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“Yeah, okay. Once. My stomach grumbled really loudly while we were studying. It was embarrassing. Can we drop it?”
Ben practically races across campus after we pack up all our stuff. Nothing like finding out your friend went on a not-date with the girl he likes to get a man moving. He chats off my ear, asking me everything I know about her. And everything I don’t, just so he knows what questions to ask.
When we get to the ramen bar, Eden almost takes my breath away. The warmth from the room does nothing to rival the heat that floods my body. I don’t know how she does it. Every time I see her, I find something else to fall in love with. Today it’s the way her light-wash jeans hug her curves. She is practically engulfed by the green oversized jumper she wears, and for a moment I wish it was one of mine. Okay. Calm down. This is a public place. She’s worn the outfit before, but there’s something about the intimacy of the restaurant that makes me want to reach out and wrap my arm around her waist.
“Oliver! Over here!” She and who I assume is the infamous Gemma have already scored us a booth. Ben gets there first, sliding into the seat opposite the girls.
“Hey! This is Ben, by the way.” I struggle to get the words out. Why does my tongue feel so thick? Almost like she can read my mind, Eden looks up at me, amusement lining her features under the glasses.
“Study a lot today? You seem a bit…”
“I’m Gemma.” Her friend interrupts before Eden can begin her interrogation, hair hanging loose over her shoulders. “Eden’s best friend. Oh. And only friend. I’ve heard a lot about you, Oliver James.” Snickering, she artfully dodges the elbow Eden attempts to drive into her side.
“Only good things I hope?” I seem to have gotten my voice back. There’s something so enticing about the flush that covers Eden’s face.
“Only good, rest assured.” Gemma smirks. “What do you guys want to get?”
After a quick discussion of what to eat (again, whatever Eden recommends), my mind strays to the way Gemma looked at me. Like she knows something I don’t. Luckily Ben is the life of the party, so it gives me the freedom to mull on my thoughts as I swirl the noodles around the broth.
“Not hungry?”
I’m too busy staring into my bowl to notice Eden slide into the booth next to me. Her thigh burns my leg, even through two layers of clothing. Ben and Gemma are too engaged in a passionate argument over the best bar in the city to notice her move.
“Just a lot on my mind.”
“Anything I can help with?” She leans against the wooden table, hand under her chin. It draws attention to her full lips, the way the corners turn up ever-so-slightly as she watches me.
Anything she can help me with? Kiss me.
Rather than say that I give her a tight smile and change the subject. “How’s that assignment going?” If she notices my deflection, she doesn’t mention it. Instead, she leans over and takes the chopsticks out of my grasp. We brush hands, and the closeness makes me draw a breath, her scent flooding my lungs.
She always smells like a vanilla cupcake.
“Sorry?”
“What?”
“You said I smell like a vanilla cupcake.”
Shit. I shrug it off casually. Or my best attempt at casualness. “It’s true. You always smell good.” I’m not sure if it’s the dimness of this restaurant, but I could swear her face flushes a few shades deeper.
“You also smell good,” she murmurs, eyes fixed on the bowl of ramen in front of us.
“Are you blushing?” I don’t know where this sudden confidence has come from. Maybe it’s the privacy of the booth. Or the fact our friends are distracted. Or the way her body lightly presses against my side. But I want to know the answer.
“Maybe. Maybe not.” She steals a piece of pork, then sits back to look me in the eye as she chews and swallows. “You know, even though we’ve spent a few hours together I feel like I barely know you.”
“Do you want to change that?” The words are out of my mouth before I can regret it. I’m glad that that brings a smile to her face. Pausing, she traces her finger around the rim of her water glass. When she looks up, I’m mesmerised by her eyes, the way the brown and green rings are so obvious up close.
“I think I do. You intrigue me, Oliver James.”
“You intrigue me, Eden Miller.”
5
CHAPTER FIVE
Eden.
