Page 47 of The Lies I've Told
“Definitely not the jerky. Maybe something sweeter?”
“All right,” I said, diving back into her huge bag of treats. I grabbed three sweeter options and held them up.
She’d already navigated us out of the gas station and onto the highway once again, but she did a cursory glance in my direction.
“Yes,” she said.
“Yes?” I asked, splitting my attention between her and the three types of candy I had in my hands. “To which one?”
“All of them.”
I shook my head, feeling a smile tug at lips. “You really are a junk food addict.”
“Rip open those bags, my friend. Let me show you my ways.”
I did as she’d commanded, opening the large bag of peanut M&M’s first. “I’m not much of a candy guy,” I admitted.
“What? Who doesn’t like candy?”
I shrugged. “Me, I guess. I don’t know. I didn’t have it much as a child so perhaps I didn’t develop a liking for it.”
“That’s just crazy talk. Pop one of those M&M’s in your mouth, and hand one over to me.”
I did as she’d instructed, giving her a few as I grabbed one for myself.
“Now, place it in your mouth, like so,” she said as she placed a single M&M on her tongue.
A flashback of that tongue all over my body came racing back to the forefront of my mind, and I involuntarily cleared my throat.
“You’re not following instructions,” she said.
“Oh, right,” I said, popping a brown M&M into my mouth.
“Now, here’s where you have to decide what kind of candy person you are. Are you a cruncher or a melter?”
“What?” I laughed. “That’s ridiculous.”
“No, it’s not! Which one you choose can be very insightful to your personality. You ask weird questions about people’s loved ones…and I do this. So, Aiden, are you going to crunch it or let it melt?”
She turned her head toward mine for a brief moment, and I caught her smiling at me. I felt my stomach flip-flop from the force of it.
Jesus, she was beautiful.
“Melt,” I answered. Feeling the chocolate making a delicious puddle on my tongue.
“Exactly as I thought,” she answered before chomping away at hers.
“What? Why am I so predictable?”
She grabbed a few more from the bag I’d placed between us and tossed them into her mouth, and I couldn’t help but watch.
“You’re an artist, right? Naturally, you’ve got patience to spare; otherwise, every piece you did would be a huge disaster.”
I grinned. “Quite right.”
“Whereas I have the patience of a gnat, and bite into that M&M as fast as I can.”
“Okay, I’ll give you that,” I said, grabbing another couple from the bag. “But you know what this means?”
