u were two steps away from the top of the rooftop staircase when u saw him standing with his back towards the view, his eyes on u, while he lit a cigarette between his lips. a trail of smoke to fill the space between u. the smell of tobacco hit you fast as you took the next few steps forward. you came to a stop a few feet away from him, as if you had walked into an invisible wall.

ur fingers subconsciously tightened around the stick of strawberry lollipop in ur hand. u followed the way his chest rose with a breath, before falling as a puff of smoke was blown from his lips. you didn’t see the way his eyes drifted down your body from where he stood, taking in the way your glossy lips shone under the sun like a piece of candied fruit.

“that can’t be good for you,” you said, tilting your head ever so slightly. and almost immediately—like he were searching for water in the desert—his eyes drifted to the way your hair shifted to reveal the nape of your neck, the innocent act corrupted by the thoughts that ran through his mind. he thought about what it would be like to have you bear your neck to him like that, to let him cover the skin in hungry kisses in attempt to taste the sweetness of the scent you carried around. 

“does it matter?” he asked, lowering his voice just the slightest. a word of caution before he got the urge to devour you whole.

“it can’t be that good, can it?” you asked innocently. “why don’t you have something that tastes better?”

his breath was caught in his throat. you didn’t mean it in that way—he knew that, because you were just too good. you grew flustered whenever he so much as caught you looking in his direction, you wouldn’t be able to flirt without burning brighter than the strawberries that you always smelled like.

but god, all he wanted to do was ask if u were going to offer yourself up as an alternative. because even if he never got to taste the flavour of the gloss on your lips, he knew it would be the sweetest thing he’d ever tasted.

“yeah?” he whispered, breathless. “like what?”