Page 79 of The Blind Date

“I’m not going to beat around the bush here–” I turned to Cedric with a deep frown on my face. “–when I said I never wanted to see you again last week, I truly meant it.”

“Oh Saff, play nice.” Mum sent me a pointed look, already displeased with my behaviour.

I huffed and turned back to Cedric. "Apparently, I have to be nice to you.”

“Well, that’s an impossible task since you’re never nice to me.”

“You think you’re funny, don’t you?”

Cedric grinned. "I don't think so. I know so.”

"Keep thinking that," I snorted and made a show of shifting around. When my chair hit his, I groaned and shot him a sharp glare. "Can you move up?"

“Can you move up?” Cedric turned to ask his brother.

“No.” Cillian shook his head before returning to texting on his phone.

Cedric turned back to face me. “No.”

"You're so annoying.”

“Not as annoying as you,” he countered like a child.

At this point, I couldn’t tell if he was acting or just being himself.

The waiter chose that moment to arrive with our meals. My stomach rumbled at the sight of the large plate of food placed in front of me. Just like the other day, Cedric leaned over to stare at my plate with longing in his eyes.

“That’s not fair,” he whined. “I asked Mum to order me an extra helping of roast potatoes from now on, but she didn’t.”

“Sorry, Cedric. I forgot.” Yasmin sent him an apologetic look, but I saw right through it. The way my mum snickered behind her hand only told me that they had done this on purpose. “Maybe Saffron will be kind enough to share with you?”

“I don’t think so,” I snorted and reached for my cutlery.

The whole dinner, Cedric and I argued back at forth. Most of it was for show, but we argued for real when he tried to swipe some roast potatoes from my plate when he thought I wasn’t paying attention. I put my foot down when he tried to swap a few with some of his Brussels sprouts. I elbowed him in the ribs and scooted up to the very edge of my seat, taking my plate with me. I'm sure Cedric would have followed and continued trying to steal my food if it weren’t for my sharp glare.

Our dads remained engrossed in the game, and our mums talked among themselves, all while stealing knowing glances at us every few minutes. Cillian, on the other hand, alternated between texting on his phone and teasing us for acting like an old married couple.

It wasn’t like we had heard that one before or anything.

Even though most of it was an act on Cedric’s and my part, I wasn’t joking when I threatened to do a whole lot more than just elbow him in the ribs if he tried to take food off my plate one more time.

When we neared the end of the meal, I gave Cedric the signal. It was time for the real acting to start.

“Just as we rehearsed?” Cedric leaned over to whisper in my ear when no one was looking.

“Just as we rehearsed,” I confirmed.

Taking in a deep breath to prepare myself, I exhaled deeply before turning to face him with a deep scowl on my face. “What’s wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with me?” Cedric scoffed and dropped his fork. I held back a wince as the metal sounded sharply against his plate. “What’s wrong with you?”

“You’re what’s wrong with me!” I fired back at him, making a show of breathing heavily to signify just how infuriated I was with this made-up situation. “I’ve told you time and time again that I’m not interested in you. What part of that don’t you get?”

"I'm not interested in you either!" Cedric scowled menacingly. "You're the one that keeps showing up wherever I am. It's like you're stalking me or something."

“Me? Stalking you?” I scoffed. “You’re out of your mind.”

"You've got a stick so far up your ass it's impossible to talk to you,” he chuckled darkly and leaned back in his chair, glaring at me. "I have no idea why our parents think we're such a good match for each other. For the life of me, I can’t see what my parents see in you. You're the most insufferable woman I've ever met!"

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