Secrets and Stolen Kisses

09

m a d e l y n

By some miracle, Nate and I lasted a month together without anyone catching on. The only people who knew about our relationship were the two of us, and I intended on keeping it that way for the time being.

That's why Nate and I both decided we would only hang out just the two of us when the place we were staying at was empty.

That meant one thing. He could come over to my house only between two and five on Saturdays, and I could come to his on Sundays when there weren't any maids, Mr. G was at golf with my dad and Quinn was out with Jake. No dates outside either.

In other words, not a lot.

We still always talked on the phone, FaceTimed and hung out with each other when other people were around, but when it was just the two of us together in person, that wasn't very often. At least not as often as I would've wanted.

It was one of those glorious Sundays when Nate and I could be together. We had about four hours to ourselves.

Nate was snuggled up on the couch with me, giving me all the cuddles and kisses he couldn't with other people around. He was usually a very showy guy, at least that's what I noticed with his past girlfriends, so the fact that he was hiding our relationship from everyone so well meant a lot. He did enjoy making my heart race and stealing a few kisses when people weren't looking though.

"I love you," he smiled at me, kissing my neck as I scrolled through the movie selection on the TV in front of us.

"I love you too, Pickle," I turned to give him a quick peck. "How does Toy Story 3 sound?"

He shrugged, pulling me closer. "Sounds good to me."

I was about to click play when I realized we didn't have popcorn, and I knew Nate had to have popcorn when he watched movies. Why? I had no idea, but whenever he watched movies, popcorn was always a must.

It didn't matter that it was just after lunch time, I knew he wanted popcorn.

"You stay here, I'm gonna get that last microwavable popcorn I saw from the kitchen," I handed the remote over to him. "Go take your pee break so I won't have to move when we watch later."

He threw a thumbs up at me before getting up himself and walking in the direction of the bathroom. "I knew something felt off. I didn't have popcorn."

I really could've sworn I saw microwavable popcorn in their pantry on Friday when Archer and I were over to do some homework after school, but I couldn't spot it for the life of me anymore.

Nate was back on the couch when I went back to the living room. He was looking at something on his phone.

"So, bad news, I couldn't find the popcorn," I announced.

He groaned, "Come with me, let's check again."

I followed him to the kitchen again, and we searched everywhere we could for that microwavable popcorn.

"No popcorn?" I suggested. "Just this once?"

His face would be the picture you'd see in a dictionary next to the word devastated.

"You think I could go get some real quick? It'll be like fifteen minutes. I can get you food too."

I couldn't help but laugh, leaning against the kitchen counter. "You can go. No need to get me anything. I'm still full from the pasta I ate at lunch."

There was a complete 180 with his mood after hearing those words come out of my mouth. "Did I tell you you're the best? Because you are. I love you."

I grinned as he picked me up and spun me around with joy.