23

There was no pulling back now. No surprise, no reluctance, no doubt. I drew her closer by the waist as her hands locked behind my neck. Our mouths pulled away for an instant to regain breath before moving back towards each other. As my hand travelled up her back, I stumbled forward making Ann hit the kitchen table. I heard a sharp moan in my mouth before the loud sound of shattering glass.

I pulled back instinctively.

"That hurt." Ann said with a grimace.

"Did the glass hit you?" I asked, panicking, "did it cut you somewhere?"

"No." She replied calmly. "I just hit my hip against the corner of the table, hard."

"Let me see." I extended my arm trying to make her turn around in order for me to inspect her but she pushed it away.

"It's nothing Cam, probably just a bruise." She said dismissively. "And I broke the glass." We both looked down at pieces of broken glass.

"That's my fault," I said, "let me pick up the pieces."

"Wait, not with your hands. You'll cut-"

"Ow." I yelped. Of course I'd cut my finger as soon as Ann said it.

She sighed. "I told you so."

I got up, holding my right index finger with my left hand and pouted. "It actually hurts, try to be more sympathetic."

She sighed again. "Let me see." She said and took my cut finger in her hands before I could protest.

I was looking at her instead of the cut and saw her eyes widening. "What?" I asked.

"It's a pretty deep cut, there's a lot of blood."

I looked down then. Blood was indeed coming out but it didn't seem that bad. "It's just a cut." I said, pulling my hand away.

She narrowed her eyes. "Cam."

"I'll just run water over it and it will be fine." I shrugged and took three steps to the sink doing just so. When I'd cleaned off the blood and turned back around, I found Ann standing in front of me with a first aid kit in her hands.

"Really?" I asked.

"We might need to bandage it," she pulled out a chair, "sit down."

I sighed but followed her instructions and ended up with a bandaged finger twice it's normal size. I held it up in front of me and laughed, only to receive a death glare from Ann. "I just saved your life." She said.

"Maybe so, but it still hurts." I whined.

"Really?" She asked, still concerned.

"You know," I said casually, "a kiss would make me heal completely."

I saw her freeze on the spot as a blush crawled up her cheeks. I'd almost forgotten what we'd been doing just ten minutes ago and didn't mean it to come out that way.

She cleared her throat but before she could say anything, I tried mending the situation. "Uh, I meant a kiss on my finger, not..." I paused, "you know, like, a kiss to make it better? Like kids do?"

"Of course, what other kiss could it be?" She said coolly, having regained back her composure. And she surprised me by taking my finger in her hands and kissing it softly, too bad I couldn't actually feel anything thanks to the stupid bandage. "There you go, now you can stop whining."

When she pulled back, I grinned. "Thanks, it feels much better now."

She did a half smirk, half smile kind of thing that looked sexy as hell and I decided to try my luck. "Does your hip still hurt?"

"Nope, sorry."

Damn.

***

Ann started preparing dinner while I observed her quietly from behind. I looked for a couple of minutes until she turned around catching me staring. She raised an eyebrow while I cleared my throat and pretended to be curious about what she was cooking.

"So, what are you making?"

"What does this look like to you?" She asked and held up an egg in her hand.

"An egg?" I guessed.

"There's your answer." She turned back around, ignoring me.

"What kind of eggs?" I asked, there are a lot of things you can do with eggs.

"Hard-boiled." She muttered.

"Huh?"

"Hard-boiled eggs." She repeated more loudly this time.

"Really?" I couldn't help but be confused, "hard-boiled eggs?"

"Yep." She confirmed.

"So, boiling an egg is considered cooking now?"

As soon as that left my mouth I wish I hadn't said anything, in fact it hit a nerve and she finally turned around to glare at me, I was almost scared for a moment. "If I remember correctly," she said accusingly, "someone gave me a beginner's cooking book some time ago..."

I guessed that 'someone' must have been me so I decided not to say anything for the moment.

"And," she continued, "apparently, that same person must think that I can't even boil an egg..."

"Well, maybe that person thought that it's best to start from the basics-"

"Basics like 'how to boil water' and 'how to cut onions without crying'?"

I wasn't sure if it was a legit question or if I just had to shut my mouth, but I decided to defend that poor person's case. "Those are all useful things." I paused, not sure what to say. "Especially the onion thing." I added then, nodding pensively. It was useful, I still didn't know how that whole thing worked.

"Right." She turned back to the eggs and I moved closer behind her.

"At least," I tried reassuring her, looking down at the pan of boiling water, "you've learned how to make perfect hard-boiled eggs."

I hadn't even finished speaking before she elbowed me hard in the ribs. "Ouch. Are you trying to kill me today?"

She didn't reply but I saw a glimpse of a smile grace her face.

***

We ate the four hard boiled eggs with salad. Can you call something like that dinner if you're still starving? Nope, definitely not.

"So," I heard Ann speak, "are you going to stick around for much longer?"

I looked back at her suspiciously. "Why?"

She shrugged, "Just wondering."

"Got somewhere to be?" I asked.

"No. But it's been a long day and I'm tired."

I knew she wanted me out of her hair but I played dumb. "Perfect, then we can relax together on your couch, watching a good movie." I actually grabbed her hand and led her to the living room and the couch before a blush crept up my face at the realization that I was holding her hand.

I let go immediately and avoided looking at her face, she'd see right through me and I didn't want that. When I did look at her I lost myself in her eyes, staring as if mesmerized, until she blinked and broke the contact.

"I don't feel like watching a movie right now, Cam." She said.

I knew what she was doing and I was trying to avoid that. "Okay." I said. "Then what do you want to do?"

She sighed. "Sleep?"

I shook my head. "You can't do that."

She furrowed her brows, confused. "And why would that be?"

A sudden idea popped in my mind. "Because you still owe me something."

That caught her attention and she raised an eyebrow. "I owe you something?"

"Um hum." I nodded solemnly.

She scoffed. "I don't think I owe you anything, if anything, it's the other way around."

"Oh, yeah. I actually owe you a lot." I confirmed. "But now we're talking about you."

"Okay, let's hear what you've come up with now." She conceded.

I grinned and sat more comfortably on the couch, shifting so that I could face her. "Well, I cut my finger earlier..." I started and waited for a sign that she was listening.

"Yeah, I remember."

"It hurt a lot, like, it really really hurt, you know?" She rolled her eyes but nodded, urging me to continue. "But then," I paused dramatically, "when I was most desperate and hurting, a kiss from a beautiful lady saved me. The soft, miraculous kiss healed my finger completely." I caught her holding back a smile.

"That was not the end, however. A little time later I had the misfortune of being elbowed, pretty hard I must say, in the ribs. Right here." I touched the place where I could feel a bruise already forming. "Pain flooded me once again, only this time, there was no lady to save me." I looked far away with a sad and resigned expression, giving my best acting performance to date.

She snorted and shook her head. "And?" She asked, completely missing the point.

"Well, my rib hurts." I said.

I mean, duh.

Why didn't she get it?

She seemed confused but then it hit her. "Wait, wait, wait. Let me get this straight."

"Yeah?" I grinned.

"The thing that I owe you is... a kiss?"

"Well," I corrected, "not a kiss in the true sense of the word, but..."

"Forget it." She interrupted.

"Why?"

"Because I don't owe you a kiss!"

"Yes, you do. You kissed my finger and not kissing my rib woulb be... would be... discrimination! Yeah, you can't discriminate between fingers and ribs, they're both bones! You have them too."

Her eyes had widened at my stupid and far fetched explanation.

"Plus, you're the one who's responsible for my pain." I added in a small voice.

That did it. She was about to crack, but I had the sudden feeling that instead of a kiss, I was probably going to receive a slap. "If I do that, will you shut up and finally leave me to sleep?"

I nodded readily and gulped. She sighed and moved closer to me. "How," she cleared her throat, "how are we going to do this?"

"Uh..." I was suddenly speechless.

She surprised me by getting off the couch. "Lay down." She said and I obeyed the orders. Then, before I could realize what was happening, she'd already bent down and placed a kiss on... the wrong rib. She had gotten up immediately afterwards and was avoiding looking at me.

"Ann?" I called to get her attention. She looked down at me then, embarrassed. "It... it wasn't that spot that hurt. It's a little higher." I pointed at a spot just underneath my left boob.

"Are you serious?" She asked incredulous. I nodded innocently.

She sighed and bent down again, this time more slowly. She placed a hand on the side of the couch and the other on my stomach, and proceeded to kiss softly the spot I'd indicated. When she looked at me, her face held a mix of annoyance and embarrassment. "Happy now?"

I smiled. "Very."

She got up and so did I. I'd promised her that I'll leave her to sleep peacefully.

She accompanied me to the door but, before leaving, I stopped to face her.

Embarrassment was written all over her face and she was avoiding my gaze. "Well?" She asked impatiently.

I smiled amusedly, taking a step forward towards her. "I need to do something." I said, before leaning down and kissing her lips softly. As I pulled back, I saw her eyes fill with surprise and a blush appear on her cheeks.

I smiled again, taking a step back. "Good night, Ann."