Since Forever

Chapter 7

The cascading sound of Fruity Pebbles hitting the porcelain walls of my cereal bowl is truly music to my ears. Honestly, is there anything better than a fruity bowl of deliciousness first thing in the morning?

"Still indulging in kid's cereal, Kenze?"

And just like that my golden morning hour is pummeled to the ground. I turn, grabbing the milk from the fridge and twisting off the cap to pour over my breakfast of perfection.

"Don't hate my morning, Cam. It's not a good look," I throw over my shoulder.

I can hear that famous smirk stretching across his face before he even manages a word. I'm suddenly thankful for that annoyingly charming smirk. He's always joked about my choice in breakfast and the fact he's anchored himself back into the realm of normal, effectively removing yesterday's events from his memory, is a relief.

"I think I look just fine," he muses.

I know I shouldn't look. I know damn well I shouldn't indulge his ego. What do I do, though?

Holy hell.

My eyes fall to his well defined chest, the tailored curve of his pecks leading to a rippled line of perfection. He may be cocky to a fault, but Camden Beck is built like a god and my early morning brain can't seem to catch up to the fact we're not supposed to be staring. All it can seem to do is travel down its recent memory lane where it's suddenly sending a reminiscent tingle to my lips.

"Did you forget to pack a shirt?" I ask, tearing my eyes away before that rosy, heated tint finds my cheeks. Not the time for blushing.

"It was wrinkled. I threw it in the dryer." He shrugs, reaching over my shoulder and plucking from the counter the very box of cereal he was just hating on. After pouring himself a bowl, he slides up onto the counter to enjoy a delicious kid's cereal. "So," he begins behind a mouthful of food. "I've been thinking."

"I don't want to know," I cut him off, shoving my own spoonful into my mouth.

"You don't even know what I'm going to say."

I don't pause to offer him a look. Instead, I keep my eyes trained safely on my colored bowl of heaven as I say, "If it has anything to do with your mouth invading my mouth again, then I don't need to know."

"You're acting like you didn't enjoy that kiss."

"You're acting like you did."

"Never said I didn't."

My heart pulses, the rhythmic movement of my jaw crunching away is suddenly frozen mid chomp. Did he seriously just say what I think he said?

"Don't go all quiet on me now, Kenze," he prods, wiggling his brows for added flare, or possibly annoyance, I don't know.

"I'm not going quiet," I brush it off, finishing off my last bite and bringing my bowl to the sink to rinse off. "I'm actively avoiding your bait."

"My bait?" he questions, lowering his bowl to his lap.

"I don't play games, Cam. If you're fishing for compliments, looking for someone to stroke that massive ego of yours and tell you how amazing it was getting to kiss you, you might want to give Porcia a call."

"Amazing, huh?"

"Is selective hearing a superpower of yours?"

"I like to think so."

A child. I swear he's a child. Rolling my eyes, I round the counter to grab my bag.

"Wait," he adds in, jumping off the counter and dropping his bowl in the sink. "I never told you what I was thinking."