Page 89 of The Blind Date

Richard wasn’t nearly as bad as some of the other guys my parents had tried to set me up with. He was pleasant, easy to talk to and had a lot of things going for him, but he wasn’t Cedric.

Perhaps it was the way he didn’t make my blood boil in the way that Cedric did.

ChapterTwenty-Three

Cedric was outside my apartment when I got home. He had texted to ask how my Sunday was going, and one thing led to another, and now he was here, waiting for me so we could spend the last few hours of the weekend together.

“Fancy running into you here,” I grinned as I approached him, not the least bit hesitant as I wrapped my arms around his neck and brought his face down to mine to steal a kiss. Not that Cedric had any complaints. On the contrary, he wound his arms around my waist and pulled my body flush against his. He slanted his mouth over mine to deepen the kiss, and I moaned into him.

“It wasn’t like I was waiting for you or anything,” he whispered against my lips. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever, darling.”

“It’s only been a few days,” I murmured, pressing a soft kiss to his mouth between each word.

“A few days too many.” He pecked me once more before pulling away, gazing down at me with dark, hooded eyes. “Should we take this inside?”

“I thought you’d never ask.” I grinned and stole another kiss before moving to open the door, all while Cedric’s arms remained around me the whole time.

“Are you hungry?” I asked as I headed into the kitchen to grab a glass of water for myself.

“No,” he said, settling on the sofa and immediately reaching for the remote to turn on the TV. “I had a late lunch with my friends earlier. I’m still very full from that.”

“I had the usual Sunday roast,” I said as I moved to join him with a beer for both of us.

“How are Clarke and Don doing?”

I snorted, and Cedric raised an inquisitive brow. “Well. Too well, perhaps. You won’t believe what they did today,” I said, choosing to just rip the band-aid off in hopes that it would lessen the blow.

“Try me.” He wound an arm around my waist and pulled me into his chest, the TV now long forgotten as he tangled his fingers through my hair.

"We were supposed to be having Sunday dinner together, just the three of us, but some guy named Richard turned up to join us," I mumbled into his chest, my eyes fluttering closed as I melted into him. “It turns out they invited him.”

"Richard?" Cedric murmured in a low voice. With my face buried in his chest, I didn’t see his lips stretch into a thin, displeased line.

“He’s some guy my parents tried to set me up with today.”

"What do you mean?" Cedric asked, his tone low and questioning. "I thought you were having a Sunday roast with your parents. Not with some guy named Richard."

“That’s what I thought too,” I laughed–now able to laugh about it as the moment had passed. "But it turns out my parents are far sneakier than I thought. One moment, we were all checking the menu for what to order and the next, my parents left with a lame excuse, leaving me alone with Richard.”

“I still don’t know who Richard is.”

“He’s the first blind date of the month,” I said. “Ten blind dates a month until I meet my soulmate, remember?”

“You’re still doing that?” He asked, his lips curving down.

“I’m not. My parents are,” I clarified, but Cedric didn’t look like he cared about the technicalities.

“Yes, but you’re still going on them.” Cedric pursed his lips, his hand stilling in my hair, no longer playing with it. I frowned at that and pushed myself off his chest to glance up at him.

"I'm not going on them.” I shook my head and my frown deepened. “I didn’t know my parents would set me up on a blind date today. If I did, I would have passed on the dinner,” I tried to assure him, but it didn't look like it was working. “You know I would have.”

Cedric nodded as if he understood, but the deep scowl on his face spoke otherwise.

He didn’t believe me, and I hated it.

"What's wrong?" I asked, needing him to believe that the blind date wasn’t my idea. Because it wasn’t.

Why would I want to go on a blind date when I already had a boyfriend?

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