Page 91 of The Tempted

“You’re the one on the date bro,” I scoffed, peering at him suspiciously.

“Actually, I’m not,” he glanced back at Adrianna. “Where is she?”

Where was who?

“Across the street at T.G.I. Fridays,” she whispered, looking away from me.

What the fuck had just happened?

Mike walked around me, paused and then leaned into my ear.

“Spring for the popcorn,” he whispered, holding back a chuckle he eventually gave into once he was safely out of my range. I let out a wrangled breath and stared at my date, our eyes meeting for the first time. Her cheeks were red with embarrassment so I decided not to call her out on their little charade just yet.

“Two for Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” I told the girl behind the counter, reaching into my pocket for some money to slip under the glass partition. Once she handed me the tickets, I turned back to Adrianna.

“You coming or what?” I questioned expectantly. I knew I was acting like a total dick, but in my defense, I didn’t like having the wool pulled over my eyes. I didn’t know how else to act around her. If I was going to keep my distance from her and not give into every fucking dirty thought that crossed my mind, I would have to make her stop looking at me like I was the fucking man of her dreams.

We walked into the lobby of the movie theatre to the concession stand and stood silently in line. I was trying to figure out how I was supposed to watch a movie with her next to me. It didn’t help that while I stared at the soda cups behind the counter I felt her staring at me. I had no doubt she was waiting for me to acknowledge the situation we were in—thanks to her and Mike’s little plan. I didn’t get the reason behind their plan or why there was one to begin with. All I kept telling myself was that this wasn’t a date because I hadn’t asked Adrianna out. If this was a date, she would fucking know she was on a date with Anthony Bianci, and you bet your ass I wouldn’t be standing here with a scowl on my face. I’d be fucking happier than a pig in shit because every date with me finishes with a sweet fucking ending.

I ordered two coke’s—make that one coke and one diet coke, after little miss slick opened her mouth to correct the beverage selection I had made for her. Once the soda debacle was fixed, I ordered a large tub of popcorn and turned to her, not wanting to make any more assumptions on her behalf, and give her the chance to correct me.

“Anything else?” I asked shortly. Her lip curled in annoyance, I guess my impatient tone was getting to her.

She crossed her arms under her chest cocking her head to the side as she glared at me.

“Reese’s Pieces,” she said, pointedly.

Why the fuck was she giving me attitude? Wasn’t this her fucking idea? I kept my eyes on her and ordered.

“And a box of Reese’s Pieces,” I said mockingly, sliding the money on the counter. Adrianna glanced at the snacks plucking only the box of candy off the counter before turning on her heel, flipping her hair over her shoulder. She made a beeline for the theatre our movie was playing in, leaving me to juggle two sodas, and a tub of popcorn by myself. I carried a soda in each hand and used my teeth to bite down on the rim of the bucket of popcorn, managing to look like a moron as I carried the snacks. Adrianna was standing by the door of the theatre with an usher at her side.

“He needs to see the ticket stubs,” she grumbled. I shoved the sodas at her so I could reach into my pocket to retrieve the stubs I hoped I put in there. She raised an eyebrow, glanced at the sodas I extended towards her before stepping close and slipping her hand inside my pocket. I nearly dropped the popcorn bucket dangling from my teeth feeling her slender fingers over the material on my thigh. Her touch gentle as it seared my skin. I squeezed the soda cups so tightly that the plastic lids popped off and soda spilled over the rim.

“Got them!” she exclaimed, pulling her hand out of my pocket, waving the two stubs in the air before handing them to the usher. The usher ripped the stubs in half and handed them back to Adrianna. Thankfully, she shoved them in her own back pocket and didn’t dare slide her hand into one of mine again. She glanced over her shoulder and grabbed one of the sodas taking a sip before scrunching her nose and reaching for the other one. We swapped cups finally freeing one of my hands to take the popcorn tub from between my teeth. I didn’t think I’d survive the coming attractions let alone the movie as we sat in the back of the movie theatre. Like all the way in the last row; secluded from all the other moviegoers—the seating arrangements by Adrianna’s choice not mine.

We settled into our seats not saying a word, both staring at the screen. I took a handful of popcorn shoving it into my mouth hoping that would stop me from calling her out on her shit. The last thing I needed was daddy’s little mob princess running back and telling him I treated her like a douchebag, considering the only reason Victor even glanced at me was because of Adrianna.

“Mind telling me how I ended up taking Mike’s place?” I questioned, giving in to my curiosity, knowing that if I let it go any longer I’d likely explode.

“You’re not taking Mike’s place, you’re exactly where you are supposed to be and he’s exactly where he’s supposed to be.”

“Come again?”

Her arm reached over me and took a handful of popcorn, but unlike me, she didn’t shove it into her mouth. She opened her palm and poured some of the Reese’s Pieces into the handful of popcorn, closing her fist and shaking it all up. Then opened her palm and took a few pieces of the popcorn-peanut butter-chocolate combo into her mouth. I felt my dick harden against my jeans when she closed her eyes and moaned in satisfaction. Fucking hell, she was a fifteen-year-old sex kitten, and I was completely and utterly fucked.

After swallowing, she opened her perfectly almond shaped brown eyes, setting them on me as she spoke.

“It’s really not that complicated. Mike wanted a date with my friend Natalie and I was able to set that up for him,” she shrugged her shoulders. “I’m a firm believer of a favor for a favor.”

Yeah, I bet she got that from her dad.

“So I agreed to set Mike up with Natalie as long as he helped me with you,” her eyes twinkled mischievously as she looked at me. “And so here we are.”

“You wanted me to take you out?” I asked her as if the thought was absurd.

“Yes, and you wanted to take me out too,” she replied, confidently popping what was left of her concoction into her mouth.

“Oh, you think so?” I queried, twisting in my seat to look at her fully.

“Yes of course,” she said, her eyes meeting mine, challenging me to deny it. I had never once thought about taking Adrianna on a date, but I had thought about a lot of other things I wouldn’t mind doing to her. It was probably safer for both of us to let her think I was a good guy who wanted to take her to a movie and hold her hand.

“You’re just too chicken shit to ask me,” she rolled her eyes. “And that’s mostly because of my father,” she continued, cocking her head to the side before leaning in closer. “You want to impress him, you want to be like him, and you’ll do anything to get that. I get it, but get this too, I don’t care what my dad thinks. I don’t make decisions based on my dad’s approval or disapproval and you shouldn’t either. He’ll notice you when he’s ready to notice you—and as for me—I’ve already noticed you,” she smiled.

“And I like what I see.”

I just had my ass handed to me by a teenage girl disguised as a woman. It didn’t matter she was probably just into me for the sake of rebelling against her father; I chose to ignore that part. My balls tightened as she smiled at me with that sweet and innocent smile of hers. Her eyes were anything but innocent though as they stared into mine, full of mischief. I didn’t just like what I saw–I fucking craved it.

I peeled my eyes from hers and took the box of Reese’s Pieces from her hand, pouring the contents into the bucket of popcorn and mixing it up as she had. I turned back to her placing the tub on her lap before lifting my eyes to meet her amused glance.

“Watch the movie Reese’s,” I said gruffly, the lights dimming as I stretched my arm across the back of her chair and leaned back into my seat. I shook my head slightly accepting the fact I had been played, owning it. I was on a date with Adrianna Pastore and I would bet my life on the fact that when I kiss her later, she’d taste like Reese’s Pieces.

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