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It probably wasn’t true because the pain relief was mostly extra-strong ibuprofen, but I was no doctor. Who the fuck knew how it would react? It was a good enough excuse as far as I was concerned, and it was the reason I needed to stay in.
Rav:
Shit. You OK?
Me:
Yeah all good. Nothing major
That was a half-truth, but Rav…actually, none of my friends were particularly close to me. Our relationships were mostly superficial, and therefore, I wasn’t interested in going into details. Rav was a good guy, although my dad would disagree because he was a “layabout with no prospects.” But yeah, not close. He wasn’t someone who’d hug me when I was feeling scared, not like—
I groaned loudly, thumping my head against the cabinet in front of me. My phone buzzed again, and I glanced down at the screen to see Rav had written,Next time. Not bothering to reply, I carried my food upstairs.
As soon as I was set up on my bed, I picked up my phone again and typed out a message, hitting Send before I could talk myself out of it.
Me:
Thinking of cooking tonight. Do you have plans or do you want me to make extra?
The reply came through a few minutes later as I was biting into the soft, crusty bread of my sandwich, the chunky pieces of ham topped with the perfect amount of wholegrain mustard.
Cole:
Depends on two things. Can you cook and what are you cooking?
Me:
Scared I’ll poison you?
Cole:
It’s a distinct possibility
Me:
If I was going to poison you I’d do it in a way you weren’t expecting
Cole:
Like what?
Me:
If I told you then you’d be expecting it
Cole:
That’s reassuring
OK if you promise not to poison me I could be tempted… What are you cooking?
I read back over the messages. It was hard to tell a person’s tone over text, but it kind of felt like he was flirting with me. Something inside me fucking flipped at the thought, and another part of me filled with panic. What was the protocol when your former or maybe still current adversary—who was also your stepbrother—flirted with you?
My fingers were already flying across the screen, ignoring the panicked part of my thoughts. I’d never had a text conversation like this before, but that didn’t mean I was going to stop.
Me:
It’s a surprise
