Page 21 of Dean

“You ready to head home?” Dean asks, and I purse my lips and stare at him.

“I am. But I can meet you there.”

His head cocks, confusion slipping across his features.

“And why is that?”

My hands move to my hips. “Dean, I saw that woman ask you out for drinks earlier. You don’t need to turn her down because I’m your roommate now. Plus, I have my car. I need to drive it home.”

His cheeks redden and he glances away for a second. “Yeah, but I don’t want to go out with her, to be honest. The thought of making small talk exhausts me.”

My chest expands, my heart blooming. All that jealousy dissipates. He’d rather hang out with me. At home.

Our home.

“Oh.”

“Yeah,oh. I’m tired and old, and I just want to go home, have a beer, and hang out with you. If you want to hang out with an old man, that is.”

“I mean, I guess I could. My standards are pretty low.”

He huffs a laugh. “I never committed to going out, anyway. She won’t be expecting me. What are you thinking for dinner?” Just as he says that his stomach rumbles.

“I was thinking salmon with rice and broccoli.”

“How about we make that teriyaki salmon with no broccoli and I’ll say it’s a deal?”

“Fine. I can do that. I do know how to make a mean teriyaki, but I need to swing by the store first.”

“I can do that for you. Just give me a list and I can grab it.”

“All right. If you say so. I can go home and get everything prepped.”

He rolls his lips between his teeth and eyes me. Something moves across his face, but it disappears before I can decipher it.

“See you in a bit.”

I nod and grab my keys, nearly skipping out of the garage in excitement and driving home. I feel silly for being so annoyed earlier, but alas, I’m young and dumb. I can’t help it.

When I step inside the house, setting my bag down near the entrance, I get a call from Dean and I huff a small laugh.

“You can’t find what I asked for, right?”

“I know I’m supposed to know this shit, but I’ve never been downthis aisle. And there is a shit-ton of soy sauce but I can’t find the mirin. Never even heard of that before.”

I bite back a smile as I move to the kitchen. “I’ll send you a picture and you can compare. Just hold on.” I pull up a website and shoot him a screenshot.

“Shit, yeah. It’s right in front of my face.”

“Ha. Knew it.”

“Yeah, yeah. See you at home.”

He calls me back twice more asking for specifics, and my heart swells in my chest at how ridiculous he is. He wants to get it right and it’s so endearing. He’s trying.

I might have fallen a little more in love by the time he arrives back home, two bags in his hand and looking frazzled.

“That was…something else, Avery.”

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