“How did you get into weightlifting?”
“I signed up for a ton of societies during Fresher’s Week. I was either still drunk from the night before or hungover, which will have had something to do with it. But I decided to give them all a go. Turns out, weightlifting was the hobby I didn’t know I was missing.”
“What else did you try?”
“Uh—my memory of my first term is kind of hazy. There was a lot of drinking involved. But, I think I tried fencing, archery, role playing, radio drama, ballroom dancing?—”
“Ballroom dancing?”
“What? Can’t you imagine me dancing the Cha-Cha?” I put my arms in a partner hold position and do a few steps of the Cha-Cha, whispering the timing as I go. I’m sure I look ridiculous, but I don’t care.
“Well, I couldn’t imagine it, but I can now. You didn’t keep it up?”
“Nah. I’m more brawn than grace. By the end of my first year, Barbell Soc was the only society I was still in.” I sigh. “I’m going to miss it.”
“And your friends?”
“Yeah. Everyone’s leaving soon. Almost everyone. Angus will be staying in Leeds.”
“Will you?”
“Maybe. I’ve got nowhere better to go, so why not?I’m allowed to stay in my student house until the week before the freshers arrive at the end of September, so I’ll have some time in cheap accommodation to find a job and somewhere new to live. There’s a ton of gyms in and around Leeds, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find a job.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks. And, hey, maybe we could hang out?” My voice is tentative.
“I’d like that. Do you want to do a bit more revision today?”
If it means spending time with Flynn, yes. “Sure. You could come to mine. We can revise for a bit, and then I’ll cook us dinner.”
He raises his eyebrows.
“Don’t look at me like that. I can cook. I’m a master of three meals.”
“Which three?”
“Mac and cheese, pizza, and burgers.”
“Only one of those counts as cooking.”
“How do you know I don’t make the burgers from scratch?”
“Do you?”
I chortle. “No. Of course not.”
“Do you get your cheese sauce out of a packet?”
“No, I do not. I had a girlfriend in my first year who taught me how to make it. Trust me, it’s delicious. Add some crispy bacon, and it’s—” I do a chef’s kiss. “So, what do you say? Come to mine?”
Flynn hesitates. From the flex of his facial muscles,I guess he’s biting the inside of his cheek. What is he thinking?
“You’re cooking mac and cheese?”
“With crispy bacon.”
He smiles. “Okay.”
