Page 8 of Claiming His Prize

“My mom called today and left a message.”There was an art to icing cookies.You had to hold the cookie just right, so it didn’t crumble between your fingers, putting just the right amount of pressure on the knife, so it didn’t break any pieces off, angling it just so to make the icing look its best.Almost two dozen cookies in, Allison was getting pretty good at it. “Wanted to know if I’m back together with Roger yet. If I am, they’ll love me again.”

Todd grabbed her hand as she set the cookie down before she could pick up another one.

“That’s not what she said.”

“Close enough.”Allison blinked to keep away the tears that threatened. She refused to cry over her parents’ intransigent attitude anymore. Talk about useless tears.He squeezed her hand, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. Allison clenched her jawand met his eyes squarely.“It’s fine. I’m just angry all over again.”

He wanted to tell her, of course, her parents loved her, despite the way they were acting,but understandably, he didn’t think shewould react well to that right now.Instead, he just stood and walked around to her side of the island, releasing her hand, so she could keep icing cookies, put his arms around her waist, and hugged her close. After a moment, Allison relaxed, sinking back against him, so herbody molded to his, her movements slowing as she iced the cookie she was holding.

“Want to go out to dinner?” he asked. “We can come back here for dessert.” The blandness in his tone was more mocking than if he’d actually pointed out the giant spread of sweets she’d made.

Allison giggled, little more cheerful now that Todd was home and gently teasing her. Just being held by him was wonderful,knowing he loved her andwanted to make her happy.She was especially happy he wasn’t going to pushthe whole contacting her parents’ thing.Although she didn’t think he could be any happier about the fact they wanted her to get back together with Roger than she was,she knew he was stubborn enough to not let go of the idea, she should make the first move toward reconciling with her parents.

“Yeah, that sounds nice,” she said, puttingdown the cookie and icing knife. “I can finish these later.”

“I’m going to go change into something more comfortable,” he said, turning her aroundwith his hands on her hips.Leaning down, he kissed her deeply, passionately.Allison pressed against him, her tongue sliding against his.When he pulled away, he dropped a light kiss on her nose before heading upstairs.

It was amazing how just a few minutes with Todd could change her entire mood. she covered the icing and finished cookies with plastic wrap, thenpiled the unfinished ones in a Tupperware container. Just as she was finishing, the timer went off for the salted caramel butter bars. Taking them out of the oven, she set the pan down on a wire cooling tray, then headed to the bathroom to wash her hands and put on some makeup.She rarely wore any when she went to school, although she still wore it on days she worked.Toddliked the natural look on her, but she couldn’t get over the urge toput some on when they went out.Was it something left over from her mother or just a girl thing?

She limited herself toeyeliner,lip gloss, and a light dusting of brown shadow on hereyelids, keeping the natural look, just enhancing her features a little.The eyeliner especially helped to make her eyes really pop. When she went into their bedroom, Todd was sitting on the bed, putting on his sneakers. He was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans that hugged his legs and a deep green shirt with the sleeves rolled up and secured with a small band of fabric that buttoned onto the shoulder—casual but sexy.

Looking down at her own outfit, she disappeared into the closet

“What are you doing?” Todd called out from behind her.

“I just want to change my shirt.”She’d been wearing the same thing all day. She was wearing a plain red long-sleeved t-shirt, and while it hugged her curves nicely, she definitely didn’t feel like she looked as good as Todd did. Examining her options, she grabbed a black, purple, and grey Asian-inspired blouse with a V-neck and bell sleeves.It only took her a moment to change, and when she walked out of the closet, she was glad she had as Todd’s eyes glittered appreciatively.

Sitting on the bed, he was completely ready to go, his hands clasped and hanging between his knees.He opened his arms so she could stand between his knees with her hands on his shoulders. Leaning over, she kissed him gently as his hands slid up the backs of her thighs and gripped her ass, then slid around to the front of her hips and gently pushed her back.

“You’d better stop that, or we’re not going to get anywhere tonight,” he warned.

“Ohhh... okay,” she said with a little giggle as she turned away, then yelped when he gave her butt a sharp smack.

Grabbing her ankle boots, she quickly put them on, and they headed out the door.

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Allison wondered if her parent’s desires had had more of an effect on Todd than she’d thought. He was acting particularly affectionate. He’d always been demonstrative, but it seemed like even in private, he was going out of his way to touch and cuddle her... and she reveled in it.They watched movies cuddled up on the couch, played footsie while they played Scrabble, and held hands everywhere they went. Some of it was a little distracting, like the back massages when she was trying to do homework, but she wasn’t going to complain.

There was a special softness in his eyes every time he looked at her.It was enough to make her wonder if he was already thinking about the next step in their relationship beyond living together.Not they’d been living together for very long, but they’d settled in very quickly. Both of them were easy to live with, happy to change their patterns to accommodate the other.It helped they both were generally neat and clean people, although it was already becoming obvious, Allison was a little messier than Todd, mostly when it came to leaving clothing around the house. He’d bought a second laundry hamper to put in their bathroom. Otherwise, she just left her clothes on the floor until they piled up enough for her to notice, then she’d put them in the basket in their bedroom.

“Have you looked?” Diana asked when Allison shared her thoughts.

They were in Allison and Todd’s kitchen, cooking dinner. Todd had to work late, so Allison had invited Diana over to hang out and help her make dinner.It kept her from being alone and also meant she got to catch up on her girl time.She missed having dinners with Diana now they weren’t living together. Living with a girlfriend was completely different from living with her boyfriend.Not in a bad way, but she did miss some of the benefits of living with a girl—like gossip time.

“Looked for what?” Allison stirred the zucchini, trying to make sure each slice cooked evenly.Not exactly easy since the pieces kept flipping on top of each other. The pan was slightly too small for them to be laid out in a single layer of zucchini slices.They were almost ready for the parmesan cheese.

The kitchen smelled delicious.Diana was stirring the ‘homemade’ spaghetti sauce, she’d created by taking a jar of Prego and adding red wine and extra spices.Slowly stirring it, she occasionally tested the flavor.She’d insisted on wearing an apron over hercasual blue shirt and dress slacks, not so much that she was worried about getting it dirty but because she liked wearing an apron when she cooked.Breaded chicken, stuffed with mozzarellawas baking in the oven, adding to the wonderful aromas.Home cooking at its best as far as Allison was concerned.Tasty, but most of all, easy.

“An engagement ring.”

“What?”

Diana rolled her eyes as she tasted the spaghetti sauce, dipping her finger into some of the sauce on the spoon she’d been using to stir.

“Have you looked around to see if he’s bought an engagement ring? Then you’d know.”

“I mean... it’s just a feeling. He hasn’t said or hinted at anything... it’s just... this idea I get in my head sometimes lately. Not really enough to go snooping around for a ring.”

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