“Sa,” Nico called from downstairs, and I sighed, pushing my binder and pencil aside. I rushed down the stairs and noticed Damien lounging on the couch, Nico already dressed in a button-down shirt and jeans. “I’m heading to Natalie’s to pick her up. We’re going on a date, so I won’t be home until maybe midnight. Find something to eat or order in, okay?”
“Whatever,” I rolled my eyes. “Are you taking Damien with you?”
Damien, glued to his phone, glanced up and frowned. “Do I look like a third wheel to you?” He returned to his texting, likely some girl—he always managed to get some.
“Hey, you two be nice to each other while I’m out. Try not to create a murder scene,” Nico joked, ruffling my hair before heading out the door.
“So…you cooking or not?” Damien asked, tucking his phone away. A frown tightened on my face.
“What do I look like—a maid?”
“Ha, funny,” he replied sarcastically. “What do you want to eat?”
*You.* The thought surfaced unbidden. I quickly pushed it down.
Instead, I quipped, “You’ve been here for a day and already want to burn the place down?”
Damien gave a flat, unamused look and rolled his eyes. “I’m ordering food,” he stated. “What do you want before I take back my offer.”
“Chinese. Buffalo wings and fries. Haven’t had it in a while,” I answered, turning to head upstairs. “If you need me, I’m upstairs doing homework.”
“Is that why you have those nerdy glasses on?” Damien teased.
“Fuck off, Damien,” I muttered, heading back to my room.
About thirty minutes later, homework finished and cousins texted, Damien appeared in my doorway. The asshole hadn’t even knocked.
He sat on my bed and placed the takeout bag on the nightstand before snatching my phone from my hand.
“What the hell?!” I asked, reaching for my phone. “Give it back!”
He smiled. “I’m telling Nico you’re texting boys.”
“First, I was texting Aria and Justin. Second, you should mind your own business,” I snatched my phone back. “Third, don’t enter my room without knocking and being invited. Fourth, snitch. Fifth, bitch. Sixth, annoying snitch bitch. Seventh, get out of my room.”
Damien chuckled and leaned back, staring at me. I rolled my eyes and grabbed a plate and fork, taking the food out of the bag. I handed him a Sprite and grabbed my own.
“You know,” I sighed, setting the food down, “people usually come back from college a little more matured. Why is that the opposite for you?”
“I am mature, ass-wipe,” he argued, sitting up. “I just like bothering you.”
“Why?” I frowned. “You were actually nice to me up until last year.” He shrugged, dipping his fork into the fries and popping three into his mouth. “So you just woke up and decided to be an asshole for no reason.”
He shrugged again, and I rolled my eyes and ate some of my fries. After a moment of silence, I said, “Congrats on graduating college, by the way.”
He looked up and smiled faintly. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” I nodded.
“What school are you planning to go to?” he asked.
“The same you just graduated from. Aria and Justin are too.”
Damien nodded. “Nice. It’s a dope school.” We went back to eating in silence, and I couldn’t help stealing glances at him. I hadn’t seen him in about four or five months.
“Do you have something to say or do you just like staring at me?”
Blush probably rising in my cheeks, I shook my head. “It’s just…I haven’t seen you in a while…”
He looked up from his food and agreed. “Yeah, we haven’t seen each other in like four or five months.” He smirked cockily. “Didn’t know you missed me that much.”
“Eat shit,” I rolled my eyes, a smile playing on my lips. “We never really hung out much, so it’s not like I missed you in that way. I was used to seeing you every week in high school, then college came and I only saw you and my brother on holidays. It’s just weird.”
He shrugged. “Well…you were always…I don’t know—unapproachable, I guess. I didn’t know what to say to you sometimes.”
I chuckled. “What did you figure out to say to my cousins then?”
“We clicked over stuff, we have our shared secrets, and we just hang out. You, on the other hand, I’d see you in your room most of the time. I wasn’t going to come to your room to talk to you when I didn’t have anything to say.”
“I guess,” I sighed, knowing he was right. When I was dating Jason, I’d deliberately distanced myself from Damien because I didn’t want my feelings for him to tangle with my feelings for Jason.
“Why did you two even break up?” Damien asked, sipping his soda.
I shrugged. “He just started ghosting me out of nowhere. It was like I was in a relationship with myself, so I ended it. I had really liked him, but it got to a point where I didn’t even know how to speak to him. It was abrupt and awkward. I tried asking him about it, accepting it, but I couldn’t. I told him to hit me up when he figured things out, but we never got back in contact.”
“Damn,” Damien replied sympathetically. “I’m sorry to hear that. If it makes you feel better, I think you’re a beautiful person, inside and out. Don’t let these niggas waste your time like that.”
I blushed and nodded, returning to my food.
*Damien thinks I’m beautiful!* Nah, he probably meant it in a friendly way. Calm your ass.