"It's fine.”
"You're just being kind."
"I'm never kind."
"You are to me." Her eyes soften, gazing at me instead of the pot.
The words hit me unexpectedly. She's right. I’m kind only to her, proving once again she’s getting too deep under my skin.
This can’t continue.
Whatever I’m feeling or think I’m feeling, needs an early death. I avoid relationships for one reason; no one gets close enough to be used against me. I don’t allow leverage and I don’t allow myself to care. I never have and I’m not starting now.
"It smells good,” I say, easing back before I get too close. “Should be fine.”
"Okay. But if it's awful, you can’t complain.”
"I won't."
We’re at the table. Nala watches me, her shoulders tense and her eyes wide, like she’s holding her breath waiting for me to take the first bite.
I sink my teeth into it. The meat’s under-seasoned and the rice, watery. Nothing that’ll kill me.
"How is it?"
"It's… edible."
She exhales and I take another bite to prove it.
“I’ll try to cook it better next time.”
“Okay.”
I don’t know how much time passes after that. I don’t care about the food; I can’t focus on it because I keep wanting to look at her.
"You're staring," she says, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"You’re staring too,pchyolka."
She bites her lip, her tongue brushing over the spot. I have to kiss her. Would one kiss really be so bad?
No. I can’t.
She’d probably be terrible at it, no idea what to do. It would be clumsy. Awkward… exactly how I need to kill this feeling and put things back to how they should be.
She breaks eye contact and takes her first bite. “Oh my God. This is terrible.”
"It's not."
"Roman, I can taste it. It's bad."
“Now you know what to do next time. Or what not to do.”
She laughs softly. “That’s true. Definitely more of the ‘not to do’, since I had no idea what I was doing in the first place.”
I bite back a smile. I don’t know what it is about this girl, but I’m letting my guard down too easily and I can’t seem to stop.
After we finish eating, I take Denis’s watch from my pocket and set it on the table. "I need you to read this for me."
