Work Text:
Taking a left at the next street corner, you quickly hurried across the road when you saw the green traffic light for pedestrians.
“You really suck, Caroline,” you grumbled into your phone, as the chill of November blasted a cold gust of wind into your face.
Your cousin laughed before sighing deeply. “I know… Trust me, this was not what I had in mind for today either.”
You sighed in turn as you glanced around for a place to head inside and warm up a bit. “How’s the fever?”
“It’s a bit lower. She’s sleeping for now.”
“Good,” you smiled at the relief in your cousin’s voice.
You had intended to spend the day together, but her daughter had come down with a nasty cold that had held both parents up for most of the night.
“What’s the plan now?” Caroline asked right as you entered the nearest shop to get out of the cold wind.
As soon as you were inside, you were met with the sound of shouting from the register as someone called out orders, while the delicious smell of homemade food hit your nose.
“Getting something to eat,” you replied distractedly while taking in your surroundings.
You hadn’t noticed what kind of establishment you’d entered, but since you hadn’t had breakfast that morning, and with the scents all around you, you figured that you could grab a bite.
“Oh, where?”
“Dunno.” You looked around until you saw a white sign with green lettering. “The Beef… some small place selling Italian beef, apparently… Smells really good,” you added, as you walked up towards the small line at the register.
“Yo, cuz, what’cha doin’ back there?” the man at the register bellowed to the back of the shop. “People fuckin’ waitin’ here. Get a fuckin’ move on.”
“Fuck you, Richie. You come back here if-”
“Hey, hey, hey. Will you calm the fuck down, yeah?” said another man, who was straightening from where he’d been looking for something under the counter next to the shouting one.
Your eyes instantly slid to that man, taking note of the thick, dark hair on top of his head, the sharp jaw and the broad shoulders stretching out the shirt.
“Ah, ben maintenant je sais pourquoi ça s’appelle The Beef, (Well, now I know why it's called The Beef),” you uttered into the phone, automatically switching to French to talk to your cousin, while giving the man a slow once over as you reached the front of the line.
She laughed heartily and made a curious sound. “Pourquoi? (Why?)”
“Hey, what can I get for you today, sweetheart?” asked the guy called Richie as he shot you a smile.
You unfortunately had to look away from the other man and smiled as you looked at the sandwich list.
“Hold on a sec,” you addressed Caroline. “Hey, hi… um… an Original would be good, thanks… and a soda, please.”
“Sure thing… want it to go or you stayin’?”
“Not going back into that wind for a while if possible,” you stated fervently, which had Richie chuckling, while the dark-haired man snorted and nodded his head as he finished another order.
“Right, that’ll be $8.50… Go have a seat. We’ll send someone out in a sec.”
Nodding and quickly paying while Richie bellowed your order towards the back, you made your way to the two-person table that had the best vantage point on the register.
“We’ll definitely have to come back here,” you stated to your cousin, as you sat down and removed your coat while you watched the dark-haired man smiling or shouting his way through the orders.
“I think I’ve actually heard of the place. The name sounds familiar anyway. Family run business, I think.”
“Sure looks like it. From the way they keep freaking yelling at each other, it probably is.”
“So… tell me more about this Mr. Beef,” she snickered.
Switching over to your earphones to make eating easier while talking to Caroline, you made a more detailed description of the man’s features.
A few minutes later, you sat up straight when you noticed him coming into your direction with your order. “He’s coming over, hold on.”
“Here you go, sweetheart,” he smiled, placing the sandwich and soda in front of you.
“Thank you,” you grinned, hearing him calling you sweetheart having a wholly different effect on you than when Richie had said it.
“Lemme know if you need anything else,” he requested, while pulling a rag out of his apron and walking backwards to the table next to yours.
“Thanks. I’m good for now.”
He nodded and turned around, which revealed his denim clad backside to you.
“Tu sais quoi? Je ne t’en veux même plus de ne pas être venue, (You know what? I'm not even mad you couldn't come anymore.),” you told your cousin, as your eyes fixed on the moving ass before you while the man cleaned the table-top.
She snorted at your tone. “Et qu’est-ce qui te fait dire ça? (And what’s making you say this?)”
“Et bien… Il est en train de nettoyer la table juste à côté de la mienne… Et je peux te dire qu’il a une belle paire de miches**. C’est sur elles que j’aimerais manger cet Italian beef. (Well… He's cleaning the table right next to mine… And let me tell you that he has a gorgeous ass. I'd rather eat that Italian beef on that.)”
She burst out laughing this time. “T’es pas possible. (You're the worst.) ”
You grinned at her laughter, while continuing to watch the man, who'd stopped for a second before resuming cleaning the table.
“Je les pétrirais volontiers celles-là. (I'd love to knead that.)”
“Toi et tes blagues de bouffe. (You and your food jokes),” she wheezed, and you could easily imagine her shaking her head.
You chuckled lightly and bit into your sandwich, which turned out to be delicious. You moaned your appreciation.
“We're so coming back here,” you said with enthusiasm and took another bite.
The man turned around and shot you an amused smirk, before walking up to your table and leaning slightly into your space.
“Et comme mes miches, tout est fait maison ici. (And like my ass, everything here's homemade.)”
Your mouth fell open and only reflexes kept the sandwich from slipping through your fingers as you stared at him in utter shock. He winked at you and began walking to the next room where other tables stood.
“Oublie ce que je viens de dire… Je dois quitter la ville, (Forget what I said… I need to leave town.),” you said feebly, while staring after him and hearing him laughing at your words.
“Hein? Pourquoi? Qu'est-ce qui s'est passé? (Huh? Why? What happened?)”
“Caro…” you whispered, still in shock. “Il parle français. (Caro… He speaks French.)”
There was a second of silence, soon followed by your cousin's loud, screaming laughter coming through the earphones.
“Qu'est-ce qu'il a dit? (What did he say?)” she gasped out in between peels of laughter.
“Que, comme ses miches, tout est fait maison ici. (That, like his ass, everything here's homemade.),” you mumbled, while putting the sandwich down and hiding your face in your hands.
She laughed even more, cackling through wheezing breaths.
“I can't show my face here anymore,” you groaned, looking forlornly at your sandwich.
“Was he angry? From what he told you, he didn't seem to be.”
“No… he looked amused. But that's not the point… I talked about kneading that man's ass right in front of him,” you moaned and shook your head.
Caroline chuckled lightly. “At least you weren't badmouthing him.”
You only hummed and folded up the sandwich. There was no way that you could eat this now. About to bemoan going back into the wind to escape your embarrassment, you heard your niece’s tiny voice calling for her mother.
“Sorry, gotta go,” Caroline said hurriedly before speaking softly to her daughter.
“No problem. Give her a big hug from me.”
“Will do… Keep me posted on the hot stranger situation.”
You snorted. “There's no situation at all. I'm gonna slink out of here and never come back.”
Caroline laughed softly. “Whatever… talk later.”
“Yeah, later.”
You removed the earphones and placed them back into their case before checking your surroundings. How could you have been so stupid and run your mouth like that? Caroline was right, he didn’t look angry at all, but you’d rarely felt this embarrassed in your life. You quickly put everything into your bag and left a large tip on the table before getting up. As you put on your coat, you noticed the man standing in front of a wall as he checked the light fixture. Glad that he couldn’t see you, you were about to run out when something held you back. You bit over your bottom lip as you contemplated him and sighed deeply.
“Can I talk to you for a sec?” you asked tentatively as you reached him.
His head turned to you in surprise, before a large smirk appeared on his handsome face as he moved his whole body toward you. Damn, he really did look incredibly good.
“What can I do for you?”
“Uh… well, I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I hope I didn’t offend you or anything. I’m always the first one to tell people to be careful with speaking another language in front of others and not assume they don’t understand you, but here I was doing it anyway,” you said in a rush, glancing at him in between words while mostly avoiding direct eye contact.
“Eh, don't worry, it's not like you were talking shit about me so…” he trailed off with a light shrug, while his grin never left his face.
“Maybe, but still… I'm sorry.”
“Don't be…” He leaned in closer as he lowered his voice. “Ça ne me gêne pas. Surtout quand ça vient d'une aussi belle bouche que la tienne. (I don't mind. Especially when it comes from a pretty mouth like yours.)”
Your eyes widened, while you felt your whole face warming again when his gaze dropped to your parted lips. That’s not what you had expected him to say.
“Well,” you breathed, your eyes locking with his as he looked up again. “Good to know.”
You stood there, watching each other for a few seconds, before Richie’s voice boomed through the snack.
“Hey, Cuz, Fak’s on the line ‘bout the fridge.”
The man in front of you didn’t react except to briefly lift his eyes toward where the voice was coming from before looking at you again.
“Mikey!”
“For fuck’s sake. I heard you. Tell him I’ll call him back in a sec,” he called out irritably.
You laughed to yourself at his annoyance at being interrupted, which had his attention returning to you. Shaking his head with a small grin and a sigh, he put his hands in the pockets of the blue apron.
“You leaving already?” he asked after a beat, as he noticed that you had your coat on and your table was cleaned off.
You grinned inwardly at the word already, as if he was regretting seeing you leave sooner than he had expected.
“Yeah… think I’ll just head home for the day. No weather for nice walks outside.”
Mikey only hummed in agreement and looked down with a small crease between his brows.
“But I’ll be back,” you blurted out, which had him staring back at you with raised eyebrows.
“Yeah?”
“Mhm… best Italian sandwich I’ve had… Need to have another taste and all.”
“Glad to hear it,” he smiled, inclining his head to one side as he stared at you intently.
You suddenly didn’t feel like leaving at all anymore, but sitting back down would seem weird now, right? He was obviously flirting with you, much to your surprised delight, yet you didn’t feel like coming across as too eager either.
“‘Kay, then… I — uh — I’ll see you next time, I guess.”
“Sure thing, sweetheart,” he smiled softly, while his gaze remained focused on you.
“Right… bye, Mikey,” you babbled, finally taking a step back just when you saw him grinning at you using his name.
“A la prochaine. (Until next time),” he replied, following you towards the front of the shop.
Your name came through your lips like a reflex, and you would have felt embarrassed about that too had Mikey not smiled at learning it. When he repeated the goodbyes with your name this time, you left with a wide smile and barely felt the wind across your skin as you headed home.
**The word ‘ miche’ stands for a loaf of bread, but it’s often used to refer to someone’s butt because, as you can guess, of its rounded form. Reader wants to "knead that dough".
After that day, you had returned as promised.
On the first time, they’d had a busy day, with the line far longer than the last time you’d been there. Mikey hadn’t been at the register, which had disappointed you, but you’d still ordered the same thing as last time. You hadn’t lied when you’d said that it was the best Italian beef you’d had. As you’d been about to walk to a free table, Mikey had come out of the kitchen with a large tray filled with orders. He’d stopped in his tracks as he noticed you and smiled brightly in recognition. Unfortunately, this had been the only interaction that day, since he’d had to return to the kitchen immediately.
On your third visit, Caroline insisted on coming along. She told you that she wanted to taste the infamous Italian beef that people raved about at her job, but you knew that it also was to get a look at Mikey. However, like last time, he wasn’t at the register. She looked at Richie and then back at you with a raised eyebrow, but you only rolled your eyes at her.
“Il a les yeux bleus, celui-là (This one has blue eyes.).”
“De très beaux yeux bleus (Very pretty blue eyes.),” she commented with a smile directed at Richie, as he asked for your order.
Caroline ordered a few different things to bring home a little later, while you went with the original as both other times. Richie yelled the order to the back as always, while he invited you to take a seat.
“Maybe he isn’t in,” Caroline said as she looked around herself.
You shrugged as you took a napkin and folded it in half. “Maybe.”
You wanted to sound nonchalant, but you seriously hoped that he’d be around.
A little while later, the kitchen door opened, with Mikey stepping through it while talking to the person behind him. With your direct view of the register, you noticed him immediately. At your sudden silence, Caroline turned to look as well, which had you hissing at her to not be so obvious.
“What? I’m just checking where my order is,” she waved her hand around at you, and you huffed.
Mikey was still talking while he lifted his eyes to stare around the shop distractedly, only to notice you and smile as he spoke. Your face heated, and you bit your bottom lip at the way he smiled at you. You saw him say something to Richie, who looked towards your table before pointing at an order.
“So?” You heard Caroline ask, but you were too busy watching as Mikey picked up the order and walked towards you.
“Hey,” he said with a grin. “So, these two for now” — he placed a sandwich in front of each of you along with your drinks. — “and this to-go, right?” He put a packed order in the center of the table.
“Yes, thank you,” you smiled.
“Alors c’est lui, pas vrai? (So, that’s him, right?)” Caroline asked while staring at him, which had you making wide eyes at her and groaning softly.
“Caro…”
Mikey looked at her with a lifted eyebrow, before glancing at you with a smirk.
“Oui, c’est moi (Yes, it’s me.),” he replied easily.
Caroline grinned and nodded her head. “Alors, tout est fait maison ici, c’est bien ça? (So, everything’s homemade here, correct?)”
“Oh my God,” you whispered, and kicked your cousin under the table.
Mikey laughed heartily and nodded. “Oui, absolument tout. (Yes, absolutely everything.)”
“Great. Good to know,” Caroline shrugged and sat back casually, like she was just a satisfied customer.
Mikey chuckled and looked back at you with a sly smile.
“Anything else I can get you guys?”
“Nope, we’re good, thank you,” you quickly replied before Caroline could jump in and embarrass you more.
Mikey nodded with another small laugh and walked off with a “Bon appétit. (Enjoy.)”
“I fucking hate you,” you hissed at your cousin, who had the gall to snort and roll her eyes.
“I had to see if the man can take a joke, and he does.” She took a bite from her sandwich and groaned in satisfaction as she chewed. “Besides, the man already knows you find him hot… Which, you were right about, he’s a good-looking dude… But, I’ll take the yelling, blue-eyed one,” she added matter-of-factly after taking another bite.
You snorted at her words. Caroline was married to one of the chillest men on this planet, and she loved the hell out of him. But she’d always had a thing for the loud ones. Except that it never worked out with them because of her fiery personality. She and her husband balanced each other out perfectly, though.
“Still, you didn’t have to remind him of what I said,” you grumbled, biting into your own sandwich. “I was more hoping he’d forget about it.”
Caroline snorted softly. “That first impression is gonna be unforgettable. But I really don’t think he minds that at all… The opposite, really.”
“Right…” You rolled your eyes and sipped from your drink this time. “He might have flirted with me last time, but it doesn’t mean anything. He was just being nice.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” she said, while swallowing another bite and glancing at you with a smirk. “The attraction clearly does go both ways with how he can’t stop looking at you.”
“What?” you asked in surprise and sat up straight in your chair.
“He’s talking to customers a few tables over, and he’s looked at you at least ten times already.”
You blinked at her at the revelation and ducked your head with a shrug.
“Maybe he’s just looking at our table in general.”
“Yeah, right. I could be dancing around naked that he wouldn’t even notice it.”
This had you uttering a loud laugh of amusement, which turned into a small, pleased smile as you took in her words.
“He’s coming back,” she whispered suddenly, having you jerking in your seat.
“Ça vous plait? (Do you like it?)” he asked Caroline, although he glanced at you.
“Aussi bon qu’on me l’avait dit. (As good as I was told.)” She nodded with a hum of approval.
“Content de l’entendre… Et toi? (Glad to hear it… What about you?)” he glanced your way with a lifted eyebrow.
“Délicieux (Delicious.),” you smiled, feeling your face warming as you saw your cousin watching the two of you with a smirk.
Mikey nodded with a pleased smile and was about to say something when Richie called for him. He sighed.
“Enjoy the rest of your meal,” he said and shot you a smile that was obviously only for you before he headed back.
You followed him with your eyes until he vanished in the kitchen, which had you noticing Caroline’s lifted eyebrow that clearly said ‘told you so’.
“Could be dancing naked,” she repeated meaningfully with a smirk.
Shaking your head at her with a small laugh, you went on eating the sandwich.
An hour later, you left The Beef, but Mikey never came back from the kitchen.
In the following weeks, The Beef became one of your regular places. It had everything to do with Mikey, obviously, however, as the weeks went on, you got into talking to the other people working there. The place was chaotic, with everyone running around and shouting obscenities at each other, but you quickly realized how deeply everyone cared about each other. Caroline, and even her husband, came along a couple more times. However, you mostly went by yourself. For the simple reason that Mikey would often come to your table and strike up a conversation whenever you went alone.
You seriously enjoyed talking to him. He could be as loud and all over the place as the rest of the Beef’s staff, and flirt with you in a very obvious way, while he could also give off this more introverted and thoughtful persona. It was during the later moments that you talked the most, with Mikey sometimes sitting down at your table and talking about the most mundane stuff. You shared stories about your jobs and families, which told you that he also had a younger brother along with the younger sister you’d seen a couple of times. Watching her interact with the loud men in the restaurant, looking so sweet and calm, only to see her biting back if needed, had been an incredibly funny moment.
Caroline was getting more and more frustrated with the two of you for not moving things along, though. However, you really didn’t care. Did you want there to be more? Yes, but you also genuinely enjoyed spending the time with Mikey the way that you currently were, despite how much you wanted to kiss him when he stared at you from under his eyebrows like he often did. Only time would tell, and you weren’t in any particular hurry.
“Hey, Basic Beef. How’s it goin’ today?” Richie hollered as soon as he saw you.
You chuckled at the nickname and walked up to him. Richie had taken to calling you that a few visits back after you’d been talking about your choice of order. He’d teased you about always taking the same thing and not being adventurous enough. To which you’d laughed and shrugged, telling him that you were okay with being a basic bitch. Richie had almost keeled over with laughter at your words, wheezing out the word Basic Beef. To no one’s surprise, Caroline had almost lost it after you’d told her the following day. These two got along far too well.
“Hey, Ducon. (Hey, Asshole),” you snorted and leaned against the counter.
He grinned and turned towards the list of sandwiches with a hum of faked curiosity.
“What will it be today?” he singsonged.
“You’re such a dick,” you laughed.
“Hey, Mikey,” Richie smirked, as he shouted to the back while maintaining eye contact with you. “Your girlfriend’s here.”
You groaned and shook your head, while you heard Mikey’s voice from the kitchen.
“Hope you ain’t being a dick about her order again.”
Richie grinned at you, which had you fighting down the warmth rushing into your face at the fact that Mikey knew exactly who Richie was talking about.
“Yes, he is,” you called out with a laugh to hide your embarrassment, knowing that the other customers could hear everything too.
“She insulted me in French,” Richie threw back with mock outrage.
“Serves you right,” Mikey said, stepping out of the kitchen with a wide grin directed at you. “Hey, Sweetheart.”
“Hey,” you smiled.
You saw Richie sighing and rolling his eyes at the two of you before moving towards the kitchen. “Guess I’ll be making that sandwich myself.”
“God, you’re such a fucking drama queen,” Mikey snorted, while you laughed at Richie’s theatrics. “Can’t I just say hi?”
“That’s not sayin’ hi, cuz, that’s undressin’ her with your eyes.”
You almost choked on your spit, while Mikey closed his eyes as if praying for patience and sighed. “Why do I even let you work here?”
“Cause this place would come crashin’ down without me, asshole.”
Mikey shoved him hard with a huff of a laugh and took a step back before looking at you and then back at Richie.
“I’ll have that order out in two,” he finally said after looking at you again.
“Uh, thanks,” you nodded, while Richie watched him with a raised eyebrow as Mikey made his way back to the kitchen.
Richie sighed again while you took out your wallet, and nodded at the customer who had just entered the place and was waiting behind you. Handing over the cash, your money was met by Richie waving it away.
“Go have a seat, Love. It’s on the house tonight,” he said with a much softer tone.
“Oh… Um, okay, thanks, Richie.”
“No problem,” he winked with a genuine smile. A smile that you returned easily.
One thing had to be said about Richie; he might be loud and obnoxious most of the time, he was also a nice guy who you actually really liked. Putting everything back into your bag, you made your way to your usual table.
As promised, Mikey was out with your order barely two minutes later.
“There you go.” He placed everything neatly in front of you.
“Thanks,” you smiled brightly, looking into his face.
Mikey nodded and looked back towards the register and the kitchen with a tiny frown.
“I — uh — I’m kinda stuck back there with preparing stuff for the weekend and-”
“Oh, uh, that’s okay. I know you can’t chat every time,” you cut in, nodding your head in understanding. You didn’t want him to feel bad about not coming out to talk if he was busy.
“Yeah, no, I know, but I was kinda thinking…” he trailed off and looked down for a beat, sucking on his bottom lip. “Will you stay after we close?” he finally asked, looking at you from under his lashes.
You blinked a couple of times at the unexpected question. “Oh… um, yeah, sure. Of course.”
“Yeah?” he smiled softly. “It’s gonna be” — he looked around the place — “another hour at least, though.”
“That’s okay. I don’t mind waiting. I can go pester Richie if I get too bored.”
Mikey barked out a laugh at that and nodded his head a few times.
“‘Kay… See you later.”
You smiled in acknowledgment and watched him walk back, stopping next to Richie, whose eyes shot to you after a moment, but you quickly averted your gaze. Picking up your sandwich, you took a bite to stop yourself from looking up again. Your face felt warm as you thought about Mikey’s request to stay. That had never happened, and you couldn’t stop yourself from wondering what was going to happen. In any case, you could only imagine Richie grinning like a lunatic at Mikey informing him that you’d be staying. To distract yourself, you pulled out your phone and went through your various social media platforms while you ate and then sat out to wait.
A little while later, you were reading through an article about a show you were looking forward to when Richie appeared at your side.
“You can already go through to the back. Everyone’s left there, and I’m gonna finish with the couple customers left and close the front.”
“Oh, okay.” You got up and looked towards the kitchen.
“Okay, listen,” Richie started, looking suddenly serious. “I know I’ve been givin’ you shit and all that about him, but truth is, Mikey’s been… kinda all over the place lately. But since you showed up, speaking French and all that… I’ve seen more glimpses of my best friend than I have in a while.”
You stared at him in surprise. That’s not what you had expected to hear.
“Shit… I don’t wanna scare you off or anything. But… shit… Mikey, when he falls, he falls hard, yeah? And I can tell that you’re not some bitch out to hurt him or nothin’.”
You chuckled at his agitation.
“Nah… I’m just some Basic Beef, remember?” you said softly.
Richie snorted and nodded his head.
“But seriously, thank you, Richie. I’m glad that he has someone looking out for him… But yeah…” You looked towards the door leading to the kitchen. “Mikey, he… I just really, really like him”, you stated with a smile that you knew revealed how smitten you were by the man.
Richie nodded again with a small smile.
“Yeah…” He finally cleared his throat and waved towards the kitchen. “Right… Go ahead… And please, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, yeah? Remember, kitchen, sanitary measures.”
You groaned and shoved at his arm. Now, that was what you had expected. “Don’t be gross, Jerimovich.”
You heard him laughing as you walked towards the kitchen.
Stepping through the door, you looked around at the rows of appliances, pots, and pans, while you hung your coat and bag on a hook near the staff door. As you moved to the deepest part, you found Mikey in front of the stove, with three large pots bubbling away on it.
“Hey,” you said softly, coming to stand next to him with your hip against the counter as you faced his profile.
Mikey lifted his head from one of the pots he’d been leaning over and stirring, his hair curling at the top from the steam. He beamed as he saw you.
“Hey. Richie gone yet?”
“No, not yet. There was still a table left. He said he’d close the front and leave from there.”
Mikey looked towards where the front of the shop was, as if he could see Richie, and smiled.
“Smells delicious in here,” you said after a second, staring at the insides of the pots.
Mikey grinned. “Making the last batch of pulled pork and beef.”
You made a long hum of appreciation at that, which had Mikey uttering a pleased chuckle.
“Can I help you with anything?” you wondered, looking around yourself.
“Nah, I’m good. There ain’t much left to do except wait a bit, but…” he trailed off like earlier.
You tilted your head in question. He was being incredibly tentative tonight, which was kind of cute. “But?”
Mikey shot you a small glance and cleared his throat.
“Just wanted to see you for a bit longer.”
You ducked your head and smiled. While Mikey had flirted with you intensely over the last weeks, it had all been done in a lighthearted fashion. The interest had been genuine, but it had never been this open. This confession was raw and hit you straight in the heart.
“Yeah? Well… While I love the food you guys make here, you know that’s not really what has me coming back every time.”
Mikey smiled warmly, before he smirked. “C’est mon cul, pas vrai? (It’s my ass, right?)”
“Ah non mais t’es pas possible, arrête. (Oh come on, you’re the worst, stop it),” you half groaned, half laughed while pushing at his shoulder.
Mikey laughed heartily and caught your hand as he turned to face you fully. You looked into his eyes, filled with mirth, but also something so tender that it took your breath away.
“Wanna know something embarrassing about me?” he asked in a soft tone.
You nodded lightly, your heart in your throat and unable to speak with the way he was looking at you.
“J’avais déjà envie de t’embrasser le jour où on s’est rencontré. (I already wanted to kiss you on the day we met.)”
Your heart missed a beat before it started to beat faster.
“Alors pourquoi tu ne l’as pas encore fait? (Then why haven’t you done it yet?)” you breathed.
Mikey smiled and cupped one side of your face with a large and warm palm. “Bonne question. (Good question.),” he whispered, before slowly leaning in.
Your eyes automatically fell shut when his lips met yours. It was a soft kiss, just his lips pressing onto yours, as if testing the waters. You lifted your hands to his waist, your fingers gripping at his t-shirt as you slanted your head in request for more. Mikey huffed out a small breath against your lips, and moved in closer, giving you what you wanted. His hand went to the back of your head, with the fingers sliding into your hair as he parted your lips with his. You moaned at the first, soft stroke of his tongue against your bottom lip, just grazing the skin teasingly before he delved in further. Your fingers tightened in his shirt as the kiss turned into something more. More intense. Hungrier. Leaning against the stove, Mikey’s other hand went to the middle of your back, pulling you as close together as possible. In turn, you wrapped your arms around his chest and clung to his shirt like it was the only thing keeping you upright. You suddenly felt ridiculous about ever thinking that you didn’t have any issues with just seeing where this thing with Mikey was going, since you had clearly underestimated how much you actually wanted this. Wanted him. And from how he was kissing you, holding you so tightly against him, the feeling was unmistakably mutual.
You couldn’t say how long you stood there, locked together, with no signs of letting up, but you were pulled out of the moment by the pots suddenly bubbling wildly. Mikey cursed while you gasped, the two of you springing apart to see the contents of the pots sputtering around and almost starting to overflow. Jumping into action instantly, Mikey turned the heat down and stirred the pots while muttering under his breath.
Once everything was under control again, Mikey held himself up with his hands on the counter and exhaled deeply as he turned his head towards you.
“I think my ass is responsible for this too… I turned the heat back on high when I leaned against the stove,” he explained sheepishly.
You stared at him for a second, before you burst into laughter, while he watched you with an amused smile.
“You know,” you said lightly and stepped into his space again, wrapping your arms around his neck while he circled your waist with his. “I think I need to take some responsibility for this too.”
“Hm… you did distract me,” Mikey agreed with a chuckle, and leaned in to kiss you.
You grinned against his mouth, the kiss about to continue like you’d never been interrupted, when Mikey forcefully leaned his head away with a grunt and kissed your forehead instead.
“Okay… let’s just…”
“Am I distracting you again,” you laughed softly, looking into his warm, brown eyes.
“You have no idea,” he confessed, pulling you into a hug this time.
You smiled into the embrace and took in a deep breath, staying in this position for a few long minutes.
“Rentre avec moi? (Come home with me?)” you finally asked, although you kept your face against his shoulder.
Mikey cupped your face and tilted your head until he could look into your eyes, revealing his warm gaze.
“Avec plaisir. (It would be my pleasure.)”