It was never effortless to love Aaron Warner. He was a difficult teenage boy who seemed to forget a lot of the time that that was what he was-a teenage boy. He'd always felt that loving or even caring for him would be impossible for all the world to...
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2 YEARS AGO
"YOU REALLY SHOULDN'T be here," I remind him.
"Don't worry," Aaron tells me. "My family won't worry."
"I will," I say. "You know I don't like it when you walk out there by yourself. And not to mention, it's dark. You never know where those soldiers linger."
He blinks at me. Then pulls out a gun from his holster. "It'll be fine, love. I'm more than capable of defending myself."
I cock my head as I continue to stir the batter. We're in my kitchen, and I told him the last time he came over that we'd do something fun. It was my idea to bake something but I'm slowly beginning to regret that decision now. I forgot somehow that I'm unable to bake whatsoever.
"Are you sure you don't require assistance with that?" Aaron gestures to the bowl.
I blush, slightly embarrassed but shake my head anyway. "Nope, mister. I am making you this cake and it's going to be amazing. Super delicious and all."
Aaron's lips twitch. "It's no problem, Mara, I have a lot of experience with—"
"No," I say firmly, trying to give him my deadliest glare. Of course, it doesn't go my way. He just smiles.
We continue to chat as I "bake" until the cake is finally ready to be eaten and I pull it out from the oven. But I instantly cringe when I see just how gooey and gross it looks. No cake should ever look like that.
"It doesn't have to be perfect, right?" I call out to Aaron.
He's quiet for a moment, but then I hear him get to his feet seconds before he's in the room. He blinks when he notices the cake and suddenly purses his lips. When he looks at me, his eyes sparkle with amusement and trouble.
I wince. "It's that bad?"
Aaron struggles to find the right words—and that never happens. He's actually pretty damn smart. Unlike me. "We haven't tasted it yet, it's impossible to judge."
"So you don't mind throwing up?"
"I—What?"
"'Cause you'll probably throw up your whole breakfast if you eat this," I warn him. "And I don't want you and your family to potentially catch something."
Aaron looks at me for a second longer, like he knows something I don't. But then he breaks into a dimpled smile and says, "I would eat anything you made, love. Poisoned or not."
My cheeks heat up but I nudge him anyway, smiling idiotically. "Is that a pickup line?"
He frowns. "What's that?"
"What's—" I laugh. "Okay, whatever, you're too innocent, have fun dying after you've tried my baking."
I tell him to sit down at the table in my living room, and once he does, I bring him out a slice of the cake. I drizzled a few sprinkles on top so it doesn't look as sickly as it did beforehand, but I still don't want Aaron to try it.
"Please don't hate me after this," I say with a wince.
Aaron shoots me a look that says Seriously? before he picks up his fork and tries a piece. I watch him closely for a few moments while he chews, but his expression remains blank.
"Aaron?" I shake his shoulder gently. "Hello? Are you gonna throw up?"
Aaron stays quiet. Stares at the cake.
I cringe. "Crap. It's that gross?"
He doesn't say anything.
I reach for the plate, too embarrassed to allow him to continue eating."Okay, I'll just—"
Aaron eats another piece and I'm about to ask him to finally tell me what he thinks of it when he continues to eat the slice. He eats the whole freaking thing. Then, he gets to his feet, brings the empty plate to the kitchen and places it on the side.
"What are you doing?" I ask him. "Aaron?"
He turns around. Cracks a smile. "You cannot bake."
And that's enough to make me drop my head in my hands, mortified. "Oh, God. . ."
I hear him chuckle softly as he approaches me. "Don't worry about it, Mara. I've had far worse."
I raise my head to see he's directly in front of me. "Yeah, but that was, like, top three worst foods ever made, right? And you ate the whole thing!"
"I feel fine," he assures me.
I release a huff. "Why would you eat the whole thing, you moron?"
He shrugs. "Better I be poisoned by your food than you."
I tilt my head and give him a look. Then shake my head and say, "That was really stupid of you."
Aaron stares into my eyes. He just stares with those pale green eyes of his. And I can't stop looking into them either. He's freaking majestic, okay? Like, his face is totally perfect and his body is. . .well, it's a bunch of inappropriate things I can't say. That's when you know a guy's hot.
"Would this be a time for one of those pickup lines?" he says quietly.
At this, I smile brightly. "You can definitely try."
He arches a brow. "What, is it difficult to impress you?"
"Not really," I reply honestly. "But you could probably say I look like a trash can and I'd still faint."
Aaron searches my eyes momentarily. Then says, "Mara, you're so very far from resembling a trash can."
I can't help but laugh. "Romantic."
"You don't believe I can be romantic?" he asks amusedly.
I decide to tease him. "Prove it to me."
"Mara," he says, "every morning the sun has to learn how to outshine you. Yet even she is not always bright enough."
I literally can't move. Like, I'm stuck here. Staring at his perfect face and wondering how the hell I'm supposed to react to that when it wasn't at all what I'd expected.
My lips rise before I have the chance to stop them. "Wow," is all I come up with.
Aaron smiles too. Dimples and all, gazing down at my lips. "Wow? Is that all? I expected you to faint."
"Oh, really?" I say, linking my arms behind his neck. "You wanted me to faint?"
He shrugs, hands finding my waist. "Wouldn't have been so awful."
I shake my head, grinning idiotically as I lean in. "Well, I might not faint, but I think this might make up for it. . ." And I kiss him.
