I think we made the super cute, little old lady’s day because she keeps smiling the most adorable smile as she gives us our ice cream. After, she heads to the back, behind the counter, which gives me and Cliff some privacy.
Not that we need it. I told him to get his big boy male panties on and grow up. So, I can put my big girl gitch on as well, and apologize, even if I have an audience.
We both sit there for a minute, him with his gross and weird ice cream combo, me with my much more normal cookie dough. I don’t watch him eat it, though, because I’m scared of what the sight of his tongue or lips working at his ice cream will do to me.
New lows, I know.
I clear my throat and look up when I think it’s safe to do so. Luckily, Cliff is holding his cone in front of him. “Uh—I—I said some things last night, and it was pretty rude. I wanted to apologize too. It was unprofessional. Usually, I’m not. I shouldn’t have said what I did about me and my job. I shouldn’t have said anything about you because I don’t even know you. I’m sorry for what I said about your parents spoiling you. I’m sure that no matter how much money a person has, they have their own problems and feelings about things. Your mom seemed really nice, so I’m sure your family isn’t one of those stuck up rich types. I don’t even know why I said that.”
Cliff’s pretty amazing lips twitch at the corners. His eyes are even better. They’re shining with amusement. “You’re right. I wasn’t born with a silver spoon—uh—anywhere.”
I flush at that because I’m pretty sure I said it was shoved up places that were in the exact opposite direction of his mouth.
“My parents are good people. I know you must think my mom is crazy for doing this, or that we’re some weird kind of family with strange relationships to one another, but I think this is just her way to get my attention. She really wants me to be happy. I might have had some experiences that soured me in the past. My parents have been happily married for forty years, and she wishes I could have that too. She can tell I’m lonely. She’s my mom, and no matter how—uh—dumb I think this idea of hers is, it’s really just a wakeup call because I pushed her to it.”
I’m pretty blown away by his level of openness and honesty. Who is this guy? This isn’t the same Cliff Marshall that I talked with at the coffee shop the first time or the one I went on a fake date with last night. This is a nice Cliff Marshall. I don’t know what to do with Nice Cliff.
“I didn’t think anything about your family. Not really.”
“Yes, you did. You must have thought my mom was crazy or that I was uh—well—yeah. That it was creepy to the creepiest degree.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did.”
“I didn’t.” I can’t keep a straight face, though, and I have to look down at my ice cream and suppress a giggle. “Okay, maybe a little bit. But your mom is a really nice lady, so I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Rich people are usually weird too.”
“Not us. We’re pretty normal, actually.”
“Good to know.”
“My parents live in a normal house. It’s still the same house I grew up in. They drive normal cars. They work really hard to make sure the company is a success. They really care. About everything and everyone. They aren’t members of some country club, and they hardly ever even go out to eat.”
“What about you?”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“I like to do normal things too. I work at a normal job. Went to college and got a degree like most people do to get a decent job. I drive—well, you’ve seen my car. I have a normal house too. It’s a newer construction in a good neighborhood, but it’s not anything fancy. Nothing that other people couldn’t or wouldn’t buy.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen your car. Did you remember to get gas today?”
Cliff’s face blanks, and I nearly fall off my hard metal chair. “Are you kidding me? For real? You forgot again? I’m seriously starting to think there might be something wrong with you. You need to set an alarm on your phone to go off like every other day, and when it does, you need to be driving so you remember to pull over and stop.”
“Wouldn’t I just shut it off because it’s unsafe to drive and do stuff on your phone at the same time, and then I’d end up forgetting again?”
I have to bite down on the inside of my cheek. “You could always snooze it.”
Cliff’s ice cream is starting to melt, and it’s dripping down the big minty scoop. It’s now dripping way down the cone, which I happen to think is a crime against humanity. It might also be a crime against humanity when Cliff’s tongue appears and winds around it, neatly licking all the drips off in one fell swoop.
Ouch.
I might have officially just ovulated.
“Uh—yeah…” I totally forgot what I was going to say. I’m scared I’m going to say something about Cliff’s tongue because I’m telling myself not to say anything about his tongue. I’m focusing so freaking hard on his tongue that I’m sure I’m actually going to say something awful about it by mistake and humiliate myself.
“Yeah…” Cliff licks at his ice cream again, and I just
