“You could,” he agrees.
I don’t.
Blake notices. Of course, he notices. His smile this time is smaller, softer, like he won something he wasn’t expecting to.
“So,” he says, settling back onto the couch again, “what’s next on your playlist?”
I tell him about some of my other favorite artists, like Noah Kahan. Blake listens, nods, and smiles at the right times.
“We should start a playlist together,” Blake suggests. “One where you can add song suggestions for me and I can add some for you,” he explains. The idea seems nice, and I contemplate whether I should.
“Is this an elaborate way of you asking me for my number?” I tease Blake.
“Is it working?” Blake asks in return.
“Maybe,” I respond.
“Then, yes.”
I sigh and roll my eyes as I hand my phone to Blake. He quickly types in his number and hands me both his phone and mine. I do the same before I hand his phone back to him.
He taps something on the screen, and two seconds later, my phone rings.
“What are you doing?” I chuckle.
“I just wanted to make sure you gave me a real number,” Blake winks at me. “It’s getting late, I should go, but I’ll text you later about that date of ours,” he goes on.
“I haven’t agreed to going on a date with you,” I tell Blake as I get up and follow him to the hallway.
“Yet,” he says as he puts his shoes back on. “Bye, Lisa,” he says as he opens the door.
“Goodnight, Blake,” I tell him as I watch him walk away.
I close the door behind him and lean back against it.
The apartment is quiet again, but it doesn’t feel the same as it did before he got here.
Blake is a whirlwind. Charming, persistent, impossible to ignore.
Trouble, I think, smiling despite myself.
Then I push away from the door and head to bed, knowing sleep is going to be a lost cause tonight.
Chapter 7
Lisa
The smell wakes me before my alarm does. For a moment, I don’t know where I am.
The ceiling above me isn’t mine. The light coming through the window isn’t filtered by James’s heavy blackout curtains. The air feels different. Lighter. Warmer somehow.
Then the smell reaches me again.
Waffles.
Real waffles.
Mom’s waffles.
