Page 43 of Clichés & Curses

Wanting to keep Colton on the edge of his seat, I took my precious time tasting it, holding up a finger to him as I took another sip.

Thinking I prolonged this long enough, I finally said, ‘Okay, you’re right. My mind is officially blown.’

‘I told you so,’ Colton said before taking a huge sip of his own. ‘Now that is a chocolate milkshake.’

I took another sip and just enjoyed the burst of flavour the drink had to offer. ‘God, this is so good. Where have you been all my life?’ I said dramatically.

Colton just laughed at me.

‘You know, it’s really your fault for not bringing me here sooner,’ I teased him.

I was expecting Colton to tease me right back. But when I looked up at him, instead of a playful grin, he had a solemn look on his face.

‘I’ll just have to make it up to you by bringing you here any time you want,’ he deadpanned, his voice devoid of anything playful.

The butterflies in my stomach started to erupt, as my brain went haywire with all different types of questions.

What did he actually mean by that?

But as much as I wanted to ask the question out loud, I refrained myself.

Nothing good would come out of me dwelling on the questions of what-ifs, when all we could ever be was friends.

Wanting to shift the tension, I asked him, ‘So I’m guessing you come here often?’

It seemed like Colton understood what I was doing, and we were back to our usual selves. ‘Every time I go help out at the bar. But I do come here occasionally whenever my sweet tooth is craving something. Most of the time, I’m specifically craving their chocolate milkshake.’

‘So, like, once every two days?’ I teased. I had learnt a number of things about Colton over the last few weeks, but his sweet tooth might have been one of my favourite fun facts about him.

‘More like once every three days.’ He smiled. ‘Nah, it’s just once a week at most, considering I’ve been getting addicted to bubble tea for the past few weeks.’

‘I wonder how that could have happened,’ I said to him, my voice teasing. ‘It’s a cute diner though, I can see why someone would like to come here, even if it’s just for the chocolate milkshake.’

‘There’s a sense of comfort to it, I think,’ he nodded while I took another sip. ‘Or maybe it’s just that it reminds me of Radiator Springs.’

I was pretty sure I had been gaping at him when I registered his words in my mind.

It was just a coincidence that we both had the same thought, right?

Right?

I must’ve been stunned into silence, because Colton started waving his hand in front of me. ‘Clara?’

‘Oh sorry. I just remembered something I had to do before class on Monday,’ I lied. ‘But you’re right. My first thought when I came into this place was how it reminded me of Radiator Springs as well.’

His eyes widened a bit in surprise, seeming as if he was just as shocked as me by having the same thought when a small smile appeared on his face.

I quickly changed the subject. ‘Anyway, going back to the topic of your aunt and uncle’s bar. My friend told me it’s somewhat of a karaoke bar. Is that true?’

He nodded his head, gulping down his drink before answering me. ‘They only do karaoke on the weekends though.’

‘You mean like today?’

‘Yes, like today. You want to check it out?’ His head gesturing to the bar.

I hesitated for a moment. My brain was telling me it was a bad idea, when the goal was to stay away from Colton. But my heart couldn’t help it, wanting to say yes to his offer.

Maybe my brain had been drained from all the midterms I had to take that week, because my heart was winning the argument by the second. Plus, we were only checking out a karaoke bar, which didn’t really constitute a romantic spot for me.

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