Chef's Kiss

Sparks

Violet

On the way out of the parking lot, I felt the night settle around us as the supermarket music faded into the past and the quiet sounds of cars and suburban life echoed from a distance. We walked in the silence and for maybe the 50th time that night, I was incredibly grateful he'd offered to come with me. I wasn't lying about not wanting to go shopping at night. I really did get freaked out by being out there by myself, and I felt fear in that moment as the wind picked up and I sensed how visible and vulnerable I was in a desolate parking lot at night.

"Hey," Matt's voice interrupted my thoughts, and my eyes snapped to his, my eyebrows etched in worry and his in concentration. "It's cool, this is why we came together. You don't have to worry." He was reassuring in the truest of ways. He didn't ask if I was nervous, he just recognized it by looking. He didn't threaten to beat anybody up or to be the ultimate protector. He just said hey...I'm here and you're not alone. And fuck if that didn't make me want to reach out for him in gratitude.

We approached the car and popped the trunk, hauling in the bags from the cart, side by side. His presence warmed me and I wanted nothing more than for our little mission to last a little longer...

"Hop in the cart," he told me suddenly as I placed the last bag in the trunk.

"What-" I started to question, but he just interrupted me.

"Come on, get in," he prompted me, pushing his dark hair from his eyes and grasping the bar, ready to push. I giggled a bit as I gripped the side and hopped in, balancing on my feet instead of sitting down on the metal. "Alright hold on," he said, before taking off at a full run toward the return hut down the parking lot.

"MAAATTT!!!" I screamed, sitting back on my ass and laughing up to the sky. He gained enough speed to step onto the cart and we rolled through the lot, our laughter the only sound ringing out through the open space.

The cart started to slow as we approached the return hut, and he stepped off before yanking it to a full halt, holding out his hand for me to take as I climbed out.

I looked up at his crooked smile. There was that look. I knew he liked what he saw when he looked at me, even if he wouldn't admit it out loud.

"What a gentleman," I flirted.

"I don't know about all that," he denied, shoving my shoulder just to prove a point. I tried to push him back but he dodged out of my reach before jogging a bit and forcing me to chase him a few steps. He dodged me twice more after that, and I only ever caught up to him when he finally "surrendered", throwing his hands up.

"Jerk," I hummed, playfully.

We walked back to the car, catching our breath and glancing at each other with smiles that we wanted to dash away but just couldn't. He felt it. I knew he did. This little game that had started somewhere over the course of the night, this increasing enjoyment of the other's company. I pushed my hair back and adjusted my shirt as we made it to the car, suddenly feeling like all my clothes were pulling at me.

Climbing back in, I adjusted in my seat as Matt did the same, before he turned on the engine and looked over at me. The energy in that car wasn't what it was when we'd arrived there an hour earlier. That energy had been innocent, curious, awkward even. Those feelings weren't in the car with us anymore. Instead those vibes were replaced with something charged, a live wire, or a sparkler on a summer night, sizzling and spitting sparks, growing so hot it might burn your fingertips.

I looked at him to gauge if he felt what I was feeling, and his eyes met mine just as he rested his wrist on the steering wheel.

We looked at each other in silence for a beat, another beat, our breaths and silence filling the cabin, our matching energies compiling and multiplying as it quickly became too much to handle.