by Ella Maise
Her frown got deeper and she scooted forward in her seat. Her lips parted, but nothing came out. Then she nodded. “Yeah, I’ll have a pint of whatever you have on tap and a Corona, please.”
I returned her nod with a curt one and served my roommate. Plunking the pint in front of her, I reached down for a bottle of Corona. Her left hand closed around the handle of the pint and she reached for the bottle with the other.
“Can you carry them yourself or should I have—”
What she said was not what I was expecting to hear at all. “That’s not my boyfriend, Dylan. He is my friend, Jared, and just so you know, shy doesn’t mean I can’t function or dance with my friends or just be around people. I only get shy and awkward around certain people, and you happen to be one of them, that’s all.”
I have no idea if she chose to tell me all that in pretty much one breath with a lowered voice so I might not hear half of it or if she thought she’d be gone before I could piece it together, but thank fuck I got it the first time.
Since her hands were full, she didn’t manage to escape as quickly as she hoped. Before she could hop off the stool, I put my hand on her wrist and stopped her forward movement.
Stuck sitting sideways, she stilled and looked at me.
My hand was still around her wrist, and this time I didn’t hesitate to lean in closer and pull her to me at the same time. I paused when my lips were almost touching the shell of her ear. “Say that again?” I asked in a low, deep voice.
Oh, I had heard her perfectly fine the first time, but I still felt the need to hear her say it again.
She tilted her head enough so I could hear her. I stayed exactly where I was, breathing in her scent. “I’m shy around—” she started haltingly.
“Not that part. The one before that.”
“Oh, that’s Jared. He’s not my boyfriend, just Jared, my friend,” Zoe repeated. I closed my eyes in relief. When I opened them again, I noticed Zoe’s white-knuckle grip on the bottle of Corona. Because of the position we were in, she had no choice but to speak right into my ear where I could feel her warm breath on my skin. “He is my friend, and he also happens to be gay, not that it should matter.”
That tight feeling that had suddenly appeared in my stomach like I’d been gut-punched when I saw her touching the dick face loosened at her words. I shouldn’t have been happy to hear that; it should’ve made no difference, but it still did. I wasn’t prepared to see her get close to another guy. Knowing about it was evidently different than seeing it with my own eyes. Any other time, maybe it would’ve been all right, but that night, I didn’t like it.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Her berry scent was going to kill me from that close. That first night, when her towel did me a favor and unwound itself, she had smelled like berries, too, and since I was her roommate, I had the privilege—or perhaps the burden—of knowing that it was her body wash and not her shampoo. The smell always lingered after she took a shower, reaching to my room and distracting me to no end.
I’d known from the very beginning that she couldn’t just be my friend, even if I’d let her think she could, and seeing her with another guy had just cemented that.
Zoe cleared her throat and pulled back from our little private bubble. Only then did I notice the touch of color on her cheeks. When she spoke, her voice was thick. She was affected by me, by having me close. I knew she was—the sparkle in her eyes, the color on her cheeks, the way she tried to hold her breath gave her away. If not, if I was wrong, I was screwed.
“You look beautiful,” I said honestly. “You always look beautiful, but tonight you look happier. I like your smile tonight. I always like it when you smile, Flash,” I said sincerely.
At my words, her eyes jumped to mine, surprised, unsure. Her lips twitched then finally tipped up in a shy but beautiful smile. “I like your smile, too…really like it.”
Drawing farther back, I let go of her arm and looked at her face. Of course, she looked anywhere but my eyes.
“Say hi to your friends for me then. Maybe introduce us before you guys leave? It should slow down here soon enough.”
She swallowed and nibbled on her bottom lip. “Are you okay, Dylan? I haven’t seen you around lately. We’re good, right?”
I had no idea how to behave around her anymore, but we were good. “It’s always like this during football season, all the practice hours, training, classes, plus midterms. I was swamped, but things should calm down for a week at least. I’m here at night since it’s bye week, but you’ll see me around.”
“Okay.” She smiled and nodded. Just before she attempted to get down, she looked over shoulder at her friends for a few seconds then faced me again. “Later, we can watch a movie maybe? Netflix and chill like the cool kids are doing?”
My brows almost reached my hairline. “Netflix and chill?”
When she realized what she’d said, she looked horrified. “No! I mean, I know what that means, and I didn’t mean it that way. I meant literally. We could pick a movie and chill out, not pick a movie and have sex while said movie is playing, not chill in that way, not Netflix and—” She let out a little growl. “Forget about Netflix. Fuck Netflix. The last time we tried, your friends came over and we couldn’t, so maybe when you come home tonight we can watch a movie?”
I gave her a small smile, thinking maybe it was wrong of me to enjoy yanking her chain so much. “I’m sorry, Zoe. My shift ends pretty late tonight. Maybe we can do that another time?”
Her smile disappeared from her face. “Yeah, sure. Of course. You’re probably meeting up with your friends after this anyway.”
I touched her arm again before she could slip away, because apparently I couldn’t help myself. “Only because it’s Pint Night here, and I’m afraid I’m not going anywhere until last call, which is at two AM.”
“Oh. Yeah, that’s late. Like you said, maybe another time. See you back at the apartment then?”
“I’ll see you at home.” I liked it better when we called it home, like she had a few seconds before. “I’d love to meet your friends,” I repeated before she could leave.
Her smile came back. “Sure. Actually, I think you already know Kayla—you guys kinda dated—and Jared is a fan, so he’d like that too. We’ll come over”—she looked around—“when it’s not so crowded. I already took too much of your time, I’m sorry.”
What the fuck?
“Wait a second—what did you say? You think I dated your friend?”
“I don’t think—I mean, she said you guys…”
I glanced back at the booth with a frown. The one she called Jared was openly staring at us, but this time the girl across from him smiled and waved at me a little sheepishly. I narrowed my eyes, looked at her a little closer, and…yeah, maybe she looked familiar, but I was pretty sure I hadn’t dated her.
“I’m pretty sure I didn’t date your friend, Zoe.” I took another quick look. “What did you say her name was again?”
“Kayla.”
“Yeah, you’re wrong.”
“She said you guys met freshman year—well, she was a freshman, so you were a sophomore.”
I squinted and looked harder, trying to remember why she looked familiar. “Was she by any chance a redhead?”
“Yeah. Her boyfriend doesn’t like the red, so she dyes it brown now.”
A smile spread across my face. “Okay, I remember her.” I lifted my hand and waved back at her friend. Focusing back on Zoe, I said, “Though, just to make it clear, we never actually dated, just went out with friends a couple times, that’s it. I wouldn’t call it dating.”
“That’s what Kayla said, too. Anyway, it’d be okay if you had dated.”
I nodded slowly. “It would be okay, but we didn’t.”
She tucked her hair behind her ear and looked down at the beer bottle in her hand. I watched her thumb slowly wipe the condensation away.
Back and forth.
Back and forth.
I lea
ned down so I could meet her eyes. “Stop by before you guys leave, okay? We’ll talk. Keep me company. Let me see my friend for a while longer.”
“Okay.”
I felt relieved.
With a half wave, she hopped off and carried the drinks back to her friends. On her way over there, she turned around once, drinks still held high, eyes sparkling, and gave me the biggest smile—causing my own lips to twitch in amusement—then turned back and kept walking. Kayla took the Corona, and the friend who was definitely not the boyfriend took the beer from her hand before she could sit down and poured it into their mugs.
A loud cheer erupted from the group at the beer pong table, and I remembered that I had a job to do.
The orders had slowed down, so I shouted at Lindy. “I have this. Go take your break.”
She groaned and pulled at my shoulder to give me a peck on the cheek as she passed me on her way to the door that led to the kitchen.
I spent a few minutes talking to the guys sitting at the front about how the season was shaping up until Lindy came back.
When I looked over to my right where Zoe’s booth was, she was the first to realize they’d been caught staring at me and quickly looked away.
Chapter Thirteen
Dylan
Jimmy’s was only a few minutes away from the apartment so I made it back around two-thirty AM.The last thing I expected or wanted to see when I started climbing up the stairs was Ms. Hilda.
“Oh, Dylan, I thought you were someone else.”
“Is everything okay, Ms. Hilda? It’s pretty late to be up.”
She waved me off. “I always have trouble sleeping at night. When I heard footsteps, I wanted to see who was coming in at this hour. Miss Clarke has a visitor tonight, you know.”
My jaw clenched and I stilled. “A visitor?”
She frowned and looked toward our apartment door. “Yes, her friend. That one likes older boys. You see how late it is, and he is still in there—as if she could fool me by tiptoeing past my door.”
Maybe her friends had come back with her? Offering a tight-lipped smile and a quick nod, I took my key from my pocket so I could get in and see it for myself.
“Dylan? Did you say your father was a plumber?” She stopped me before I could make it to the door.
“Yes, he is.” I shifted from one foot to the other.
“I have this little problem in the kitchen—do you think you can take a look?”
“Ms. Hilda, I’d love to help, but I’m just coming back from work and I’m wiped. I’m not any good at it, but I’ll take a look at it tomorrow for you.”
She huffed and lost the semi-pleasant look on her face.
“I’ll hold you to that young man.”
When I turned the key and stepped inside, I was expecting to see the worst. What I found, however, was a sleeping Zoe balled up on the couch. Other than a lone scented candle burning on the kitchen island, none of the lights were on. After locking the door, I dropped my bag and made my way toward her.
She was sleeping with her hands under her cheek, her legs tucked up to her stomach. Her hair was hanging over her shoulder in a messy braid, covering half of her face.
For a second I’d believed what that nosy old woman had said. For a second I’d been scared of what I’d find when I stepped through the door.
A few seconds ticked by as I watched her sleep, trying to decide what to do. Rubbing my eyes, I kneeled right next to her. She was wearing the same outfit she’d had on earlier, the only difference was that she had changed out of her tight black jeans in favor of leggings.
Hesitating only for a moment, I reached up and closed my hand over her shoulder, gently sliding it down her arm and back up again. “Zoe, wake up.” She didn’t, not even a stir. “Zoe?” I let go of her shoulder and, as gently as possible, brushed her hair back over her shoulder to see her full face. She looked so peaceful.
Her phone, which was lying face down on the coffee table, pinged with a new text. It wasn’t my best moment, but I flipped it over and checked who it was from. I couldn’t see the contents of the message, but I saw the sender’s name on the screen: Mark Wilson.
My hands formed into fists all on their own. It could’ve been anything. He was a family friend, after all. He wasn’t there; Ms. Hilda had been wrong. She was wrong. Zoe was living in his apartment. It was nothing.
Turning the phone face down, I reached out for Zoe again. “Zoe, you need to wake up.” Her eyes fluttered but didn’t open fully. She released a small moan and wiggled her hips to settle deeper into the cushions. I brushed the short strands of hair away from her forehead, my fingertips lingering. That did the trick, and her eyes slowly opened.
A small frown filled her face, and she seemed confused to find me next to her.
“Baby, you should go to bed,” I whispered.
“Dylan?” Her voice was still groggy with sleep. She rubbed at her eyes and looked around the dark apartment. “What time is it?”
She covered a big yawn with the back of her hand.
“Close to three.”
“Oh.”
“You want me to help you to your room?”
A quick look, there and gone.
“Oh, no. I’m fine, but thank you.”
I rose and she pushed herself up to a sitting position. She still seemed confused.
Pushing my hands into my pockets, I asked, “Are you okay?”
Covering another yawn, she looked up at me. “Yeah, I must’ve fallen asleep after I got back from the bar.”
I nodded. “Well, I’m gonna head to my room.” I was only at the mouth of the hallway when she called my name.
“Dylan?”
When I turned around, she was up on her feet, her laptop now closed and clutched against her chest.
“Are you going to bed?”
“Yeah, I’m wiped.”
“Oh. Okay. Good night then.”
“Is everything all right?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Zoe, what’s wrong?”
I watched her fingers curl around her computer, her grip tight. “Nothing. Nothing is wrong. Everything’s fine. I just… If you weren’t sleepy, I thought maybe we could watch something together? But you’re wiped, so it’s okay. You did say you were gonna get in late, so I shouldn’t have waited, but just in case you’re hungry or anything, I got you a cheeseburger from In-N-Out. Jared and I went there after the bar so I thought I should bring you back something since you said cheeseburgers were your favorite. You got me pizza last time, so I thought you could—”
“Zoe, stop.” I walked back to her and stopped when the couch was the only thing standing between us. “You fell asleep waiting for me?”
“I…” She lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “I thought maybe you wouldn’t be able to sleep when you got back and we could spend some time together maybe—if you wanted to, that is…you know, because we didn’t see each other all that much these last few days with midterms and your games, and Jared thought I should maybe get—”
“So, it wasn’t you who wanted to buy me a cheeseburger, it was Jared. Remind me to thank him the next time I see him.” It wasn’t a question, but she took it as one and shook her head.
“Fine, I lied. I thought maybe you’d be hungry when you got back. I was trying to be a good friend.”
I tilted my head. “Were you watching a movie before you fell asleep?”
She looked away, a little too quickly. “No.”
That was a big fat yes if I ever heard one.
I took her in. Even if it was only because she was scared, if she wanted to spend time with me, how could I say no? It wasn’t like we spent much time together, and she’d brought me a cheeseburger—it would be a waste to not eat it.
“What are watching?”
The corners of her mouth slowly tilted up, and her smile got so big that she had to bite down on her lip to keep it contained. “You’re not sleepy? Tired?”
“I’m tired, but I’m go
od for another hour or so.”
“What do you wanna watch?” She bent down and put her laptop back on the coffee table.
I forced my eyes away from her ass as she tinkered with the thing. “I’ll let you choose.”
“How about…Speed? Or Eagle Eye?”
“Speed? What was that again?”
“Oh, it’s an old-ish movie with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. Eagle Eye has Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan.”
“You have a thing for old movies, huh?”
“Old-ish movies. They’re not that old. So, which one do you want to watch?”
“I might not be able to make it to the end, but let’s go with Speed tonight. We’ll do Eagle Eye next time?”
That smile again. “Sounds good. Okay, you sit down.” She came to my side and pushed me around and down on the couch. “I’ll go get your cheeseburger and fries.”
“What did I do to deserve the fries on top of the cheeseburger?”
She headed toward the kitchen but looked over her shoulder when she spoke. “Who would buy a cheeseburger and not get fries? One isn’t complete without the other. I also hope you don’t mind sharing because I’m not gonna be able to stay away from the fries. I’m bound to steal a few, but the burger and soda are all yours.”
Coming back with a tray, she handed it to me then leaned over her laptop to start the movie.
Giving me a look, she sighed. “You don’t have to do this, you know that, right? I don’t want to keep you up. I can see you’re tired, Dylan.”
“I’m fine, Flash. Relax. If I fall asleep, I fall asleep. It’s okay. As long as you don’t draw a penis on my face, we should be safe.”
She laughed. “Promise. Did your teammates do that?”
I patted the seat next to me and she took it without hesitation. “Not to me specifically, but I’ve seen it done.” Pressing play, she started the movie and settled back. I grabbed the cheeseburger, took a big bite, and groaned. “I didn’t even realize I was starving, thank you.” When she didn’t reach for a fry, I offered one to her myself.
She took it from me with the tips of her fingers. “Thank you.”