Melanie accepted the bowl of soup with a sigh, muttering, "This doesn't mean I accept your apology."
Adam's grin widened as he countered. "You have to," he declared, dropping back onto the couch like he'd already received forgiveness.
She rolled her eyes. "I don't have to do anything."
"Sure, you do," he countered easily. "You're eating the soup. That's practically a peace treaty."
"I'm eating because I'm hungry," she shot back before bringing the spoon to her lips. The moment the soup hit her tongue, her eyes widened in horror. Fire exploded across her taste buds as she felt a burning heat all the way to her lungs, making her cough and sputter
"What the..." she gasped, grabbing a napkin and dabbing at her lips which were burning. Her eyes watered as she wheezed, "What is this?!"
"Soup," Adam said, biting back a laugh. "Why? Does it taste bad?"
"Bad?" Melanie choked out, glaring at him. "This should be called torture soup instead of apology soup! Did you make it with nothing but chilies? Are you trying to burn my taste buds off?"
Adam bolted up from his seat, still chuckling as he hurried to the kitchen. A moment later, he returned with a glass of water and set it down in front of her.
"Sorry, sorry," he said as he stifled his laughter. "I might've gotten a little carried away."
Melanie snatched the water and gulped it down, glaring at him over the rim. "A little carried away? My tongue feels like it's been set on fire."
"Hey, you said you wanted something tasteless enough to remind you of our conversation," Adam reminded her with a grin. "I figured if you couldn't taste anything for the rest of the night, that'd count."
Melanie glared at him again and then without warning picked up a cushion and bashed it at his face, muffling his so called laughter.
"That was the lousiest apology I have ever seen, Adam Collins!"
"Hey! It can't be that bad! Now you're just being mean!" Adam accused her with a frown.
Melanie gave a wicked smile then," Why don't you taste how it is. What did you call the soup? A peace treaty? Then lets do this, if you drink the whole bowl, I'll forgive you."
"Really? You cannot go back on your word then." Adam warned as he took the bowl of soup from her hand.
She expected him to laugh it off or take a sip and then stop drinking like she did. But to her shock, Adam nodded and then without hesitation, he lifted the bowl directly to his lips and began to drink. Melanie's eyes widened in disbelief. "You're not actually..."
Adam coughed violently, his face turning red as he blinked through moist eyes. "I... I just... need you... to forgive me," he croaked.
"Idiot," Melanie muttered, shoving the glass of water into his hands. He gulped it down in seconds, still coughing.
But then he tried to grab the remaining soup back from her so she slapped his hand away and glared at him.
Adam shrugged, "I need to finish it. I can't leave you a way out."
"I forgive you! Just don't do something like that again." Melanie snappe at him as she placed the bowl on the coffee table with a smack. "And now stop trying to kill yourself."
Adam grinned weakly and leaned back, still breathing heavily as he sipped his water. Dam*! He'd definitely over done it. He should not try his hand at cooking, ever again.
Melanie grabbed her phone and opened a food delivery app even as she shot him a look. "Do you want pizza?" she muttered the question.
The guy was crazy. Yes. She'd been hurt that he'd broken her trust and used her, but after thinking things through, she'd realized that he'd also come clean. If he had never mentioned anything, she would never have known. So even if she decided to remain wary of him in the future, she knew he would at least be honest with her.
"Nah," she heard Adam say. "I want something sweet."
She rolled her eyes, at the petulant tone and sighed, "Fine, I'll add something sweet. You're going to need it after burning your insides with that 'apology' of yours."
She'd barely clicked the 'place order' icon when Adam reached out, snatched her phone from her hand, and tossed it aside.
Before she could protest, he pulled her close and brought her over to him, so that she was now on his lap. "Why wait," he murmured, "when the sweetest thing is right here?"
Then, without warning, his lips descened on hers.
He kissed her gently at first, almost as if he really were tasting something sweet. It was different from the last two times. The first time, it had been a press of lips and on the flyboard, it had just been a brush.. But now... she felt the slightly cold metal against her lips and then his tongue lightly licked her lips. It sent a jolt through her body making her tremble.
Slowly, his hand moved over her back and she could feel herself get goosebumps. Then his hands came to her neck, cupping her there as his thmbss traced a circular pattern over her jaw, as if coaxing her to open her mouth.
She moaned and he took it as an invitation, letting his tongue enter her mouth. Her hands moved to his shoulder, and then slowly downwards over his biceps before landing on his chest. She could feel those rings even through his tshirt and she rubbed those, from over the tshirt. He let out a growl and before she could do more, his hands came to her wrists, stopping her as he broke the kiss.
She opened her eyes and the raw heat and desire in his eyes made her stiffen. She knew that her eyes were probably the same, hungry for him. Breathing normally felt like a challenge and she she panted, she watched as his eyes shifted lower, taking in their ambiguous position and the way she held onto him to support herself.