Scrambling out of the car, I grab my backpack and rush follow him into the apartment. “You weren’tnotsecretive about it. I just don’t get it. Why hide your job from me?”
“You never asked.”
He’s not wrong. But I kind of assumed the times he was out of the apartment that he was just in class or the library or the gym. He never let onto the fact that he was working shifts at the cafe, even though I did notice a few times when he came in smelling like espresso.
Throwing open the apartment door, Arden chucks his keys on the dining table and kicks off his shoes. “It’s not exactly the most impressive job.”
“So? A job is a job, Ard. Who cares what it is.”
“I care.” He whips around as I’m putting my jacket on the hook. His eyes look half crazed and for a moment, he reminds me of someone in my past. I cringe away reflectively. “Fuck,” he mutters, backing up quickly. “Sorry, I just…it’s embarrassing being a grown adult man who is a barista.”
Slowly he walks into the kitchen and grabs a beer, opening it easily with a twist.
It takes me a moment to come back to myself. “I don’t think it’s embarrassing.” My voice is small.
He looks at me and his eyes soften. He takes off the hat and runs his hands through his buzzed hair. Before we can dive deeper into this, Arden changes the topic.
“Stats?” He asks with a sigh.
“Stats,” I reply firmly, bringing myself back into focus.
“I’ll order the pizza,” Arden says, whipping out his phone.
By the time Friday rolls around, I’m ready to take the white coat off and let loose.
“Do you want to take a shot?”
“Are you forgetting what happened on your twenty-first birthday last year?” Rolling my eyes, I give his shoulder a shove as I grab the bottle of tequila and two cups.
“That was a birthday fluke. You always have to go hard on your birthday. It’s law.”
Arden chuckles, “Oh, it’s law?” He takes the small cup from my outstretched hand.
“Cheers to passing statistics.”
“Cheers to no more Nico.”
We clink the glasses together, drop them down on to the counter, then raise the liquid to our lips all while maintaining eye contact. The motion is oddly intimate but Arden and I have always been good at pushing each other to the emotional limit without passing it, except…
A brief blush pauses on my face as I remember the moment we shared last year. Arden had stayed at our apartment when he came to visit his sister, who was way too wrapped up in her new boyfriend to know that her brother was going through a hard time at home. Luckily he had me to vent to that night, even though we ended up doing something that we maybe shouldn’t have done.
“What was that?”
“Huh?” I blink back to reality.
“That. That flush that just crossed your face? What are you thinking about, brat?” Is it just me? Or is he a little bit closer than he was before?
“I’m not thinking about anything. Ready to go?”
Stepping around him, I grab my purse and keys before heading to the door. Tonight—since it’s an actual college party and not something sponsored by the medical program—I’m wearing my favorite little red dress. It hugs me in all the right places and I almost always get lucky while I’m wearing it.
Not that I’m planning to get lucky tonight. Wait a second.
I pause in my tracks, Arden slamming into me from behind.
“What the hell?”
I whip around and face him. “Do you want to date other people? We didn’t even talk about this.”