A Step Closer to Love

“I said I was going to pay, why did you pay?”Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

“Because I don’t want you to pay me back with just pizza” Kieran said in a tone that said how was that not obvious to her.

“I asked you countless times if you were okay with the meal of choice and you said yes and you were the one who even chose the meal,” Arabella said with a facepalm. She could not believe he was making such a move on her.

Now that he had paid she had to still repay him even though she thought she would do it in one go and get it over with.

“Now I have to do this again,” she said in a groan.

“You say it like it’s a bad thing,” Kierans said with his head tilted as they walked out of the restaurant.

“Not like it’s a bad thing, it’s just that I thought I would do this and get it over with” she said and he nodded.

“Just treat me to something better next time” he said and she nodded.

“There is no way I am letting you be the one to pick the place. I will do proper research and let you know what I came up with” he sounded so giddy it was hard to miss.

“I can’t tell what you are excited about, the probability of us having a meal together soon or the fact that you would be researching to pick a restaurant” he said and she laughed a little.

“As much fun as you think you are, I think that researching something takes the cap,” he said.

He could not believe he had forgotten what a nerd she was and he let out a kind of distorted snort. She turned to him in amusement. “What was that?”

“I just remembered something random” he said and she was curious.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing”

“Now my interest is piqued. The random thing you remembered could not possibly be about me, but you see I have this guy feeling which is always right about ninety-eight percent of the time, so this is about me right?”

She wondered to herself when she got so comfortable with him. She knew she would normally try her best to avoid him for reasons only she knew but she wanted to be all up in his business tonight.

“And what happens if this falls into the remaining two percent?” Kieran was curious.

She pressed her lips together and then smirked. “Then I would agree that I was wrong, but I cannot agree to it unless I know what you are talking about,” she said.

“You drive a hard argument, it’s almost impossible for you to lose so let’s assume that you are correct”

“Assume?” she scoffed and he nodded. “I am not a fan of assumptions so if you could tell me why you had that loud snort, I would be most delighted” She smiled weirdly as she spoke like she was spat out of a nineties book.

“I just thought of how much of a nerd you always have been”

“How dare you!”

Arabella was not a fan of being called a nerd, she had a kind of trauma from hearing the word. Although her reaction was always physical and not anything mentally or psychological she did not like being associated with the word because she always had a bad experience being called that.

The people who called her nerds always turned out to be bullies who wanted nothing much with her aside from bullying her for being smart.

“I am sorry” Kieran went straight into defence.

He could tell from her face that she was not pleased with being called a nerd. “I did not mean it in any way you took it, I just meant that you have always been smart and a fan of books,” he said quickly.

He watched her his eyes never wavering from her face as her tensed expression lightened up a bit and her mouth which was in a straight line turned into a curve.

“I did not know that the word was a bad thing now,” he said and she shook her head.

“It’s not a bad thing I just do not like being addressed by that word” she said and even though he could not understand why he decided to accept it the way she made it.

“Do you want to go for a walk?” He asked changing the topic. Arabella gave him a questioning look and he knew he had to explain further.

“Like taking a walk after eating would help us digest our meals and we can even exercise while digesting our meals which I think would be a good idea because we barely get the chance to exercise because of work…” he rambled.

He only stopped when he felt her hand on his arm. “I would have loved to walk around the area, helping myself with exercise and digestion at the same time” she replied with a smirk.

He knew she was teasing her and he wondered why he had rambled. He did not want to go home because he knew that it meant he had to be away from her. He wanted just a few more minutes with her even if it meant he had to ramble like a lost child.

“But I promised your mom I would be back home early so I can give her a bit more advice about travelling,” she said.

Kieran knew there was nothing more to say. If he tried to find a way to keep her out a bit more he knew that she could catch on and he did not want to seem weird in her presence so he nodded and gestured for them to go to the car.

“Let’s get home early then” he said. He knew his voice sounded like he was displeased with the situation but he could not help himself.

His mom had been pestering him about getting a love partner but she was not helping him out in any way. He sighed as they got to the car. Arabella gave him a questioning look and he shook his head.

“Thank you for the ride,” Arabella said as they came into the driveway.

“Do you think I can kiss you?”