“Bringing you pizza.” He shakes the box as if to say ‘Obviously.’
“Oh. Did I order this? Do you moonlight as a delivery person?”
“No? Do you have another pizza on the way?”
“No I thought maybe I had— nevermind. Weren’t you having a party tonight?”
He shrugs casually. “Yeah, party got boring. I was just in the area and figured you’d want some dinner.”
“Oh. That’s…really nice. C’mon in.” I stand back, letting him enter my apartment. He takes his shoes off by the door and heads towards the dining room table we use for our tutoring sessions.
“Wow, you weren’t kidding about spending Saturday working.” He nods his head to my laptop and the scattered papers surrounding it.
“Nope. I did not make up a ten-page paper just to get out of going to your party.” He enters my kitchen and removes twoplates from the cabinet for us. “How many slices do you want?”
Him seeing me near starvation twice in one week has me feeling defensive. Guy probably thinks I can’t take care of myself. “You really don’t have to share your pizza with me. I was just about to make some dinner.”
“Oh. Well you’re welcome to get back to cooking. But this is hot and ready now. No effort required.” He winks.
I sigh because cooking sounds like work I don’t have the energy for. Guess I’m letting this man feed me twice this week. Is this normal guy friend behavior? Is bromance love language feeding each other? “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”
“So, two slices or three?” He’s interrupted by the sound of my stomach growling. “Let’s start with three and go from there.”
I take the plate from his hands. “Ugh Anthony’s is the best.”
The second the cheesy goodness hits my tongue, I let out a small moan. My eyes close as I inhale my first slice and when they reopen, I find Jake staring at me. His eyes are fixated on my face as his tongue traces his bottom lip slowly. I feel my body heat up under his gaze. “Um, is there something on my face?” I ask, snapping him out of whatever trance he seemed to be in.
“What?” He gulps, still fixated on my lips.
“Did I get sauce on my face or something? Is that why you’re staring?”
“I wasn’t staring.” He grabs a slice for himself, shoving it in his mouth while refusing to make eye contact with me.
Though I’m still hungry after three slices I start to feel my stomach settle along with a small boost of energy I plan on using to finish the paper. I move to bring my laptop closer to me when Jake shoots me a weird look. “What is it?” I sigh.
“Are you really going to spend your entire night working?” He asks.
“I’m almost done. Just proofreading. Or at least trying too. Editing is one of my least favorite parts of writing.” He snatches my laptop from me. “What are you doing?” I reach my arms across the table in a feeble attempt to get my computer back.
“Reading over your paper.”
“That’s not necess?—”
“I may be struggling in PSYCH101, but I’m not illiterate. I can scan for typos.” He attempts to keep his tone light but I can tell I struck a nerve.
“I know you’re more than capable of helping me edit.”
“Then what’s the problem?” He asks, clearly not convinced by my response.
“I like doing things myself. And I struggle with asking people for help.”
“Ah.” He laughs to himself.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.”
I give him a look to let him know I’m not convinced.
