Page 30 of The Blind Date

"You’re joking.”

“I’m not. People tend to tell me I'm too serious sometimes and need to loosen up. Oh, and that very I'm polite."

I crossed my arms over my chest and quirked an eyebrow at him. “Then why are you such an ass to me?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I guess you bring out the ass in me, darling.”

“Cedric, you should know better. Don’t talk about your ass in front of a lady," Yasmin tutted.

The waiter chose that exact moment to arrive with our food, and I struggled not to burst out laughing. Cedric’s shoulder bumped against mine, and I knew I wasn't the only one to find the timing humorous. Our parents, on the other hand–or at least our mums as Alfie and my dad barely looked up from the game to thank the waiters for delivering their food–didn’t seem all that impressed.

“Thank you.” I smiled politely when the waiter placed my plate in front of me, sans the sprouts and with an extra helping of roast potatoes, just as I had requested.

"You're very welcome." He returned my polite smile and tended to the rest of the table.

“One flirty smile, and you get extra roast potatoes?” Cedric leaned over to inspect my plate with a jealous glint in his eyes. “That’s hardly fair.”

"One, there was nothing flirty about my smile. It’s called being polite. You should try it sometime. And two, I ordered my meal specifically asking for extra roast potatoes." I told him matter-of-factly as I reached for my knife and fork, excited to tuck into my meal. A Sunday roast always called for a small breakfast and a non-existent lunch. Otherwise, there was no way I could eat this amount of food without making myself physically sick.

“Mum ordered for me before I got here." I could hear the pout in his voice. "If I ordered myself, I would have asked for extra roast potatoes as well."

“You sound like a child.”

I tucked into my meal, determined to ignore him for the entire duration of it. I wasn’t usually this rude, but Cedric's company was one I didn't want to be in. Especially when my parents had tried to pull a fast one over my eyes.

"I feel like a child whose parents set us up on a play date."

"Seriously, right?" I couldn't help but voice my agreement, loud enough to get some unwanted attention from Yasmin and Mum whose knowing grins seemed to say that they believed us to be getting along great. How hard was it to convince them that Cedric and I were a terrible match? All we did was argue, for goodness sake! What part about that screamed compatible?

“They couldn’t be more obvious about it.”

“And the worst thing is, they think they’re so slick.”

“No, the worst thing is that they think we’d be a good match for each other.”

“I keep telling them we’re not!” I agreed.

“I don’t understand how they could have got this so wrong. Like, look at you and look at me,” he said, not realising that it probably would have been better if he didn’t begin to explain.

“What’s wrong with me?” I raised an eyebrow, daring him to continue.

“I didn’t mean it like that, darling.” Cedric was quick to correct, a bewildered look on his face as he realised that he had spoken without thinking again. I kept up the serious expression for another moment before it cracked, and relief washed over him. "You knew I was about to put my foot in my mouth and baited me!" He exclaimed, setting his accusatory eyes on me.

“Who am I to stop you from making your own mistakes?” I sent him a pointed look.

Cedric pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes at me. “You even said it yourself. We’re not right for each other.”

“Yes, but that has nothing to do with us as individuals. Individually, we’re great but together, we’re terrible. Completely incompatible.”

“That’s something I can get behind.” Cedric chuckled, back to his usual, self-confident self. “I'm glad I'm not the only one that sees it this way. I'm sure you're a great person, but you're just not my person, you know?"

“And you’re most certainly not my person either.”

“Why do you have to say it like that?” He asked, his lips turning down at the corners ever so slightly.

“Like what?” I asked, curious about what I had said or done to knock him down a peg.

“With so much malice,” he elaborated.

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