Page 43 of Sliding Into Love
Finally remembering her food, Ivy picked up her fork. Ethan watched anxiously as she took the first bite, gratification and something else flooding through him as she closed her eyes in ecstasy. Ethan wanted to watch her eat and let himself enjoy her enjoyment of the food, but he didn’t wanthisstomach growling later and interrupting. Ethan tried to enjoy his food as much as Ivy relished hers, but he didn’t think he had ever appreciated anything as much as she did her pasta. Enraptured, he watched her as she ate. He caught her eyeing his bread, so he wordlessly handed it to her, and she swiped it over her plate, soaking up the remaining tiny droplets of sauce.
“Do you want dessert?”
The gold flecks in her eyes sparkled even brighter.
“Always.” She took a sip of her wine and gazed at him over the rim of the glass. Her excitement lit the visible portion of her face like a spark.
“I didn’t have time to make anything, but I thought, if you wanted, we can… go out and find something?”
“Yes! Let’s do it.” Ivy was so enthusiastic, Ethan forgot to be nervous during the whole dinner, even when he was baring his soul.
Before they left, Ivy sent her second check-in text to Lily, and after a few moments, she made an exasperated sound. Ethan glanced at her as a deep blush stained her cheeks.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
Ivy bit her lip.
Ethan wanted to bite it for her.
“Oh, yeah, it’s just Lily…being Lily.”
“How so?”
Ivy let out an amused, if exasperated, breath. “Lily asked if we— and these are her words, by the way— but she asked if we’d,” she paused, and Ethan glanced at her again. Her cheeks were redder, and she’d squeezed her eyes closed. “She asked which base we’d gotten to. She says she hopes at least second, but she’s hoping for a home run.”
“Wow. She sounds…fun?”
“She is.” Ivy chuckled. “She has no filter.”
“It must be nice having a friend looking out for you.”
“She might be looking out a bittoomuch.”
“What did you tell her?”
“I told her to mind her own business, which, in retrospect, means she’ll ask about itmore. I should’ve lied and said yes.”
Ethan’s face grew hot, thinking about…bases.
When they burst out laughing at the same time, he realized she’d had the same thought.
As Ethan drove to a nearby bakery, Ivy asked him about his favorite music, movies, and tv shows while he navigated the river district. Ethan had a raging sweet tooth he rarely indulged because eating dessert alone was like drinking alone: both were better when enjoyed with other people.
A heavenly scent wafted through the air when they pushed open the bakery doors, and Ivy bounced on the balls of her feet in excitement. Ethan nearly did the same; it smelled that good.
"It's kind of cold in here, don't you think?" Ivy shivered, and without thinking, he held his arm out. With a grateful look, she pressed herself against his side, aligning her body with his.Don’t look down, don’t look down, do not look down her shirt,he had to remind himself, because he was still only a man.The softness of Ivy’s body pressed against the hardness of his, and he couldn’t think about it, or he’d have her pushed up against a bakery case feeling just how soft she was. But then Ivy reached up to twine her fingers with his. Their joined hands drew his eye like a moth to a flame, and how well her hand fit in his didsomethingto him. Ivy pressed her cheek to his shoulder and smiled up at him, and Ethan didn’t know if he'd rather drown in her eyes or the hollows of her dimples. In his distraction, he mutely pointed at several random desserts in the cases and walked out of the shop with no idea what was in the box.
“It’s so nice out. Let’s walk down to the river.” As they strolled along the water, she pointed out things he never would have noticed on his own: a couple swinging a toddler between them. Unusually bright coral-colored flowers dotting the riverbank. Several bench-style swings at regular intervals along the sidewalk. She brought him to one, sitting and tucking one foot under herself, gently pushing the swing with the other.
Ivy opened the bakery box and contemplated the assortment of tiny desserts. It seemed like she didn’t know where to start. When she turned her face up to his, the fairy lights along the riverwalk sparkled like stars reflected in her eyes.
“Let’s start with this one.” Ethan pointed at random, unable to break eye contact until she did it first, stabbing her fork into a creamy white custard dotted with fruit. She brought it to her mouth but paused halfway when she saw how closely Ethan was watching her.
“What? Is there something on my face?”
Ethan’s cheeks and ears burst into flame.
“Sorry.” He ran his fingers through his hair and bit the inside of his cheek. “I— umm. You make a little moaning sound when you eat. It’s cute.”
