Chapter Five – Man Tantrums
"Luna, we're all out of food!" I hear Maddox yell as he assumed I was upstairs.
I clear my throat as I walk into the kitchen, making him jump and turn around to notice me. He grins widely before shutting the door of the refrigerator.
Eva snorts, her eyes not once leaving her laptop as she scrolls through Facebook. "Are we out of food or just your candy?"
"Why do you hate me?" Maddox wails dramatically making her lips quirk in amusement whilst I laugh.
"I don't hate you...I just judge your decisions like the supportive friend that I am." She teases, turning to smirk up at him.
"Whatever." He huffs in mock anger before grabbing two large grocery bags and walking over to me. He drapes his arm across my shoulders before guiding me out of the kitchen. "Luna and I are popping out to get some food, want anything?"
"Just a cake."
Maddox and I halt and turn to look at her in confusion. "A cake? What's the occasion?"
"...it's my third cousin's birthday." She mumbles, avoiding our stare.
"You only have two cousins and they're twins born in July...it's November." Maddox deadpans, arching a brow.
"My uncle had an affair and now we have a half-cousin." She shrugs, putting on her poker face as she stares right back at Maddox.
We all stare at each other for a few minutes before Maddox shakes his head. "I'm not even going to – which one do you want?"
"Chocolate obviously." She smiles wickedly, leaning back in her chair and propping her feet up on the chair beside her.
"And you say I have a problem." He mutters, pulling me to the front door.
"What?!"
"Love you!" He yells back before he slams the door shut.
***
I walk into the supermarket with Maddox following close behind pushing a shopping cart. Placing the grocery bags at one end of the cart, I pick a bouquet of white tulips and catch up to him, placing them by the bags. We walk into the first aisle and grab some of the vegetables and fruit we were out of, a corner of the shopping cart filling up already.
Next, I grab two packs of bread and burger buns whilst Maddox grabs our favourite cereals. We walk on and chat about what else we need and what we can do without since our budget is limited. Every week, the three of us contribute some money for the grocery shop so in total we can buy a lot of things rather than just a few things. We find that it works better that way after discovering that our taste preferences are near enough the same.
Maddox runs over and quickly grabs a pack of bacon, ham and chicken before putting them into the cart and following me. We make our way through the aisles and I make sure that our daily essentials such as milk, eggs and butter are restocked.
But then we reach the aisle that I was dreading.
The crisps and sweets aisle.
Maddox had let go of the cart and is currently having a field day trying to decide on which sweets to get. Whilst he is doing that, I pick up Eva and I's favourite pack of crisps. When we had first moved into the apartment, Eva and I found that we like the same ones so whenever one of us go grocery shopping we always buy extra for the other.
"I think this should be enough, right?" Maddox asks as I walk over, holding about two party size packs, a pack of Snickers, lollipops and Eva's cake that he grabbed along the way.
"Put this back." I say, picking up one of the party size sweets and lollipops before holding it out to him.
"I'll pay!"
"Maddox, you already have sweets back home." I shake my head, unwilling to back down from this.
"You can never have too many! Think about Halloween!" He exclaims, making me roll my eyes.
"Halloween was last week."
"Think of the kids that didn't come to our house, we need to stock up just in case!" He replies, shaking the bag with wide eyes.
"You...have...an...addiction!" I grunt, trying to pull the bag from him.
"I object!" He argues, pulling the bag to his chest and trying to get my hands off it.
"Maddox give me the bag right now!"
"Over my dead body Lulu!"
"Don't call me that!" I snap, punching his arm.
"Lulu!" He almost yells, making my eyes widen as I try to slap my hand over his mouth when he continues. "Lulu! Lulu! Lulu!"
"You're acting like a spoilt brat! Let go!" I pull the bag towards me only to have it pulled back.
We engage in a tug of war and I'm too focused on getting the pack of sweets from him to think about the consequences. But all too soon the packet rips and horrified gasps escape us as the candy from the packet falls to the ground. I glare at Maddox before crouching to pick up the candy. He follows immediately and we manage to gather it back into the packet.
"Now we have to buy it." He grins wickedly as we stand back up.
Just as I am about to reply, a familiar voice calls my name...or rather my nickname. "Lulu?!"
I squeeze my eyes shut before sighing and turning around to see Kaden and Rico standing there with amused smiles, but Rico is biting his lip so he doesn't burst out laughing in the middle of the aisle. I honestly wouldn't judge considering what transpired seconds ago.
"Hey Lulu." Rico teases as he walks up to me with Kaden in tow.
"Hey Rico, hi Kaden." I mumble, my cheeks fiery red in embarrassment.
Kaden nods at me in greeting and I smile back at him. Though his eyes don't stay on me for too long and instead focus on the annoying person behind me incessantly tapping my shoulder. I notice one of his fists tighten and before he or Rico can say anything, I turn and pull Maddox forward.
"Guys, this is Maddox Parker, my housemate. Maddox, this is Kaden and Rico."
"Nice to meet you." Rico smiles while Kaden just nods again.
Maddox smiles widely and shakes Rico's hand. Kaden however, stares at me with a hint of anger and something else I can't make out. I frown in confusion and mouth "what," which he responds with a shake of his head before almost glaring at Maddox. I'm taken aback by his cold behaviour and wonder what got him so riled up, he seemed fine a few minutes ago.
He then switches his stare to Rico and their eyes almost seem to glaze over for a few seconds before they return to their normal colour. Rico coughs awkwardly before turning towards me. "So...are you two dating?"
"What?! No!" Maddox and I splutter, stepping away from each other.
"We're just friends." I add, noticing Kaden relax slightly.
"Yeah...besides, I'm trying to get our other housemate to fall in love with me." Maddox shrugs, making me gasp and drop the bananas I was moving away to make space in the cart.
"You what?! Since when and why didn't you tell me?!" I turn to him, offended that he didn't tell me he had a crush on Eva.
"It just never came up!" He replies in defence, holding his hands up in a surrendering motion. "Aw, I'm sorry Luna. Forgive me?"
He pulls me into a hug and I huff, crossing my arms and pulling away. "Fine. I forgive you."
"Good!" He cheers before his eyes twinkle playfully. "I'll let you know when I need help asking her out!"
"Really?!" I squeal excitedly before clapping my hands. "I can't wait!"
I had almost forgot that Kaden and Rico had been standing there watching our exchange. We turn back to them, my cheeks heating up in embarrassment once more as I mumble out an apology for ignoring them like that.
"No need to apologize, Luna." Rico chuckles, adding a pack of sweets to the trolley.
"So, you like baseball?" Maddox asks, pointing to the jersey Rico was wearing.
"Yeah man, I used to play for them a while back." Rico replies with a proud glint in his eyes as he traces the name of the team.
"Um, we still need to go to a few more aisles so I'll just do that if you want to stay and talk?" I ask Maddox who nods in reply before turning back to Rico and resuming their conversation about baseball.
I grab the trolley and start to make my way out of the aisle before I realise that Kaden is walking right with me. He smiles down at me when I notice him and I return the gesture, my breath hitching when he shuffles closer to let another customer pass. The tingles have me immobilized for a second and I know I'm a goner when I wish for him to touch me just so I would feel that pleasurable spark once more.
I step away to grab some other products from the frozen section, seeing a tub of cookies and cream ice-cream and deciding to grab it on an impulse. I know, I'm terrible but in my defence, I'm not as bad as Maddox.
When I turn back to place the items in the cart, I smile a little at Kaden who has taken control of the shopping cart and is now following me around. It seems like a natural thing; for us to be shopping in the local supermarket.
"So, do you live with another person besides Maddox?" He asks as I stop by the condiment section.
"Yes, Eva asked us to move in with her after we all became friends in first year." I reply, grabbing a bottle of ketchup just in case.
"Hmm...and you all have separate rooms?" He asks hesitantly, catching up to me.
"Oh yes! The house has three bedrooms so we all have our own space thankfully. I didn't think it would be like that though because normally you have to share rooms when in college." I reply, grabbing hold of the end of the shopping cart and helping him turn it around the corner.
"Yeah, you're lucky. I had to share one."
I stop and turn to him, his eyes already on me. "Where did you study, if you don't mind me asking?"
"I don't mind." He smiles and I'm stunned by how much more handsome he looks whenever he smiles. "I graduated from NYU in marketing."
"Oh wow! That sounds interesting, did you enjoy it?"
"Yes, although some days I didn't want to look at another assignment, the time I spent in college was amazing." He replies, making me giggle.
"I feel the same whenever I'm given another assignment to do. But I do love my course so it's worth it."
There is a comfortable pause in the conversation as I quickly grab the last few things before bringing them back to the cart. Checking that I have everything on the list, I start making my way to the checkout. I smile gratefully at Kaden who helps me bag my groceries before I pay for them.
Maddox pushes the cart towards the car, engaged in a conversation with Rico about which video games are the best. Kaden and I follow behind in silence, our shoulders brushing against the other with each step we take. He has his hands in his pockets, the wind making his hair move crazily. I want to reach out and push the strands away from his face but I stop myself.
"I forgot to ask for your number so I could know when to pick you up from work?" He suddenly speaks, making me look up at him.
"Kaden..." I trail off softly, looking down at my folded hands. "I'm sure you have better things to do than pick me up from work."
"I really don't." He smirks cheekily, making me laugh. "I would rather you be safe than hurt, Luna."
"But...why? We just met, you don't even know me."
"This way we can get to know each other." He shrugs, running a hand through his already tousled hair.
I sigh, staring at him as we walk. As if he felt it, he looks back at me and the hardness in his blue orbs melts. I smile and nod, reciting my phone number for him as I watch him type it into his phone. He nods as he saves it, putting the device back in the pocket of his jacket.
I look up to see Maddox closing the boot of the car with a loud slam, laughing at something Rico had said. Before I can take another step, Kaden stops me by grabbing my wrist. I turn with an expectant look on my face, watching as his eyes focus on the pair behind us.
His eyes meet mine again and without meaning to, I step closer. The action causes my cheeks to flood with heat and his lips quirk in response. I try to step back but his hold on me tightens, pulling me even closer. I rest my hand on his chest, wanting to put space between us so I could breathe easily. The proximity of our bodies is making my heart race and butterflies flutter in my tummy.
He lowers his head and I could take the chance and push myself up, making our lips meet. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"O-Okay." I squeak like mouse, wanting the ground to swallow me up from embarrassment.
He chuckles huskily, twirling a piece of my hair before stepping away. I let out a quiet sigh, waving at Rico when he joins the dark-haired man. Making my way back to Maddox, I get in the car and put my seatbelt on, my eyes focused on Kaden as we drive out of the parking lot.
If he keeps teasing me like that then I'm in trouble.
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
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- R.W.