Finding Cupid

Chapter 12

POV: Alice

           

            Eros and I had only been in the local food store for fifteen minutes before he started to get on my nerves. It was as if the man had never seen a supermarket before. He kept turning to me, eyes wide and holding something with entirely too much sugar, begging me to buy it. He had just grabbed me by the sleeve of my North Face, carrying a box of Lucky Charms, when I decided I'd had enough of his nonsense and poured the water bottle I had been drinking from onto his head.

            "I know you didn't just do that," he chuckled darkly. I dropped the water bottle and walked backwards slowly, eyes widening in realization of what I had done, before sprinting in the other direction. "You can run, Alice, but you and I both know I'm way faster than you."

            "But I'm tiny and I can hide!" I giggled, dodging up and down the aisles at a speed that would rival any track star. Eros popped up in front of me as I ran past the dairy section and I shrieked. I darted backwards but he followed, a mischievous gleam in his blue eyes. "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!"

            "Sorry doesn't cut it, sweetheart," he chuckled. I had backed myself into a corner, literally — I was pressed up between a shelf full of paper towels and a refrigerator of ice cream. "I win," Eros smirked, placing his hands above my head and looking down at me. He looked like the devil reincarnated and for a split second I was almost scared of him. Then I remembered that he was a man and I was a woman, and I bit my lip, pretending to look terrified.

            "Oh, no, what can I ever do to repay you?" I batted my eyelashes, looking up at him with wide, doe eyes. I trailed a finger up his abdomen and snaked it around his neck, arching my back so my stomach and chest were pressed up against him. I had only meant for it to be a joke, but his pupils suddenly dilated, turning his eyes almost black, and I could feel my heart threatening to beat through my chest.

            "Alice," Eros growled, shaking his head. He smiled darkly. "Do you know what you're doing to me right now?"

            His voice snapped me out of my reverie and I remembered my initial plan. I wrapped my other arm around his neck and dropped a Popsicle that I had concealed in my sleeve down into his shirt. Eros gasped in shock at the cold and I took the opportunity to unwrap myself from his perfect body and dart back to the front of the store.

            "Gotcha!" I yelled brightly from where I was standing back near the cart with all our food in it. I could hear Eros grumbling as he wandered down the aisles. "I win!" I continued to gloat, smiling smugly to myself as I loaded up the cart with popcorn, eggs, and bread. I was so absorbed in my own pride that I did not even notice when Eros snuck up behind me and squeezed my waist. "Eep! Eros! Let me go! I'm ticklish there!"

            "Never!" Eros picked me up and flipped me over his shoulder so I was face to face with his butt. "Apples? We don't need these. Why don't we try... ooh! MallowMars? These look delicious. And what about hot chocolate mix? And... what is this? Do you eat this disgusting looking pudding thing?"

            "Eros, let me down!" I demanded. Eros only wrapped his arms tighter around my legs to keep me steady. Deciding that it might be kind of fun to annoy him while he was carrying me, I slapped his butt and giggled, "Giddy up Horsey!"

            "What the hell, Alice?" He still didn't let me down, so I did it again. "Do you just like touching my ass?"

            "It is a very nice ass," I shrugged as well as I could while hanging upside down off of someone's shoulder. "You must do a lot of squats."

            "You're a pain, you know that?"

"I'm a pain whose butt hasn't been smacked!" I gigged. I seemed to be doing a lot of that, which was unusual for me.

"Well, I mean... you slapped my ass, so I guess I can slap yours," Eros teased. His hand slid up the athletic leggings I had put on before we left and came to rest on my upper thigh. I started to wriggle, freaking out at the thought of Eros actually touching my butt.

            "No! Put me down!" I stopped making a scene when I realized that other people in the supermarket were starting to give me weird looks, but I was still hyper aware of the warmth of Eros's hand on the back of my thigh as he carried me through the food store. "Please?" I pouted.

            Eros finally relented, sliding his hands up to my waist as he gently lowered me to the ground. I was flush against his body for the second time since we had entered the food store, but I didn't even mind. I could feel his muscles through his shirt and my skin tingled where his fingers rested on my hips. Cool, minty breaths blew against my cheek as he slid me past him and onto the ground, and I almost melted right there on the floor of the supermarket. Our eyes met just before my feet toughed the ground and stayed locked. His irises were much bluer than I remembered, almost crystalline, with flecks of silver sprinkled in them, and I wanted to swim in them like they were tiny pools of salt water. I tilted my head back to keep looking at him — I wasn't as tall as he was, but he helped me out because his neck bent down so we were just a breath away from each other.

            "Thank you," I whispered, my lips parting just enough to, hopefully, let him know I was thinking about kissing him. I could feel his mouth on mine already — his soft lips gently brushing against mine, his eyelashes fluttering against my cheek as he tilted to get closer to me, the ends of his blond curls tickling the side of my face...

            "Alice? You there?" Eros's teasing voice, once again, jolted me back to reality. I blinked quickly, trying to erase any of the lingering thoughts from my mind.

            "I'm sorry, what were you saying?" I tried to keep my voice casual but somehow I sounded like I had just run a marathon. Eros smirked like he knew what I was thinking — no, Alice, don't look at his lips, I had to remind myself not to get drawn back into fantasyland again.

            "Oh, nothing. I'm sorry to pull you away from whatever daydream you were enjoying. From how red your cheeks are, I can only assume that it was really good," he winked.

            "You're a jerk." Only feeling slightly, I stuck my tongue out at him.

            "Yeah, but you think I'm hot." Oh, God, he had no idea.

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a/n:

Okay so it's a total filler chapter, sorry! But I think it's kind of cutesy and I actually kinda like it. Hopefully you guys will like it too! J (p.s. I'm a day early! I'll have another update soon - maybe tomorrow if i feel inspired to stay up until three am!)

xoxo emily