“Oh, right. Okay, so there was a lab fire?” Luis asked.
“They had to call the fire department!” Cassie hissed, eyes lighting up. “So, it started yesterday…”
Thirty minutes later, after a full retelling, Luis had a much better idea of just why Jess was Cassie’s ‘arch nemesis’.
He waited for a gap in the conversation and then said, “I didn’t know you were into women.”
Cassie froze. “What? I’m not–I–” She stopped. Her face went through a slideshow of emotions.
But if there was one thing about Cassie, she was a quick processor.
“That can’t be true,” she finally landed on.
“What does the evidence say?” Luis asked.
Cassie frowned, sitting back. She let out a whoosh of breath that sounded likehuh.
Luis couldn’t help but poke at it. “I guess that explains your obsession with that girl at the pier a few years ago.”
“The pier? Oh shit,the skater girl–” Cassie’s eyebrows were so high they looked stuck. “Huh. How long hasthatbeen going on?”
Luis laughed. “You tell me.”
Cassie shook her head. “Well damn. Learn something new every day. Guess I should… explore that, huh? But not with Jess. Jess is still my arch nemesis,” Cassie said.
“Uh huh,” Luis said with a grin. “Enemies to lovers is a popular trope I’ve heard.”
“Fuck you,” Cassie laughed, shaking her head.
Luis snickered. The tension of earlier had eased in his body.
“Well. This was more fun when we were only dunking on you,” Cassie said.
“Karma’s a bitch.”
“Yep,” Cassie said, then something chimed on her end. “Oh, hey, I gotta go. I promised to meet Dorian for dinner.”
“Alright,” Luis said, “Have fun, tell him hey.”
“I will. Oh! We were thinking about splitting the gas and driving down at the end of summer classes. Keep your schedule open.”
Luis’s heart leapt. “I will!”
Chapter Seventeen
At just after six, there was a gentle knock at his bedroom door.
“Come in,” Luis said. He was sprawled on the bed on his phone.
Julien poked his head in. He was already dressed, hair in a sleek ponytail. “How was your day?” He asked.
“Good. Leisurely. I went out and saw the garden,” Luis said.
Julien smiled, “Oh, how did you find it?”
“Beautiful, like the rest of the place,” Luis put his phone away and moved to sit up.
“Karim will be glad to hear it. It’s a reimagining of the garden we had in France. An anniversary gift for our fifth year here,” Julien’s face softened at remembering it.
