She looks puzzled for a moment then says, “Yeah. Totally.”
Something seems awkward all of a sudden, and I don’t know why. Usually I’m pretty sure when I’ve said the wrong thing. So, I change the subject.
“Well, here, sit down, I made you some breakfast.”
She smiles in surprise. “There’s no way I can eat all this but thank you!”
I sit down across from her at the eat-in kitchen table.
Ridley looks adorable as she nibbles on her toast.
“I never eat this much but I’m really hungry for some reason.”
I slide my hand across the table and rest it on top of hers. “Yeah, some reason,” I say.
She looks down and blushes while stabbing her avocado slice
s.
“I like making you blush.”
“Talk about something else, please.”
I sit back and cross my arms over my chest. “OK. What the hell is going on with all the books in this place? Every single one of them has the same color spine, and the pages inside are either blank or smudged or damaged in some way. Is this house haunted?”
Ridley, who is sipping from the glass of fresh squeezed orange juice that I made for her, nearly does a spit take.
“Sort of. It’s haunted by my mother’s need for uniformity. She buys up used books just to use in decorating. Her designer has all the books rewrapped to look the same, and bleaches or cleans all the page edges so they’re all the same oatmeal color.”
I stare at her like she must be kidding, but she meets my stare with total seriousness.
“This information just destroyed my entire soul,” I say.
She cackles and takes a bite of her cereal. “Melodramatic much?”
“Don’t even try that on me. I know you have a sentimental side or you wouldn’t be taking care of a stray cat.”
“It’s not because I’m sentimental. I just love to aggravate my mother.”
Her body language tells me she’s full of shit. She’s not meeting my eyes.
I lean forward again and cover her hand that’s resting on the table with mine. “That aggravation is a bonus side effect and you know it. You loves the kittehs.” I give her my best mischievous smile.
Ridley fights a losing battle against a smile that plays at her lips, her spoon idly swirling through her cereal. “Why are we talking about this?”
“Because I’m trying to get to know you.”
Her face is down but she looks up at me through her eyelashes in an unbelievably sexy grin. “I don’t know why.”
“Because I like you and I think you like me.”
“You’re an unbearable nerd who is way too cocky for his social standing.”
I pick up a slice of bacon off her plate and pop it into my mouth. “Yeah, but you didn’t say you didn’t like me. I think my kissing skills demonstrate my standing as pretty fucking high with you.”
She shakes her head. “See, that’s what I’m talking about.”
I shrug and lean forward more, closing in on her personal space. “Why do you care so much about social standing? It’s so…so high school. You’re a grown-ass woman.”