I leaned back on the chair with a sigh and tapped my finger impatiently against the steering wheel. "Come on, Come on. Come on," I mumbled under my breath. The stupid traffic lights were taking forever to change color.

I wanted to see her already, I didn't get a chance to talk to her today or over the weekend, and it was driving me insane.

"Woah, Ethan, why are you so tense man? We haven't even been stuck in traffic for that long," my friend Nick called from the back seat.

Lucas broke into laughter from his position at the passenger seat. His eyes crinkled at the corners as he gave me a knowing look. "Aww, he's tense because he hasn't talked to Miss Mia Collins since lunchtime," Lucas cooed.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, shut up," I snapped, not bothering to deny it.

"And just for the record, I haven't talked to her since Friday. I couldn't find her at Lunch today," I scowled.

"Probably because she's avoiding you," Lucas snorted.

"Yeah, probably," I shrugged. "That's why I'm gonna corner her at her workplace," I chuckled.

Lucas just chuckled and shook his head. We had all just finished soccer practice, and I'd decided to treat the guys to some good old ice cream sundaes.

It didn't take a genius to figure out, why I was craving them...

"Wait, who's Mia Collins?" Nick interrupted in confusion.

Lucas smiled and twisted around in his seat to face him. "Only the love of Ethan's life. The poor bloke's been following after her like a lost puppy for the past six years," he laughed.

I felt my cheeks burn. "Way to make me sound pathetic," I muttered.

"Always happy to help," Lucas winked.

"Wait, are you serious?" Nick exclaimed. "You've liked the same chick for six years?" He gasped as though the notion was ridiculous.

I nodded my head stiffly. It was embarrassing but true.

I was so sure my crush would eventually go away, but then one week turned into two, and then months went by, then years, and now here we are at a whopping six years.

And counting...

I looked out the window and saw the familiar Sugar shake sign. I say familiar because let's just say I've become their number one customer ever since a certain girl started working here.

I pulled into the parking lot and parked the car. Nick undid his seatbelt and stuck his head in between our seats.

"Wait, is Mia Collins that hot, dark-haired chick that you're always making fun of?" he asked.

I felt a muscle in my jaw tick, and I snapped my head towards him. "What the hell did you just say?" I hissed.

"Uh oh shouldn't have said that buddy," Lucas sang as he pulled a nervous face.

I observed Nick and narrowed my eyes. "I like you, Nick, but call her hot again, and I won't hesitate to break every bone in your body. Then I'll wait for you to heal, find you, and do it all over again," I snapped.

Nick's eye's widened, and he leaned away from me in shock. "Well, someone's territorial...," he drawled as he eyed me cautiously, in the same manner, one might eye a wild bear.

Lucas scoffed. "Territorial is putting it lightly. One time a guy on the team asked her out on a date, and Ethan snuck a crap ton of laxatives in his drink, so he shat himself on the date."

I smiled at the memory. I watched the whole disastrous date, and let's just say the guy certainly didn't get a second date.

What can I say, it was cruel, but it worked...

"Y-you m-made a guy shit himself, just for asking her out," Nick stuttered in disbelief.

I chuckled and nodded my head. "Yup," I chirped.

"Best idea of my life, nobody's asked her out since," I smiled as I climbed out of the car.

"Jesus Christ, I'm not surprised," Nick muttered as him and Lucas got out of the car.

We all walked over to the doors and entered the shop. The shop bell chimed above our heads, and I did a quick scan of the room to see if I could find that familiar bouncy dark hair. I smiled as my eyes landed on my target.

Looking as beautiful as ever, Mia Collins was leaned up lazily by the counter. She was chatting busily away to her red-haired friend, May.

Her hair was tied up messily in a bun above her head, and a few stray tendrils of hair had escaped from the bun, framing the soft angles of her face.

Time had only been kind to Mia, and with each year, she just seemed to grow more and more irresistibly beautiful.

I honestly could have stared at her all day. But at that moment, she decided to turn her head in my direction, forcing me to look away.

"Come on guys, let's go get a table," I sighed as I started to head over to a corner booth.

I passed by a group of ten-year-old girls who were shamelessly pointing and giggling at us. I just rolled my eyes and continued walking. That was an annoying thing about this place, it was swarmed with annoying little kids who liked to flirt with you. One time, I swear to God, one of them tried to slip me their phone number.

It was almost enough to put me off my ice-cream...

But despite that incident, I continued to come here. Spending a little extra time with Mia would always be worth putting up with a little bit of annoyance.

I threw my self down onto one of the chairs with a sigh and watched as Lucas and Nick took a seat across from me.

I looked back towards the counter with narrowed eyes, wondering If Mia or the other male worker would come to serve out table. I turned back to face them with a scowl.

"I'm going to throw an actual fit if that stupid blonde ponytail dude comes over to serve our table," I spat.

Lucas chuckled. "Well, looks like you're in luck, little miss hot stuff is heading right your way," he smiled as he gestured over to her, with the nod of his head.

I looked up, and a happy grin stretched over my face as I watched her march her way over to us.

She didn't look happy at all to be coming over here, she looked pissed. Her lips were pressed tightly together, and I could see one of her hands was squeezed into a fist. This was her normal reaction when she saw me, so I wasn't surprised.

As she got closer, I turned my head away from her, so it didn't seem like I was watching her walking. I heard her stop in front of our table.

"Hey guys, Welcome to Sugar Shake. Can I interest you in anything to eat or drink?" She asked in a rehearsed and overly chirpily voice.

All three of us turned to look at her. I could tell she was uncomfortable with all the stares from the way she kept awkwardly transferring her weight from foot to foot. Her eyes darted around the table frantically, making it obvious she was trying to avoid my gaze.

Eventually, the temptation must have become too great for her, and her big brown doe eyes met mine. And of course, my dumb heart just had to jump a little in excitement.

Even after six long years, I'd never gotten used to her eyes. They had this incredible power to make me weak with just one look.

I plastered on my normal arrogant smirk. "Well, if isn't Chubs," I said as I leaned forward in my seat.

I watched as the fake smile on her face, slightly dampened.

"I had no idea they let twelve years old work here," I said as I tilted my head to fake confusion.

"Ugh, not this again," Lucas groaned, clearly knowing exactly where this was heading.

I was purposely trying to piss her off, and this was a foolproof way of doing so. There's nothing she hated more than when I called her Chubs and told her she looked a baby. I remember the first time I called her by that nickname, she went bat shit crazy on me and tried to attack me.

And as messed up as it sounds, I was thrilled that she attacked me. It was nice to have her close to me for a couple of seconds. She was showing me attention and I loved it. Even if it was in an attempt to wring my throat...

Mia didn't look at all impressed by my comment. She titled her head. "Why are you thinking about applying?" she replied sassily.

I heard my two dickhead friends start to cackle with laughter, and my smirk slowly dropped off my face.

I couldn't for the life of me think of an insult, so I just sat there staring at her like an idiot.

The corners of her lips quirked up into a half-smile, and a smug look crossed over her face. With a chuckle, she pulled out her notebook and pen from her apron and gestured for us to start telling her our orders.

I propped my chin on my hand, and just watched her. Lucas and Nick both announced their orders, and she scribbled it hastily down onto her notebook. She nodded her head as she wrote the last of it down. Then she decided to torture me by pulling her bottom lip in between her teeth.

I hated it when she did that. It made it impossible to think of anything else but kissing her. And just like that my mind was away, and I shamelessly thought of what it would feel like to kiss her. What her lips would taste like, where my hands would go. Where my mind would go..

My self-control was always hanging by a small tiny piece of thread whenever I was with her. If she had no lasting memory, I would pull her into my lap and kiss the living daylights out of her. Right here, right now.

But I couldn't.

One-because there was a highly probable chance, she would scream and slap the shit out of me and most importantly, two-because I wasn't remotely good enough for her.

Or definitely not yet at least...

I promised myself that I'd never stop trying to fix myself in the hopes that one day I'd be good enough. And the second I was, I'd give up this stupid enemy act and go after my kiss.

"Ethan!" I heard Mia snap impatiently.

I was pulled from my daydream, and I jumped a little in surprise. I quickly dragged my eyes up from her mouth to her eyes.

She tapped on her notebook in irritation. "Your order?" she spat.

"Oh right, an Oreo chocolate sundae," I mumbled quickly.

She rolled her eyes and wrote it down before turning on her heels to leave. I watched her leave with a sigh. I couldn't help myself and gave her body a cheeky once over as she left. There was no denying that Mia Collins was one hot girl. I was completely chatting out my ass when I called her twelve earlier.

She had definitely matured.

Let's just say, fourteen-year-old me had the shock of his life when high school started, and Mia suddenly opted for tight leggings instead of loose jeans, and all her curves appeared out of nowhere.

As you can imagine, my teenage hormones did not handle it well, and interesting dreams started to arrive...

Yeah, I know, I'm a total creep...

"Woah, dude, stop checking out her ass, or at least be subtle about it," I heard Lucas laugh.

With a groan of annoyance, I pulled my gaze away from her and back to my idiot friends.

"I wasn't looking at it," I lied.

Lucas and Nick both looked at each other, and then at me before they both lifted a single eyebrow as if they were trying to say 'nobody fucking believes you, Ethan.'

"Okay, fine, whatever, maybe I had a quick look. Sue me, it's free fucking country," I grumbled as I threw my arms up in the air dramatically.

Nick shook his head at me. "You're actually more whipped than I ever thought possible," he chuckled. "But I don't get it, why are you so mean to her? You're not exactly ugly, Ethan, so I reckon you'd stand a fighting chance if you weren't such a dick to her. So many girls at school have a thing for you, and she could easily become one of them," he explained.

Lucas snorted. "Careful, Nick, anymore compliments, and I might think you have a thing for Ethan too," he cackled.

"Oh, shut up," Nick snapped as he threw a napkin at Lucas' head.

"Just ignore him, he's just jealous," I said with a wink in Lucas' direction.

I turned back to face Nick with a serious face. "I don't want her to become one of those girls because I don't want her to like me. I'm a dick as a safety precaution," I shrugged.

Nick furrowed his brows. "A safety precaution?" he questioned.

"Yeah, she shouldn't like a guy like me. I'm violent, impulsive, and selfish," I stated simply.

Nick's face softened. "Ethan, you're not.."

"Shh, she's coming," I interrupted as I sat straighter in my chair once more.

I heard the sound of her shoes hitting the floor as she drew closer. She put her tray down onto the table with a sigh and started to hand out our respective orders.

She leaned over me to pass me mine, and I found myself leaning closer wanting to catch a stronger scent of her raspberry scented shampoo. Even though it was a dangerous thing to do with her face so close to mine; I looked up at her.

My eyes immediately drew to the stray strand of hair dangling by her face and it took everything in me not to tuck in behind her ear. Then just like that, she leaned away from me and made a turn to leave.

Wait, fuck, she couldn't leave already. I wanted more...

No, I needed more.

Before I could stop myself, my hand shot out and wrapped itself around her wrist.

I felt her still within my grasp before slowly turning back to face me. She looked down at my hand in confusion and followed the length of my arm up to my face.

As soon as she registered it was me, a look of disgust crossed over her face, and she quickly snatched her hand out of my hold as thought I was dirt.

"What?" she snapped.

I swallowed back the pain of her clear hatred. It was expected and deserved, but it still didn't make it hurt any less.

Oh shit, I didn't think of a reason for grabbing her wrist...

I looked towards my friends in a panic, to silently ask for help, but the jackasses just stared back at me blankly with a look of amusement shining through their eyes.

Think, Ethan, think.

"Mine is cold," I blurted out abruptly as a stared back at her straight-faced.

You fucking idiot...

If I was in a room alone, I would have slammed my head repeatedly against a wall, for saying something so utterly stupid. But I said it now, so I was just going to have to roll with it.

She looked back and forth between the ice-cream and me and did a slow blink as though she could scarcely believe the idiocy that had come out of my mouth.

Me and her both...

"Hang on a second," she paused, taking a moment to think.

"Are you seriously asking me why your fucking ice-cream is cold?" she scoffed.

Sadly, yes. Yes, I was.

I pulled my face up into my usual overly confident smile. "Tut, tut, tut. Chubs. You shouldn't swear at the customer. Not very professional at all," I taunted as I shook my head at her condescendingly. "It would be a real shame if I had to complain about this to your manager," I said with a threatening smile.

Her mouth contorted into a scowl, and her eyes narrowed.

I looked over her shoulder and smiled as I saw her manager had entered the shop. I'd been here enough times to know who she was.

"Oh, and isn't that your manager over there?" I said as I gestured with my head to where the woman was standing.

She quickly looked over her shoulder, and I watched as her face turned a sickly white in color. She turned back to face me with fear in her eyes.

"Come on, don't be a dick just this once," she begged.

I felt guilt stab at my heart as I realized she was seriously worried. She clearly thought I was nasty enough of a person to go through with it and get her fired.

I had no intention of actually getting her fired, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to make her think I would.

With a threatening spark in my eyes, I got up off my seat and headed in the direction of her manager. Not to snitch, of course, I was just going to ask her where the bathroom was. I stopped behind the lady and cleared my throat.

"Excu-"

That was all I managed to get out before I felt a hand tug my shirt backward and then spin me around. An angry Mia stood before me, and before I could get a word out, she slapped a hand over my mouth.

I stared at her fiery brown eyes in astonishment. As pathetic as it was, my heart instantly lurched to life and started to beat faster, at the fact she was standing so close to me and that she was touching me.

Touching my lips technically.

If this was the closest I'd get to a kiss with her, I'd take it!

I snapped out of my daze and remembered I was supposed to be pissing her off. Then a brilliant idea came to mind. I quickly stuck my tongue out and licked the entire underside of her palm.

She jerked her hand away with a lightning-like speed. She looked at me in disgust. "Eww, you're nasty. I probably have herpes now, thanks a lot," she cried as she started to wipe her hand furiously against my shirt.

Well ouch.

Nothing better than a reminder that she thinks I'm a sleazy man-whore.

I watched as she looked nervously over my shoulder. She then surprised me by grabbing onto my arm and starting to haul me to the far corner of the restaurant.

As she led me, I couldn't help but smile at the fact she was half holding my hand.

She came to a stop and turned back to face me. "Fine, you win, Ethan, what do you want?" she hissed in defeat.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. That was a dangerous thing for her to ask me since there were about a million things I wanted that she could give me. None of which I deserved or would go after, of course.

I looked at her in amusement. "Why do you assume I want something?" I smirked.

She just stared at me blankly and didn't even grace me with a response. She was clearly expecting me to blackmail her or something. It was a fair assumption to make, considering I'd done it a fair few times, to get her to spend more time with me.

I chuckled. "Okay, okay, you got me. I do want something," I laughed.

"Which is?" she snapped impatiently.

A smile broke out onto my face. It was astonishing that even when she was mad, she somehow still managed to look beautiful.

I'm not sure what came over me, but almost as though I couldn't control myself I found myself taking a step closer to her.

She looked back at the wall behind her and pressed herself deeper into it, likely in desperation to get away from me. I should have backed off, but I didn't.

Instead, I took my time to drink in every soft feature of her face. From those gorgeous brown eyes of hers to that delicate little nose and finally her lips.

I had spent far too much time staring at them over the years.

They were a palish pink, full, and begging me for attention.

As I heard her swallow, I drew my eyes back up to hers. As soon as our eyes met, the words escaped from my mouth before I could stop them.

"A kiss," I whispered.

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