Page 82 of Some Things Never Change

I let out a hearty laugh as he placed the hand towel at the bedside table and climbed into bed with me. He pulled me into a cuddle and kissed me on the temple.

I giggled at the way his breath tickled my skin. “What about those grilled cheese sandwiches?”

“That can wait. I want to cuddle.”

I laughed. “What about the danishes we got from Solvang in the car? We completely forgot about them.”

Andy shrugged as he buried his nose into the curve of my neck. “We’ll have that too, and then we’re going for that second and third round in your room.”

That promise sent another rush of excitement through my body.

Chapter

Thirty-Four

I let out a small laugh as Andy excitedly gestured to my seat next to his as I walked through the screening room to where he was. The line for the restroom was long. It surprised me I even made it back in time before the movie started. There was a new psychological thriller film Andy really wanted to watch.

He was so ecstatic about the film that he suggested we watch it in theaters during matinee hours, like we used to do. But we couldn’t. A buyer wanted to come by in the afternoon to pick up a double dresser I recently flipped.

I made a whopping four hundred dollars with the previous two nightstands I flipped, so I was willing to sacrifice a bit for the extra eight hundred dollars I knew I was going to make from my sale today. Andy was also busy at the gym in the afternoon with a two-hour gym session with his friends. So, we couldn’t make it to a matinee showing.

But I made sure to sneak in snacks from home in my purse for old time’s sake. Ever since I showed Andy the Ziploc bags of hot Cheetos, Oreos, and gummy worms I had in my purse, he had been wearing this funny look on his face.

I took my seat, and we giggled childishly as he passed me the bag of gummy worms. The lights finally dimmed, and the previews began, and Andy casually threw his arm over my shoulders to bring me closer to his side. My heart skipped a beat, and I turned to look at him. He was staring straight ahead, his handsome face illuminated by the light from the screen. I watched him as he turned to me with a bashful grin.

“Stop staring at me like that,” he whispered. There was a twinkle in his eyes, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

“Like what?”

He jutted his jaw toward me as a dramatic movie preview continued playing on the big screen. “Like that.”

I shook my head. I didn’t know what he was talking about. He continued to grin as he pressed his lips against my ear.

“You’re driving me crazy by how you keep staring at me.” His raspy whisper made my skin itch for his touch. He buried his nose into my hair for a moment. “And why do you have to smell so good?”

Andy pulled away as his iridescent, bright eyes continued to lock onto mine. For a split second, it felt like there was no one else aside from us in this universe. My smile grew wider, if possible. I pulled his face down so it could be my turn to press my lips against his ear.

“I can’t help it. You’re just so handsome.”

Andy’s ears immediately turned red, and I quickly gave him a peck on the cheek right as the movie started. It was an intense thriller with lots of eerie and suspenseful music, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up the whole time with the surround sound speakers. Andy held my hand through the creepy, suspenseful scenes and I gripped on with my heart racing.

When a scene with lots of gore suddenly came on, Andy’s hand came up to cover my eyes. I absolutely hated gore, and he knew this. Without saying a single word, he pulled me out of my seat and we walked out of the showing room. Luckily, we were sitting in the aisle seats and left without bothering anyone.

“Why did we walk out?” I asked, confused. “The movie barely started thirty minutes ago.”

“Sorry, Tink. There’s too much gore for you. I’ll just come back and watch it with Kevin and Luis on another day,” said Andy. “Let’s go grab dinner. My treat for putting you through this crap.”

He was holding my hand as his thumb rubbed soothing circles over the back of it. This action was so simple, but I felt such a sense of comfort wash over me with each brush over my knuckles. We walked out of the theater as more people bustled in with the sun setting on the horizon and coloring the sky a beautiful shade of indigo.

I shrugged. “It’s okay. You’re just going to have to sleep by the door to protect me from the psychopath from the movie. Besides, it was supposed to be my turn to pay for dinner.”

“No, it’s not!” He laughed lightly with the shake of his head. “Looks like I’ll have to set up a sleeping bag by your door after all. And nope. I’m paying tonight.”

I shook my head in disagreement as I squeezed his hand. "It’s fine. We couldn’t tell from the trailer. I’ll be fine."

Andy chuckled, the corners of his lips turning up into a smile. "Well, in that case, we’ll have to watch all the scariest movies together from now on."

I rolled my eyes playfully at his teasing. As we approached the car, he turned to me and said, “Do you want to go for a drive around town after dinner?”

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