Pretending To Love Mr Hill

Chapter 13

Travis’s breath was still warm against her ear when he whispered

“Cat caught your tongue?”

The words sank straight into her skin, embarrassment slammed into Amelia so hard she jerked backward without thinking, the back of her head connected solidly with Travis's mouth

“f**k!”

Travis pulled away fast, one hand flying up to cover his lips, he dropped back into the driver’s seat, eyes squeezed shut, rubbing the injured spot with careful fingers, deep down, a tiny, spiteful part of Amelia felt satisfied serves him right for teasing her like that.

But the satisfaction lasted less than a second before pure mortification crashed over her, why had she closed her eyes? Stupid. Stupid, stupid Amelia, heat flooded her face she wanted the car floor to open up and swallow her whole, she felt like crying.

The sharp little yelp of pain Travis made dragged her back to the present, hands shaking slightly, she fumbled for her phone and turned on the flashlight, angling the bright beam toward him, his mouth looked bad. The lower lip was already red and swelling on one side.

“Oh no,” she whispered.

Travis’s eyes snapped open in alarm. “What?!”

“Nothing!” she said too quickly, not wanting him to know how swollen it already looked. “It just needs some ice.”

He sighed, still rubbing his lip. Amelia didn’t give him time to argue.

“Come on, let’s go.”

They both climbed out of the car, Travis locked it with a soft beep, and Amelia started walking, he followed without a word at first, long strides matching hers as she led him down side streets and around corners, the night air was cooler now. After several turns he finally spoke, voice still a little muffled from the injury.

“Where are you taking me?”

Amelia glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “You’ll see.”

She peeked at him again, he didn’t look worried at all, then again he was always calm, even with a swelling lip and no idea where they were headed, somehow that made her heart twist harder.

They walked until the nicer streets faded, the little shop sat between two darker buildings, its sign half faded, the windows glowing with weak yellow light, from the outside it looked abandoned.

Amelia stopped in front of the door and smiled wide.

“Here we are.”

Travis raised one eyebrow. “A rundown establishment?”

She scoffed. “Not just any rundown establishment.”

She put extra weight on the any. “It’s the best fried noodle shop in the whole world.”

Amusement flickered across his face, but before he could answer she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside, the moment the door opened, the thick, savory aroma of well cooked noodles wrapped around them like a blanket. Amelia tugged him farther in until they stood in front of the old wooden counter, she dropped his hand, rang the small bell sitting beside the register, then turned to look at Travis.

He was glancing around the dim space, taking in the mismatched chairs and the handwritten menu taped to the wall, after about two minutes an elderly man with pale skin and kind eyes came out from the back room, the second he saw her, his whole face lit up.

“Long time no see, Amy. How are you?”

Only Barney called her Amy, she had told him a hundred times not to, and he had never once listened.

Amelia’s smile turned soft. “Fine, Barney. How’s business?”

“Fine. It’s not been as smooth lately, but…” He shrugged, then looked past her at Travis, Amelia nudged Travis lightly, he looked at her like a wounded baby and rubbed his arm as he stepped forward.

“Hi,” he said simply.

Barney's eyes went down to Travis bursted lips and then to Amelia's guilty face, Barney nodded once in return, then turned back to her. "What would you like?"

Amelia looked up at Travis who gave a small shrug. “Surprise me.”

Amelia smirked, she shooed him toward one of the empty tables near the window before slipping around the counter to join Barney in the tiny kitchen.

“I’ll get two servings of the cheese fried noodles with eggs,” she said.

Barney nodded and started gathering ingredients while the pan heated he glanced at her sideways. “So who’s the dude?”

Amelia shrugged, relieved that the engagement news clearly hadn’t reached him, she didn’t need another round of congratulations.

“I think he’s a great young man,” Barney said after a moment.

She rolled her eyes so hard she almost felt them strain. “Oh please. You haven’t even had a real conversation with him.”

Barney let out a dry little laugh. “I can tell. Trust me."

Amelia scoffed "Sure you can "

This made Barney smile.

"Do you have ice Barney?"

Barney gave her a knowing look before directing her to the back, she entered through the tiny door behind the counter, she saw fridge that didn't look like it had work in ages, she went closer and opened it but to her surprise she it was in perfect condition. Well, almost perfect, she prayed to the heavens it didn't shock her before opening it.

The fridge made a tired noise as she lifted the top, she got the ice tray out and popped two into a tiny plastic bag she had gotten earlier from Barney's counter before replacing it back and leaving.

She opened the tiny door and worked past Barney who was wiggling his eyebrows at her, for some reason that made her blush, she ignored him, quickly she walked to Travis who was now on his phone and dropped the ice on the table beside him

"For your mouth" she said simply before walking back to where Barney was.

She and Barney talked about everything and nothing while she helped him cook, Barney had always made her feel comfortable, sometimes while growing she had wished he was her dad, she found Barney's shop a little while after Cecilia had left.

She needed comfort and she found it in Barney's plate of fried noodles. Barney had been so nice even though he had just lost his wife, somehow they connected and ever since then they haven't been able to seperate.

She talked to Barney about the weather, the neighborhood, how long it had been since her last visit. Less than thirty minutes later the two containers were packed and ready, when they reached the register Travis stepped forward and paid before she could even dig for her wallet.

“A lady never pays when a gentleman is around,” he said simply.

Amelia didn’t argue, she knew it was of no use, they said goodbye to Barney, and she promised to come back soon.

Outside, the night felt quieter than before, they walked to the car in silence. Travis opened her door first, then went around to the driver’s side, once they were both inside he turned to her.

“So where to now?”

She noticed his lip was less swollen now, she shrugged, holding up the warm takeout bags.

“I dunno. We still have to eat this. I want to see your face when you try it.”

Travis nodded. “Do you want to go somewhere, or would you rather eat in the car?”

“The car’s fine.”

“Alright. Let’s just go get water first.”

He drove to the closest convenience store and left her in the car while he ran inside, a few minutes later he returned carrying a plastic bag, he held the plastic bag up and smiled through the window before climbing back in, he emptied the bag onto the center console: two bottles of water, a can of fizzy drink, and two red plastic cups.

“I thought we should complete the combo,” he said. “Fizzy drink and noodles.”

Amelia couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her, he was so silly, has he always been this silly? She wondered. Something about the sight of polished, intimidating Travis Hill holding cheap plastic cups and convenience store soda was funny, he opened the first container and handed it to her, then opened his own.

Amelia watched him closely as he picked up a fork, eyed the cheesy noodles like they might bite him, and squeezed his eyes shut before taking the first bite. He chewed once. Twice. Then his eyes flew open.

“This is good!”

Relief and delight bubbled up inside her, she laughed, the sound bright in the quiet car, and finally started eating her own. Between bites Travis told her stories, stories that sounded made up but she didn't care, it made her laugh harder than she had in weeks, she laughed until her cheeks hurt.

By the time they finished, Travis had cleaned his entire plate. He poured some of the fizzy drink into both plastic cups and handed one to her, the carbonation hit her nose as she took a swig of the drink, and before she could stop it a loud belch escaped her.

Her ears burned pink with embarrassment, Travis only grinned, took a huge gulp of his own drink, and let out an even louder belch, the ridiculousness of it was too much, laughter spilled out of her chest, uncontrolled and breathless. His laughter joined hers a second later.

They sat there in the parked car, two grown adults howling over belches and fried noodles like children, until tears pricked the corners of her eyes and her stomach ached in the best way.

When the laughter finally faded, the dashboard clock read 11:00, Amelia stared at the numbers in surprise, they had already spent hours together and somehow it had felt like minutes.

Travis gathered their empty noodle pack and tied it in the plastic bag, he estarted the engine and turned on the radio, flipping through stations until soft music filled the car.

He lowered the volume until it was only a gentle background hum. Amelia rested her head against the window, letting her eyes drift half shut, from this angle she could watch him without being obvious . The clean line of his profile, the way the streetlights slid across his face, the faint swelling still visible on his lower lip.

The swelling was now a light shade of pink, for some reason she wanted to kiss it. She shook her head internally, "No!" what was wrong with her.

Who would have believed she would end up eating fried noodles in a car with Travis Hill?

A small smile tugged at her mouth, he was so cute like this.

“I didn’t know you found me this attractive.”