k i t c h e n  c o u n t e r
COVEY'S POV:

We walk into the small bistro on the strip of the shopping center. Hapy Bistro. I like happiness, so this is a yes. I start to sing; "'Cause I'm happy, clap along—"

Conrad cuts me off. "Covey, you know I love it when you sing to me, but we're in public and—"

"Shut up," I grumble, sticking my tongue out at him. "Just because you're a Mr. Grumpy Grinch and have zero joy in life doesn't mean you have to stop me from expressing myself."

"This is true," he breathes out, shutting his eyes briefly. Opening them, he adds, "But I'd really like to order food right now and I'm sure the song you're singing isn't on the menu."

"Smart a—"

"Don't," he warns me.

"Smart aleck," I finish, raising an eyebrow. "I was gonna say smart aleck."

He glares down at me and walks to a seat on the patio. An older lady next to us waves at me and him, but he ignores them and I only smile back. 

"What do you want?" Conrad asks, sitting down and handing me a menu. "I'll go up there and order it for us."

"Umm..." I glance down at the menu. "Pancakes." Oh friggin' course, Covey.

"Alright, that was fast." He gives me an impressed expression, winking. "Is that all?" 

"And a side of fries and an Oreo milkshake," I add, giving him a sheepish look.

"How the fuck are you gonna eat all that?" he asks, raising an eyebrow. Has he not been around me when I'm in front of food or what?

I scoff, crossing my arms over my chest. "Don't underestimate me, mister."

"Okay." He raises his hands in surrender, getting up to walk up towards the ordering station.

The woman sitting next to us, who's probably in her late sixties, smiles at me as I watch Conrad walk away. "He's a very good looking lad," she says, a tender look in her eyes. "What's the age difference between you two?"

"Pardon?" I say, blinking. Huh?

"Your mother must be very proud of you two," she adds, her red lipstick on her teeth. My mother is dead, ma'am. "He seems like a good older brother."

I almost choke on air. "Oh." I clear my throat. "Conrad is my boyfriend, ma'am. I don't have a brother." 

She gasps, a hand over her heart. "My apologies, hun. He just seems very old for you."

"Yes, he's very mature for his age," I say with a clipped voice, smiling. "He's twenty-eight and a professor at the neighboring university."

"A well-accomplished man," she says with a nod. "And you are how old?"

"Twenty," I say, proudly. 

"Covey," Conrad says, coming back into view and giving me a look. Oh my Jelly man. And woah, that was fast... Looking at the woman, he acknowledges her and says, "Hello, ma'am."

"Hi there," she says, giving him a small wave. "I'll let you two get on with your day. Good talking to you, hun."

"Bye!" I offer her a chirpy smile because I'm too nice to act like she was being a busybody. Once she leaves, I look over at Conrad who is glaring at me. "Do you think I'm too young for you?"

"I don't think so. What makes you ask that?" he deadpans, but there's a small look of desperation on his face.

"She said you look very old for me," I explain, shrugging my shoulders. 

"And what do you think?" he asks, putting his chin in his fist with a gaze so intense I feel like dying.

What do I think? "I think I need you to take care of me, I'm very dependent on you now."

"I need you too, kid."

"Love you," I say, reaching a hand over the table and giving his a squeeze.

He squeezes mine back, twice. "I love you."

******

The next day, I'm sitting on the kitchen counter with a book in my hands waiting for the water to boil for my mac 'n cheese. I feel Conrad's presence when I turn the page to the next chapter, the scent of his shampoo so strong and radiant. I gulp and look up at the stormy beauty. Love you, Coco.

"What're you doing?" he asks, walking to me.

I put the book down, memorising the page because I hate folding the corner of the pages, and wait for him to put himself between my legs. And he does, wrapping his arms around my waist. "I'm waiting for the water to boil," I say, my chin on his chest as I look up at him.

He pecks my forehead. "What's for dinner?"

"You're expecting me to cook for you too?" I ask, widening my eyes. "But I'm only making enough for me..."

He clenches his jaw, averting his eyes from my gaze as his hands dig into my waist moer. "So you sleep in my bed with me, crash at my place almost every night, eat my food, and do all that shit and you don't think we're going to eat dinner together? Baby, what do we do every other night?"

"Eat dino chicken nuggets," I whisper, biting my lip.

Conrad leans down and pulls it out from between my teeth with his own. Against my lips, he mutters, "I think you can share, yeah?"

"No."

He chuckles, brushing his nose against mine. "I think you can."

I get lost when he starts peppering kisses down my jaw. His lips trace my skin in an expert kind of way, sucking and placing open-mouthed kisses everywhere they touch. I pull him closer to me, my legs around his waist as I wrap my arms around his back. Butterflies.

"The water's boiling," he mumbles, pulling away to nibble on my earlobe.

I sigh and look up at him as he adjusts to grab the box of macaroni. "Do you even know how to make mac 'n cheese?" I ask, a small laugh escaping my lips.

"Sure, it can't be too hard," he says with a shrug, sticking his tongue out at me. He reads the box, following the instructions, and dumps the box of noodles in the pot before stirring them around really quick and setting the timer.

He sets the pack of cheese on the counter and gives me a smirk, putting my legs back around his waist. "Now, where were we?"

I lift my head and point to my neck, the spot he was just kissing.

"No, I mean, you said we could share the food?" he says, knowing exactly what he's doing.

Reaching up, I put his face in my hands and kiss him. "Coco Puff," I laugh, crinkling my nose and moaning into his mouth. He hums, our lips moving desperately against one another. "Let me down."

He shakes his head, groaning as he grinds into me when his tongue sweeps against my own.

I push against his chest and he pulls away, glaring at me. I take the opportunity and drop off the counter, trying to run away from him.

Pulling my waist back before I can even go anywhere, he turns me around and wraps his arms around me. But there's a smile on his face as he bends down to kiss me. "Ti amo, mi amore."

I smile.
And I melt into a puddle.
I love when he speaks Italian to me.

"Why'd you try to run away from me?"

"I have to tinkle," I whisper, looking up at him through my eyelashes.

He sighs, nodding. "Be quick or I'll eat all your macaroni." I bite my lip, smirking up at him. He chuckles, tapping my booty. "Not like that, baby. But tomorrow the weekend is over."

"Okay," I pout, sticking the middle finger out at him when I'm a safe distance away from him.

"What the hell did I say about bad words?" he calls out after me.

"I was using sign language!" I shout back, closing the bathroom door. That's not the f-word in sign language but whatever.

******
CONRAD'S POV:

When Covey comes out of the bathroom, I finish mixing the cheese mixture in the noodles. She wraps her arms around me, placing a kiss on my shoulder.

"Hi baby," she whispers, kissing my shoulder again. Baby. "I'm sorry I flipped you off."

"I know, little fucker." I turn around and hug her. "Hey, so I was thinking—"

"Oh no," she says, groaning.

"What?"

"I hate when you think," she mumbles, pouting her lips. "You thinking put me off of your godly body for a whole weekend. You thinking got me obsessed with you. You thinking makes me think."

I smile, kissing her forehead. "While I appreciate the flattery and the confession, and I find it fucking adorable that you're addicted to my touch, but I think you'll like what I was thinking."

"Oh really now?" she says, sarcastically.

"What if we got a puppy?" I ask, waiting for her reaction. When she doesn't say anything, I explain, "One of the reasons why I'm asking is because I want kids and I know it's super early in our relationship to want that—and because you are young and I'm eight years older than you—but I think having a puppy with you could give us a taste of what parenthood would be like."

"You do realize raising a dog is only like a forth of what raising a kid would be like, right?" Covey looks at me with a big smile, even though from her voice I know she's still wary. 

I nod. "Yes, I'm well aware. That's why we're starting out with a dog."

"And that means I'd have to be here more often..." Her hands start shaking and her breathing goes more rapid. "And—and you really want me to move in with you, huh?"

I nod again, taking her hands in mine. "Please, baby?"

"Conrad."

And then she shuts her eyes, nodding her head. "Okay. Okay. I'll move in with you... soon. Only if I get to name the puppy."

"Done deal," I say, picking her up and putting her legs around me. And with the biggest smile, I kiss her; needy, wanting, and with so much love. "I can't fucking wait to start a life with you."

"I love you," she whispers, her eyelashes fluttering against my nose when she trails her lips against my jaw.

"And I love you." I inhale her hair, her scent, her everything. If life was just her, I'd like it a lot more.

"Coco, I want my macaroni," she says, tilting her head in view of the food. 

I put her down and mess her hair up a little, chuckling. "It's all yours, kid. I'll make something else to eat."

She gets up on her tippy toes in appreciation, kissing my chin. "Thankies."

"You're welcomes."

*******
AUTHOR'S NOTE:

OKAY BUT THE GIF UP THERE IS GOALS. Also, this chapter was inspired by Joshua Bassett's Doppelgänger because of the one scene in the music video where the girl has her legs around his waist as he's cooking. The song has nothing to do with this chapter, but that small scene in the music video is goals—

ALSO, I think the puppy idea is a good compromise to them having babies. We don't them to have kids too soon, hehe xx

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