Avery opened up the fridge pulling out a red and white can. "What do you mean you don't like whipped cream?" he asked the petite blonde leaning against the counter beside him as he placed some of the substance in question on top of a mug full of steaming hot chocolate.
"I tried it when I was little a couple of times and just never liked it," she said with a shrug, "I think it was the texture that freaked me out."
"When you were little?" Swiping an index finger through the fluffy cream he turned to her. "Give it a try now. Come on," he added as she shook her head in protest
Holding her hands in front of her Juliette started backing away. "Avery Barkley, you keep that finger to yourse-" Her words were cut off by a squeal escaping her as the slender man lunged towards her. Blonde hair flew out around her as she turned on her heal and ran for it.
Her feet had barely crossed the threshold into the living room when an arm looped around her, pulling her back against his lean frame. Turning in his embrace a whipped cream laden finger was still held mid-air, uncomfortably close, and an eyebrow was mischievously arched as he looked down at her. Patting her hands against his chest she giggled, "Don't you dare." But her laughter halted when her eyes locked with his.
Something in his expression had changed. His countenance, just moments ago so carefree, had turned serious. Those blue eyes full of an intensity she had only seen in them on a few occasions. The air around them became heavy and her heart picked up pace without Juliette knowing exactly why. He traced the line of her jaw with the back of his hand. Even that light touch was enough to send butterflies free in her stomach.
"I love you," he said in that soft voice she had come to know so well, "You know that right?"
It rolled off his tongue with such ease. As if they were words the two had not spent months dancing around. Both knowing that when they were uttered they would carry an importance neither had felt before.
Juliette had almost said them once. When she showed up unexpectedly at his door at two in the morning only to be greeted with a sight that still tied a small knot inside her. After that night they felt sacred. Like she should hold onto them until she knew with every fiber of her being that this man was the one for her. Since then there had been a few times when she almost told Avery how she felt but each in each instance restrained herself. Now here he was telling her without any provocation.
Never before did the blonde suspect that one could actual feel their heart swell with emotion but there hers was, proving it so. She blinked back the tears stinging her eyes and nodded, running her tongue along her bottom lip. "I do," she said in a strained voice. And it was true. Never before had she felt such unconditional, dependable, whole love as she had from the man standing before her.
"Good," he said with that smile on his lips that filled her with warmth. And then she felt his finger running along her cheek, leaving something cool and sticky in its wake.
Her jaw dropped in shock as she watched him turn and make a break down the hallway. "You did not just do that," she called after him before swiping the can off the kitchen island and chasing after him.