Page 34 of The Law of Attraction
“What?” They’d both been quiet for a while, so Adam seemed startled when she suddenly spoke up.
“I just remembered I bought Beaver Nuggets at Buc-ee’s.”
“Right.” He ran his hand over the side of his face, like he was trying to wake himself up. “So what are they?”
“They’re like sweet Cheetos. But a thousand times better.”
“Sounds gross.”
“Just you wait. You’ll see.”
He threw her a disbelieving look. “You don’t actually think I’m going to put something called a Beaver Nugget in my mouth?”
She grinned as she tore the bag open, breathing in the buttery caramel flavor. “Hey, it’s your loss if you don’t want to try them. More for me.” She popped one in her mouth and crunched down on the crispy sweetness, letting out a moan of happiness. “Damn. So good.”
Adam’s eyebrows lifted in interest, but he continued to look skeptical. “Uh huh.”
Olivia helped herself to another one. And another. They really were addictive. The more you ate, the better they tasted.
“Are you going to keep doing that?” he asked.
“Doing what?”
“Moaning like that. It’s unsettling.”
“You’d be moaning with me if you tried one.”
His knuckles whitened on the steering wheel as he pressed his lips together. It was hard to tell in the failing light, but she thought his cheeks might be slightly pink.
“Fine.” He stuck out his hand. “Give me one.”
Olivia placed a sugar-coated corn puff in his palm and watched closely as he ate it. He was staring straight ahead, which left her free to admire the slight pout of his lips and the manly slope of his jaw as he sampled the Beaver Nugget.
There was no pleasure-face this time. Instead, he shrugged slightly as he chewed. “It’s really sweet.”
“Yeah.” Her eyes remained laser-sighted on his throat as he swallowed.
He licked his lips and wrinkled his nose. “Too sweet.”
“Says the guy who just drank forty ounces of frozen corn syrup.” She forced herself to stop ogling him and faced forward in her seat, reaching into the bag for more Beaver Nuggets.
“I don’t get it,” he said. “It’s just a caramel-flavored Cheeto.”
“I know! Isn’t it amazing?”
“I mean…it’s fine.”
“It’s more than fine. It’s like a nugget of pure crunchy happiness.”
His lip curled in distaste. “I think it’s the word nugget that’s putting me off.”
“What’s wrong with the word nugget?”
“It makes me think of turds.”
“Do chicken nuggets make you think of turds?”
“No, they make me think of pink slime and snotty toddlers, which isn’t appetizing either.”
