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“Wow. I love that movie,” I said, jogging down the last few steps. “Plus, it’s been a while. So, yeah. I could watch it again. Will it bother you if I work on an assignment while we binge?”
“Not at all.”
“Great. I’m going to go grab my stuff and then make some popcorn. You want any?”
“Sure,” she told me. “Thanks.”
I nodded and hurried back up the stairs. When I returned, Thalia was laughing over something Fat Amy was doing on the screen. I smiled, hoping for some serious bonding time with my roomie as I passed by to get snacks in the kitchen.
A few minutes later, I returned with my arms weighed down with two tubs of popcorn, two drinks, and a bag of sour gummy worms that I only shared with people who I genuinely wanted to be my friends.
“Here you go,” I said, setting the treats I had prepared for her on the end table beside her.
“Wow. Is all that for me? You are just too much.”
I smiled, only to shiver as I passed back by her to claim my own spot on the opposite end of the super-long couch. Noticing that she had the fireplace running underneath the television, I rubbed my arms to warm them.
“Thank goodness you have the fireplace going. It’s kind of chilly in here, isn’t it?”
Thalia merely shrugged. “It doesn’t really heat anything, sorry. I just like the ambiance.”
“Oh. Well, in that case...” I grabbed the throw draped over the back of the couch and pulled it onto my lap before placing my computer on top of the blanket and opening it.
Settled in, the two of us watched in silence for a while, Thalia occasionally commentating, and me stuffing my face with popcorn as I alternated between glancing up at the movie and trying to concentrate and research the tenure process for professors on campus. Some students had been complaining that the curriculum from the faculty who’d been around longer was growing stale. And I wanted to learn how rigorous their tenure process was and what policies were put in place to keep their teaching superior and worthwhile before I started my article.
On the other end of the couch, Thalia laughed again. I glanced over, chewing on my thumbnail, and couldn’t help but see all the similarities between her and Damien. They had the same features, same warm complexion, and light brown, whiskey-colored eyes. Same dark hair and even the same nose. It was obvious they were related.
Which made me wonder again what was keeping Thalia away from him. My mind immediately shot to a bad, shared childhood where they were either abused, molested, or neglected together. But I didn’t want to think about either Damien or Thalia going through that kind of hell.
With a wistful sigh, Thalia pressed a hand to her heart. “I just love Becca and Jesse together. Love is so awesome. Are you still depressingly single, Oaklynn?”
I pulled back with a slight scowl. “I wouldn’t call itdepressinglysingle,” I started.
“What?” Thalia asked, glancing over curiously. “Has someone turned your head lately?”
I snorted out an amused sound. “Other than Damien…no,” I muttered more to myself than her. But she heard me, loud and clear.
“Damien?” she repeated in surprise. “You mean,myDamien? My littlebrother, Damien?”
Crap. “Uh…” I sent her a guilty cringe before admitting, “I mean, you gotta admit, heisgorgeous. You can’t really blame a girl for looking, right?”
My roommate blinked at me in surprise. “You did not just say that,” she uttered in horror because obviously, shecouldblame a girl for looking.
“What?” I asked, confused. “What would be wrong if Damien and I—”
“Um…no,” Thalia said in no uncertain terms.
“Seriously?” I cried, getting a little offended now. But, wow, why didn’t she think I was good enough for her brother?
Thalia pointed at me sternly. “Don’t even joke about that.”
“I…wasn’t,” I said slowly.
“Well, it’s just…not possible. I know he’s a sweetheart, but you shouldn’t even be thinking about my little brother like that. I forbid it.”
I gaped at her open-mouthed for a good five seconds before admitting, “You know… I don’t get you. What’s the story between you and him, anyway?”
Because the overly protective way she was acting right now didn’t mesh with how I saw their relationship. Sure, she acted like she loved and missed him, but she wouldn’t even let himseeher.
