Returning to Cora, I find her pulling two plates out of the cabinet and making herself at home.
"I hope you don't mind," she says. "I got nosey."
"Not at all."
"Damn, what did you order?" She widens her gaze at the stack of stuff in my grasp and the bag dangling from my fingertips. "Let me help you."
"Well, you said you wanted pizza, so I got that...but I didn't know if you wanted dessert, so I got you two to choose from, and you can never go wrong with breadsticks." I slide the boxes on the counter and pull the bottles of Sprite out of the bag.
"Do you drink Sprite?" She points to the four bottles.
"No, but I figured I'd get you a few extra just in case."
"Just in case what? We get snowed in?" Cora laughs and fuck if the sound doesn't go straight to my cock and heart at the same time.
"Never know."
"You realize we live in California, right?"
"I'm sure crazier things have happened." I take three of the Sprites and walk to my fridge, placing them inside and pulling out a bottle of water. "And this." I hand it to her and she grins and shakes her head.
"I'm half tempted to ask for a horse and see if you miraculously pull one of those out, too."
"I know a guy."
"A horse guy?"
I nod. "Yeah. Do you actually want one?"
"No. I mean, yes, butno. Where would I put it? My bedroom at my parents’ house?" The smile on her face quickly fades, and she fidgets with the bottle of water I just handed her.
"What's wrong?" I ask her.
"Nothing." She forces her cheeks upward but the expression doesn't meet her eyes. Clearly, she's faking it, but who am I to push her, especially considering the day she's had and the fact that I'm a complete stranger.
"Do you want to talk about what happened earlier?" I place my hands behind my back and weave them together.
"Nah, it's fine." Cora flips open the box of pizza and puts two slices on one plate and one on the other. "Here." She shoves the two slices toward me. "How many breadsticks do you want?" She pulls one out and bites off the tip before putting it on her plate. "Mmm, so good," she mumbles with a mouthful.
"You don't have to serve me," I tell her and take a stick from the box. "I'm supposed to be taking care of you."
"You literally disposed of a body for me today, pretty sure the least I can do is put a couple pieces of pizza on a plate for you." Cora covers her mouth. "Oh shit, I probably shouldn't have said that." She looks around suspiciously like someone might have overheard her.
"You can say whatever you want in here. Just watch it out there." I vaguely point away from us.
"Right." Cora slides onto a stool at my island and brings her plate and drinks toward her.
I grab a cup from the cabinet and fill it full of tap water for myself and take the seat on the other end, one chair between us.
"What, afraid I have cooties or something?" Cora glances over at me.
"Just giving you and all of your drinks plenty of room."
She chuckles. "There's a method to my madness, I promise."
"Yeah? Do tell." I take a bite of pizza and wait for her to continue. I've never ordered pineapple on my pizza before, but I wasn't about to tell her that, especially after she thought I was going to cause an issue for her asking for it. It's surprisingly good, and I don't hate it as much as I thought I would.
"Well..." She points to the coffee. "This one is for caffeine." Then the Sprite. "This one is for taste." And then the water. "And this one is for..."
