“Is this enough?” she asked.
“Depends on how many you’re eating,” I said, then smirked.
She grabbed one more of the chocolate ones. “Okay, there. We should be good.”
I headed toward the sofa and grabbed the remote control before sitting down. Ezmita put the cookies on the coffee table in front of us, then sat down beside me. Not as close as I wanted her but close enough for now. I’d adjust that after we ate.
“You like horror?” I asked her, knowing she’d seen a horror film with Brett last night.
She scrunched her nose. “Not really.”
That was interesting. I wondered why she’d seen one last night.
“Comedy?” I asked.
She nodded then. “Yeah, comedy is good.”
I handed her a spoon, then placed the container of ice cream on my knee. She stared at the spoon and then at me before she laughed. “We are going to eat it out of the carton?”
“Sure,” I said, not mentioning the bowls were all dirty. Besides, this made her move closer to me so she could get her ice cream.
I found an Adam Sandler movie and clicked it. I really didn’t care what we watched. I wasn’t here for the movie. I reached for a cookie and leaned back on the sofa to eat it as the movie started.
Ezmita was finishing her bite of ice cream as she studied the screen. I glanced down.… Nope, she wasn’t wearing a bra. Thank you, ice cream.
“Why did you watch Carrie last night if you aren’t into horror films?” I asked her bluntly.
She didn’t look surprised that I knew about her date with Brett. She lifted her left shoulder in a small shrug. “The only other option this weekend was Christmas movies. They do that Christmas in July every year on one of the screens. It’s annoying.”
She didn’t mention Brett. “Did you get scared?” I asked her, not liking the idea of her snuggled up to Brett. I had no right to care, but fuck it, I did.
“I didn’t sleep great,” she admitted with a scrunch of her nose. She placed her spoon on the plate beside the cookies. “I can’t eat anymore.”
“I’ll go put it away. I’m done too,” I told her, then stood and went to put the rest of the ice cream back in the freezer. She wasn’t bringing up Brett, so I wouldn’t ask. I didn’t need to know how close they got at the drive-in. Probably best I didn’t know.
She was leaning back on the sofa, her feet bare, legs bent and tucked beside her. She was leaning slightly toward where I was sitting. Good. She wanted to get close too.
I turned off the light and grabbed a throw from the beanbag. Sinking back down onto the sofa, I threw it over both of us. It was warm outside, but the air conditioner had things nice and cool inside. Ezmita laughed then, and I looked at her face to see she was watching the television.
She caught me watching her and grinned. “I haven’t seen this in forever,” she said. “I forgot how funny he is.”
Sandler’s earlier stuff was hilarious, but that wasn’t the mood I was going for. Damn, I should have put on a horror film and not asked. My interest in her date with Brett had messed that up. I put my arm on the back of the sofa behind her, and she leaned into me without missing a beat. That was easy enough.
Her scent was right there under my nose, making me crazy.
“What time do I need to have you home?” I asked her.
“Um, well, I don’t know. Since I snuck out, I guess there isn’t an actual curfew.”
I didn’t want her in trouble, but the idea of getting to keep her as long as I wanted was tempting. “Do your parents check on you at night?”
She shook her head. “No. They sleep hard. Get up early.”
Good.
I tangled my fingers in her hair and played with the silky locks while pretending to give a shit about the movie in front of me. The more I played with her hair, the more she settled in closer to me. I was content like this. Sure, laying her back on the sofa and kissing her sounded pretty damn good too.
She laid her head on my shoulder, and her hand rested on my thigh. I tried not to think about the location of her hand while I mentally calmed myself. My hand, however, had a mind of its own. I moved my hand from her hair and slid it down to trace my fingers along her collarbone and exposed neck. Her soft skin felt like silk. She shivered then and goose bumps covered her arms. I pretended not to notice and let my caress slowly move down a little more each time until I was dangerously close to the top of her breast. I stopped there and so did her breathing. The rise and fall of her chest became more erratic.