Uncensored (New York Unraveled #5)

6. Trystan

Having been noticing her for so long, I had come to understand her tiny, gone-in-a-moment expressions. It was more of a window into her mind than anything that came out of her mouth. With her tendency to slap a smile and some polite words on any given situation, not being equipped with a working knowledge of her emotions would have left me clueless about this mystery of a woman. Well, more clueless than I usually was.

Since analyzing her expressions had become a habit to me, I did it without thinking, so when one corner of her lips lifted in a teasing smirk, I knew she had noticed the way I was rambling on with a slight stutter. Despite knowing that, I couldn't stop it. I wanted to be around her, to spend some time with her without making it obvious that I craved her presence so bad that it hurt. When I looked at her, something inside my chest ached in the sweetest way possible. I didn't mind that she knew how I felt, or the intensity with which I felt it. My self-respect in front of her had been compromised from day one. The only place to go was up, but I was still glad she let me stay with her. Of course I wasn't going to get any work done, but then again, I'd never really been a workaholic anyway. Her office looked like the next best option to me.

With the curtains pulled open, a couch pushed against one side of the wall and her desk against the other, the room looked much more spacious than it was. She had decorated the walls with pictures of her students, and the cards and notes they had written for her. She even graded papers with a smile on her face, as if multiplication tables were love letters. She let me sit on the couch and stare at her with the pretense of working. There was truly no one like her on this planet; Ginger Quinn made me reevaluate my fucked up views of humanity.

"Ginger," I said, catching her attention.

"Yeah?" she said, without looking up from whatever she was scribbling intently.

"Aren't you too far away from me?"

The corners of her lips pulled up in a little smile. "Am I too far away or are you?"

"Two people can't sit on that chair but they can on this couch," I replied.

Her smile grew wider. "They can if they're creative."

If that wasn't incentive enough for me to abandon all my supposed work and walk over to her, I don't know what would be. Bracing an arm around her chair, I leaned down till our cheeks were touching. "I can be creative," I said.

She leaned her neck back slightly, just enough for her head to fit in the curve of my neck, and her eyes fluttered shut. "You can also be silent," she said.

I traced a finger on the edge of her face, making a smile bloom at the corner of her lips. "Say yes to the next thing I ask of you."

Her eyes still closed, she raised an eyebrow in response.

"Let me cook for you and Aldrich."

Now her second eyebrow raised as well. "You know how to cook?"

"I'm decent at it," I shrugged.

She pouted unknowingly as she mulled the thought over in her head. "Okay," she finally said. "I guess you deserve a chance to show off your parenting skills."

I pressed my lips against her ear and whispered, "I'm also trying to show off my boyfriend skills, if you're interested."

"That's a tough test to ace," she laughed. Her laugh was so beautiful, I wanted to physically breathe it in. The fact that she laughed because of me made me strangely proud, like I had pulled off an insurmountable feat all by myself. She huffed in little breaths while she laughed and it was the most adorable thing I'd ever seen. I had also never observed somebody's laughter quite so closely. I was quite sure I could write a thesis about hers.