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“I, um, I brought your pot back,” she mumbled, suddenly thrusting the pot into my hands like an awkward schoolgirl. It was actually pretty adorable.
I took the pot just as my towel started to slip off my waist. She caught sight of it sliding down and her eyes widened. It was about an inch away from letting everything hang out when I shot a hand down and caught it.
“Oops,” I chuckled—sorry but not really sorry. “So, how was the curry?”
“Oh, it was, um, yeah, it was totally impressive,” she replied, still trying—and failing—to keep her eyes from wandering. “You're a very talented cook. Thank you so much for dinner.”
“Not a problem,” I replied. “I love cooking, especially Asian cuisine—Thai, Chinese, Japanese. I think I mentioned it when we first met, I've really been wanting to visit Japan. You lived there, right?”
“Yeah, I… Yes, I lived in Japan for over a year.”
She was settling down a little and didn't seem as flustered, but she kept sneaking appreciative glances at my body and running her fingers through her hair while she was talking to me. Something about it was kind of sexy.
“Cool. I'd love to chat sometime about places to see, things to eat, you know, all that stuff I should know that a tourist guide can’t tell me… if you don't mind.”
“Uh, yeah, sure, sometime.”
“I mean, we're lab partners now, so I guess we're gonna be spending some time together.”
“Yeah, yeah, I guess we are,” she replied, smiling at me for the first time. It was a great smile.
“So, I guess I'll email you about that,” I said with a wink, causing her to blush.
“Hey, Emerson, you want a beer? There are a few cold ones in the fridge, right?”
I spun around at the sound of Melissa coming inside from the balcony. When she saw Brooke at the door, immediately a venomous glare entered her eyes.
“Oh, it's your neighbor,” she said flatly. “Is something the matter?”
“No, everything is just great,” I said.
“I, um, I should be going now,” Brooke stammered, suddenly appearing uncomfortable and, if I was reading her facial expression correctly, a little jealous.
“Nice to see you again, uh, whatever your name is,” Melissa chided as she walked off into the kitchen to get a beer.
Brooke turned around and headed back to her apartment.
“Wait!” I called out after her.
She stopped and looked over her shoulder at me. “Yeah?”
Suddenly, I was at a loss for words. Why had I told her to wait? What did I want to say? I wasn't sure, really. It had been more of an instinctual reaction. I just hadn't wanted her to leave like that. I didn’t want her to have the wrong impression about me and Melissa. But somehow, I figured it may have been too late for that.
“I, uh, I just wanted to talk about chemistry class,” I blurted out as a last resort.
“Oh. Well, we have to finish reading chapters one and two by tomorrow morning. If you need any other information, you know where to find me,” she replied.
With that, she hurried into her apartment and closed the door behind her.
“Bye,” I said to the empty hallway before slowly closing my own door.
Chapter Nine
Brooke
“So, what did he say?” Leslie asked the second I walked through the door.
“Oh, uhhh, nothing. Or something. I dunno,” I replied.
