kal. He would ask too many questions and he doesn't know how to keep a secret. The whole bar would know about the kiss.
I didn't know what to do or how to talk to him. Currently I was stress baking at my store. We sold out quickly so i guess my stress was helping my company continue to thrive.
Kneading dough, icing cakes, and candying strawberries filled my day. It made the day go by quick but didn't help my brain turn off the thoughts of the beautiful redhead living under the same roof as me.
I needed to talk to him. I wanted to let him know how much I wanted him not only as a friend but hopefully more. That kiss was a small glint of hope that maybe, just maybe he felt the same.
"Hey Boss, I'm leaving. The register is closed and I counted it." My employee, Marcos, comes into the kitchen only opening the door wide enough to talk to me before he leaves.
"Thanks Marcos. Good work today. Have the others left too?"
"Yeah, Ray and Gene cleaned up and went home." He smiles as he talks.
"Okay great. I'll lock up, get some rest."
He nods his head, but doesn't leave. He looks behind him and then back at me. He comes all the way in with a concerned look.
"There's some guy here saying he needs to talk to you. Should I stay? He's kind of scary looking." Marcos whispers obviously scared whoever's out there gonna hear him.
I look at him confused and kind of amused before going to the kitchen door and looking through the rectangular window on it. I smile as I see Everett standing there with his hands in his pockets and nervous look on his face. He looks far from scary. If anything he looks like a kid getting ready to get yelled at by their mom.
"I'll be fine. He's my roommate. Go home and enjoy youre day off." I turn to Marcos and open the kitchen door. He nods with another smile and walks past me.
"Everett, come in." I say putting on a wide giddy smile at the sight of him. I didn't see a reason o hide my excitement.
Everett looked at me and smiled nervously as he walked into the kitchen.
"You don't usually come to my job, what's up?" I ask while putting away the equipment and dishes I used and cleaned.
He keeps his hands in his pockets as he watches me clean up. Silence stays for a few seconds before he speaks up.
"I...uh...I wanna talk about what I did." He speaks as if he murdered someone which confuses me.
"You mean when we kissed, right? Or did you commit some heinous crime I'm not aware of?" I chuckle a bit.
"Yes, the kiss. I shouldn't have done that, especially without your permission. It was stupid and rude of me to do." As he speaks he stutters a bit and his eyes do the thing. He looks like he's about to have a straight up panic attack.
I walk up to him and gently grasp his arms with why own hands. I smile up at him reassuringly and watch as his roaming eyes focus on me.
"Everett, it was far from rude or stupid. I liked it."
I move my hands from his arms up to his face, having to stand on my tippy toes to do so comfortably. He obviously takes notice and bends down slightly for me, causing our faces to come closer.
"I liked it too, but I- I just. It can't happen again."
"Why not? Wait do you have a girlfriend or something?" I pull away slightly about to take my hand away from his face, but he puts his own on top of mine keeping them in place.
"No, of course not. But you do and-"
The kitchen door swings open making both me and Everett release eachother quickly. We look to see Kal standing at the door with a bottle of wine in his hand and a shocked look on his face.
"Did I interrupt something? I can wait." He turns around to leave but I Everett stops him.
"No, stay. I gotta get home and get ready for work.." Everett says putting his hands in his pockets and walking toward the door.
I feel overwhelmed by the whole ordeal and end up not stopping him or clearing up whatever misunderstanding there was about my relationship status.
"See ya later bud." Kal says patting his back as he leaves the kitchen.
I hear the bell chime as he leaves and immediately start to question Kal.
"Did you tell him that I'm seeing someone?" I ask watching Kal pull out a wine bottle opener from his pocket and set the bottle down on the counter I just cleaned.
"No, why?" He asks focused on opening the wine.
"Nevermind." I sigh and go sit down next to Kal on a small stool.
"Were you two making out before I came in." Kal chuckles finally popping open the wine.
"No," I roll my eyes, "We were talking."
"Yeah sure. Talking. Anyways, I need you to give me the keys and leave." He says getting off his stool and going into my office which is connected to the kitchen.
"Why?" I follow him to my office and watch him reach into one of my cabinets pulling out 2 wine glasses. I'm not sure how he knew those were there.
"I met this chick, but I don't want her to come to bar. We need privacy." He winks and walks past me again with the wine glasses.
"No way. I cook in here, it's unsanitary."
"We won't do anything. Just a date. If things get rowdy I'll bring her back to my place. Promise." He puts the glasses down and walks up to me holding out his pink.
I look at his pinky and back at him then roll my eyes giving up on being firm, "Fine just this once."
I connect our pinkies and he smiles happily.
"Thank you, Thank you. I'll clean up and lock up." He says as I hand him the keys.
"Yeah whatever. I'll see you later. Enjoy your date." I let out a chuckle before going out the kitchen door and then out the Cafe doors.
All I had on me was my phone and keys to the apartment. It was getting dark but not completely making the walk home pretty. It was that time of the year where summer was ending and fall was approaching, making it the perfect temperature.
Living in the city, passing alleyways was a usual occurrence. I tried not to look down them to keep my sanity, but for some reason today I did.
It made me freeze in my tracks.