𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐄 | 𝟏𝟖+

XIII

F A L L O N

"I adore you. I adore you boy, oh baby. You, know you're really different baby. You, you might be the main thing baby."

. . .

The next day, I'm in the kitchen making cookies. And on the phone with Reed.

We decided to meet up for a picnic, together with Jackson and Donia.

Reed is a very handsome guy. Always around girls back in school. He has a cheeky smile, blue eyes, and sandy blonde hair.

Our school's golden boy.

"So, did you enjoy the party?" I ask as I'm whisking the dough – and having a hard time doing so.

The batter is thick and hard, making it hard for me to go through all of it. My hand lands on my forehead as I realize we have a hand mixer.

Letting go of the whisk in my hands, I start going through the drawers in our kitchen.

"I certainly did, though I didn't enjoy it as much when you disappeared," he tells me, making me blush. A stupid grin comes on my face.

"Yeah, I was wasted and I don't think it would've been a good idea if I were to stay," I admit.

"I see. I know the feeling of drinking too much, it's a good thing you left. It was good seeing everyone again, been quite a while," he admits.

"I feel the same way. I felt like we were back in high school," I chuckle and retrieve the hand mixer, plugging it in and turning it on.

Finally, I can make the batter smooth. I throw some chocolate chip cookies in there and feel my mouth starting to water at how the cookies are going to look like when they come out of the oven.

"What are you doing?" he asks. "Making cookies. We're going to meet up this week, so I could bring them if you want," I suggest.

He makes an approving sound. "Sounds good," he agrees. "I'd love to taste your cookies."

My hand freezes above the bowl, and my blush worsens. I close my eyes and bite my lip to stop an embarrassed smile to come on my face.

He did not just say that.

Maybe I'm looking too much into it. Maybe he really wants to taste my cookies. Just the cookies.

"Uh... yeah, they're delicious," I murmur and scratch my head. He chuckles. "I believe that."

I glance up and see Nicholas walking through the doorway of the kitchen. "Hey, uh, I gotta go," I tell Reed quietly and take him off speaker, holding the phone to my head.

"Okay, talk to you later, beautiful."

And then we hang up. "Good morning," I greet Nicholas, who moves his eyes towards me.

"Good morning," he replies, the corner of his lips tugging upwards.

Turning around, I take a baking sheet and some oven mittens. Opening the oven that has been preheating, I take the tray out of it and place it on the counter.

"What are you making?" Nicholas asks. I turn around and see him looking at the batter. He takes a bottle of water from the fridge and turns back around, leaning against the kitchen island.

"Cookies," I grin and take some of the batter, rolling it into a ball before pressing it against the baking sheet.

"What's the occasion?" he then asks. I chuckle. "Can't someone just make cookies for the fun of it?"