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When I got out of the shower, I wrapped my hair up in a towel to dry and got dressed in my go-to pajamas: my baggiest T-shirt and sweatpants that I stole from Seth. My phone beeped and I grabbed it off the bathroom counter.
Hey, did you see what happened in Riverside?
It was Seth.
Yeah, I can’t believe they lost power last night, and the fire. It looks like they don’t know what happened either.
He usually kept up with this stuff more than I did, especially since his uncle was a cop. Seth had really gotten into the crime shows around the time he graduated high school and it just escalated from there.
Definitely weird. I’m thinking about heading over there, mind if I stop by?
Sure!
There goes my study time.
I looked in the mirror then poked my head out and scanned my living room. Suddenly very aware of how messy the place looked and that, even though I’d just doused myself with all the sudsy things I had stashed in my shower, I matched. I quickly pulled the towel off my hair, flicked it back a couple times, swiped on mascara, and darted out to the living room to clean it up before Seth got here. He might’ve been my best friend but that didn’t mean I wanted him to see myself or my apartment completely disheveled.
I ran around the main area of my apartment, tossing clothes and blankets into the washer as I went.
Living room, check. Now for the damned kitchen.
I swooped my eyes over the counter that was in desperate need of being decluttered; several used coffee mugs were spread across the surface, followed by a couple of pans from when I actually remembered to cook over the last week, and empty plates. It was gross and a wave of disappointment in myself washed over me.
I need to clean this place more. I never let things get this bad, even after dad left.
I shook the thought from my mind and went to work. Setting the water faucet on my metallic, farmhouse style sink to scolding hot, I dunked each dish into the bath of soapy water and scrubbed away.
Seth knocked right as I placed my last freshly cleaned and dried mug in the cabinet. He had a spare key, so he let himself in and tossed his keys onto the small, fake-oak side table next to the door.
He walked over and arched his eyebrow as he eyed me. “Did you eat yet?”
“Does coffee count?”
He shook his head, chuckling. “You know you can’t survive strictly off coffee, right? You’ll melt away, and I’ll be left to suffer Jensin’s lectures all alone.” A slight pang pricked my chest.
Dear lord, that grin.
“Good thing I grabbed some snackage on my way over.” And by ‘snackage’ he apparently meant a whole ass meal big enough to feed a family of four. To be fair, Seth was built like a tank: tall and covered from head to toe in muscle. The amount of food he went through easily doubled, if not tripled, what I ate on a day to day basis.
“We’re going to have to talk about the definition of ‘snack,’” I said, grinning back.
“Let’s add ‘food’ too, Miss ‘Does Coffee Count.’ I picked up your favorite, Chinese. Grab a box and dig in,” he said as he dumped the overfilled, white plastic bag on my kitchen counter.
I grabbed a box of chow mein, padded to my living area, plopped down on my midnight-black sofa, and went to town. I realized if he hadn’t brought food over I wouldn’t have eaten anything the whole day. I was too caught up in the dream and mayhem this past week.
I guess, dream-s, since I’m up to two now.
I shoved a fork full of noodles into my mouth and moaned. “Oh my lord, Seth. This is fucking delicious.” My eyes were on the verge of rolling back in my head from the onslaught of pure perfection until I heard Seth snort and caught sight of a rogue half-eaten noodle as it rocketed across my couch. I smacked him on the arm and nearly choked from how hard I laughed.
After we’d calmed down and got a hold of ourselves, we ate in a comfortable silence. I looked up every once in a while and caught Seth staring at me before his eyes quickly darted away. No idea why. We’d smile at each other every so often and I would steal an extra glance or two when he wasn’t looking; watching his shaggyonyx hair barely hover above his eyes as he’d lean forward to shovel another bite of food into his mouth.
My mind drifted off, imagining myself brushing the hair from Seth’s face as our eyes met. He would lean in as he wet his lips…
“Hey, you’re planning on staying in tonight, right? No late-night escapades?” he asked. It sounded light but there was a slight edge to the way he was looking at me…
Oh fuck. Did I think that out loud?
I panicked. The little fantasies I had involving Seth were rare but sometimes it was difficult to keep my mind from drifting into the off-limits-and-entirely-impossible territory. I swallowed back the panicked embarrassment and prayed that I hadn’t actually said anything.
