Not That Other Stuff

**Previous entry with Nat and Adam can be found here.

Smug, he nudges my shoulder with his shoulder, Adam says, "See. Nectar of the gods."

"You are right." I concede.

Turning to Alex, I say, "How do keep yourself from eating all this ice cream?"

Giggling, she answers, "I don't."

We share another smile. The Sisterhood of Sweet Stuff.

Alex clears her throat. "I'll be in the back if you need me," she says, as she heads to the back room of the store.

Adam gestures to the tables in front of us. I head towards one by the front window and take a seat. Adam sits down across from me. 

In between bites of his ice cream, he says, "Did you have a place like this growing up?"

Taking another bite of ice cream, I question, "What kind of place is that?"

He states, "You know. A place where you always went with your family."

Giving it some thought, I respond, "There was this cheeseburger place. Chub's Cheeseburgers. We would go there every Sunday."

Laughing, Adam replies, "Chub's Cheeseburgers?"

Licking the ice cream off the spoon, I quip, "Yep. That was the name. Best burgers and milkshakes in town."

Adam chuckles, "Was the guy who owned it actually named Chub?"

Smiling, I say, "His nickname was Chub, but actually, he was a really skinny, tall guy. Whoever gave him the nickname sure had a since of humor." And because I am feeling a little extra bold, I say, "Want to guess how I like my burgers?"

Rubbing his jaw, Adam considers it and says, "Black bean burger with alfalfa sprouts?"

Wrinkling my nose, I respond, "Definitely not."

Taking a lick of his ice cream, he rolls it around in his mouth. He goes after another mouth full. I can imagine the wheels turning in his head.

For a minute, I'm mesmerized by his mouth. He has such nice lips. Beautiful, full lips.

"Medium well with blue cheese, mayo, lettuce, onion and tomato?", Adam questions.

My eyes snap up to meet his.

I  realize I had been staring at his mouth, with my hand holding the spoon frozen half-way to my lips.

Smooth, Nat. Super smooth.

Just because it's been a while since you've had a make-out session does not mean you are hard up.

Get it together.

He's probably like this with every girl.

I swallow. Pushing down my feelings of lust towards this guy who I barely know.

Who am I?! I don't do things like this.

I give him a brief nod as I close the distance between my spoonful of ice cream and it's final destination.

His eyebrows briefly go up. "That is really how you like your burgers?"

Lifting one shoulder in a brief shrug, I state, "Well, technically, I also like bacon on it too."

Quickly, Adam snakes his hand out and grabs my hand with the spoon. He brings it to his chest.

Jokingly, he announces, "A women who loves bacon on her cheeseburgers! Be still my heart! Where have you been all my life?!"

Rolling my eyes, I quip, "Hilarious."

He answers, "I thought so." 

He is still holding my hand with my spoon smashed between our palms. His eyes twinkle in amusement.

One heartbeat. Two heartbeats. Three heartbeats.

His eyes turn dark and heady. There is a different look there now. No longer amusement. More like wanting.

I lick my lips with a sudden nervousness. His eyes follow the movement.

Breathe. Just breathe.

This is a game to him, remember?

With as much snarkiness as I can muster, I say, "Bravo. Especially those bedroom eyes. How many times has that worked?"

Adam blinks. His brow furrows. "What?", he says.

Signaling an end to the conversation, I abruptly get to my feet, grabbing my cone and few napkins. I throw them in the trash and turn around.

Shoving my hands in my coat, I say, "Okay, where to next, Mr. Man-Boy Wonder?"

Adam open and closes his mouth to say something. Then that infuriating grin is back on his face, totally unfazed.

Getting up from the table, Adam saunters towards me and throws the remnants of his ice cream into the trash, leaning close as he does so.

His closeness unnerves me. He smiles smugly as if he knows.

Then, Adam turns heads to the door and tosses out over his shoulder, "You'll see when we get there. Come along, snow bunny."

It's the snow bunny comment that ruffles my feathers. It gets me fired up, irritates me.

This. This, I can deal with.

Not that other stuff.


Oooh, I'm really liking this interplay between Adam and Nat. I think they have good chemistry but where will it lead?
Now, all this talk of burgers makes me hungry. I think I'll go get something to eat...