A Kiss at Midnight (Delilah and Caelum) novel Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

The question was nothing more but an harmless curiosity

5 voucher?

I mean, it felt strange when I actually thought about it, this whole arrangement has somehow circle back to Olivia and yet I still didn’t understand fully why Caelum liked her as much as he did.

For a moment he doesn’t says anything and just lets out a laugh. ” Actually, I think it all started when we were little,” he says softly, leaning back against the pool wall, the water shifting around us lazily. “Like..really little.”

My arms remained wrapped around his neck as I listened to him carefully. “I used to hate school when I was a kid,” he continues with another embarrassing laugh, “not because of the work or anything, I just hated being away from my mom,” my lips curved into a smirk and somehow that sounded painfully accurate for him.

“I’m serious,” he said, already blushing at my expression, “thefirst few weeks of kindergarten were awful, I cried every morning.”

“You,” I snorted softly.

“Yes, me.”

“Thats adorable.”

His face heats up,” Okay, can you not say that.”

“No, come on, keep going,” I urged, intrigued to know more, “this is the best thing I’ve ever heard.”

He lets out a sigh before continuing anyway.” Apparently one day I was crying so hard my teacher almost called my mom back to pick me up.”

I could already picture it perfectly, tiny little Caelum with messy hair, giant watery eyes clinging to his mother for dear life.

“And then Olivia walked over to me,” he said quieter this time. “She sat beside me and gave me one of her crayons.”

“Really, a crayon.”

“It was the glitter ones,” he clarified seriously, “she told me I could borrow it if I stopped crying,” his lips twitched faintly at the memory, “And then she stayed beside me the entire day because she thought I looked sad.”

Something softened in my chest at the way he spoke about her. “I guess after that we just kinda stayed close together,” he murmured. “Our parents knew each other so I kinda saw all the time growing up,” his gaze moved back to the water, “and as we grew older the more I realised how I liked being closed to her.”

The breeze moved softly through the backyard trees while I watched him. “She was just…” He paused, struggling for the right words. “Easy to love, I think.”

My stomach weirdly tightened hearing that. “And when did you realize you actually liked her?” I asked.

He let’s out a breath, before shaking his head gently. “I don’t know, and I guess, somewhere along the way, she just happen to become the first person I wanted to tell things to.” His fingers brushes my waist again and I doubt he realized what he was doing. “And then I started planning things.”

“Of course you did.” My tone was slightly flat but had no edge to it. He gave me a look. “I’m serious,” I laughed softly. “You absolutely seem like the type to rehearse conversations in your head before they happen.”

“That is not..”

“You definitely do.” His silence told me everything. “Oh my God,” I gasped. “You do.”

Mon, Jul

Chapter 30

5 Vouching

His ears turned pink again while I laughed against his shoulder. “I just like being prepared,” he muttered defensively.

“Mhm.”

He rolled his eyes before continuing anyway. “I wanted everything to be perfect.”

My grin widened. “This should be good.”

“There’s a museum downtown,” he explained reluctantly, “shelikes old instruments, so I thought she’d enjoy the music exhibit.” His expression softened slightly as he spoke, “and after that there’s a café nearby that sells those tiny pastries she’ likes.”

I stared at him. “You planned an entire itinerary.”

“It wasn’t an itinerary.”

“It was absolutely an itinerary.”

His cheeks flushed again while I laughed. “And then..” I pressed.

“And then I thought we could walk through the park afterward,” he admitted quietly, “there’s a spot near the lake where you can see the sunset.”

“That is disgustingly romantic.” The blush on is face intensifies even more. “Oh my God,” I laughed harder, “Caelum Hart is secretly a boyfriend from a romance novel.”

“I regret telling you this.”

“You should.” He shook his head, trying not to smile.

“And what about you?” he asked suddenly. “What’s your perfect date?”

I pretended to think for a second before answering, “an arcade.”

His brows lifted immediately in surprise. “An arcade?”

I shrugged. “Yes.”

“That’s your dream date?”

“What?” I tried not to smile, “arcades are fun.”

“I just…” He shook his head, clearly amused. “I did not expect that answer from you.”

Raising a brow at that. “Okay, rude.”

“No, I’m serious,” he laughed, “you seem more like fancy rooftop dinners and expensive dresses.”

“Please,” I scoffed. “Arcades are elite. You go at night when everything’s glowing and loud, you pretend to be competitive for absolutely no reason, and then you win each other dumb prizes.”

“You’ve definitely imagined this before.”

“Obviously.”

His smile widened while he watched me continue.

“And then after,” I added, “you get milkshakes or greasy fries somewhere and walk around the city talking about random things.”

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12:43 Mon, Jul 20

Chapter 30

vouchers

He stared at me for a second before laughing softly under his breath. “That’s actually..” He shook his head slightly. “Kind of cute.”

“Kind of?” I repeated in offense.

“Very cute,” he corrected quickly.

I pointed at him accusingly. “Thank you.”

He chuckled again, his eyes lingering on me longer than necessary now. “And what did you expect me to say?” I challenged

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Something loud or expensive.”

I snorted. “You think too little of me.”

“I don’t think little of you.” The way he said it made my stomach flip slightly but I ignored it immediately.

Then his expression shifted slightly, curiosity slipping through his features. “So Landon never took you on something like that?”

I was surprised he knew about Landon and I, but then again who didn’t know about Landon and I in Crestmont Prep

“What.”

“The arcade thing,” he clarified. “Or anything close to it.”

I looked away for a second, suddenly finding the water beside us very interesting. No,” I admitted eventually.

He stared at me like the answer genuinely confused him. “Seriously?”

I shrugged one shoulder casually even though something about the conversation suddenly made me defensive. “We went out.”

“But not on your ideal date.”

“Its not a big deal.”

His brows pulled together slightly. “I mean..” he hesitated. “If someone likes you enough to date you, wouldn’t they want to know things like that?”

I hated how reasonable that sounded. “We did stuff he liked too,” I muttered.

“That’s not what I asked.”

I raised a brow at him. “Why do you sound offended for me?”

“Because you just described your perfect date down to the fries afterward,” he pointed out. “And somehow the guy you dated never once thought to do any of it?”

When he put it like that, it sounded worse. I crossed my arms tighter across my chest. “We were together for other reasons.”

His gaze softened slightly at that. “I’m not saying he is a terrible guy,” he said carefully, “I just think if somebody really pays attention to you..” his eyes flickered toward mine briefly, “they remember things like that.”

Something about the way he said it made my chest feel oddly tight. “So what?” I tried joking lightly. “You’re saying you’d remember?”

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