Page 40 of Falling for my Best Friend

“Maybe the best ever.”

I heard a crack and looked at Aiden just in time to see him suck a piece of chocolate coated waffle cone in his mouth.

“You’re going to get brain freeze,” I said.

“I tried to eat slower this time.”

“But you didn’t.” I shook my head. “Sometimes I think you’ll never learn.”

Suddenly, his forehead wrinkled and he started to squint. “Oh god- there it is.”

I laughed.

“I’m glad you’re amused,” he said. “It really hurts.”

“You did it to yourself though. As usual.”

He leaned one arm against the back of the bench and rested his forehead in his hand. “I blame the concussions.”

I looked at his furrowed face and smiled.

“It doesn’t seem fair that I should be punished for my enthusiasm.”

“Oh, it’s your enthusiasm that’s the problem, is it?” I asked. “I thought it was the fact that there’s a greedy little fat kid inside you.”

He looked up at me. “For the record, there’s been no sight of him since eighth grade.”

“Well, lord knows we saw more than enough of him back then.”

He shook his head. “You are too cruel.”

“Actually, I thought that year before your growth spurt was the best thing that ever happened to you.”

“Why’s that?” he asked.

“Cause you learned how to take a joke. It gave you a thick skin.”

“I’d trade my thick skin for your self-control any day.”

“Self-control isn’t all that great,” I said, looking at some chocolate he missed on his lip. “In fact, sometimes I wish I didn’t have so much.”

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