Page 33 of A Lab Rat's Guide to Fated Love
Nori slowly lowered her spoon to set it beside her plate with a small clink. Then, as calmly as she could, a calm she didn’t feel in the slightest, she spoke, “Why are you being so nice to me?”
“What? I’m nice. Didn’t you know that?” Vir chuckled.
“When did you even buy these? There weren’t any at home.”
“I went out to get some groceries last evening and got these, too. I thought you liked guavas. Did I cut them wrong? I can—”
“Who asked you to do any of that?” Nori interrupted, her voice turning acidic. “And why did you scrape off the seeds? Am I a child? I can cut my own fruit if I want to. Why can’t you just—mind your own business? What’swrongwith you? Do you really like me that much?”
Her grip on the table’s edge tightened as she spat the last bit out as a taunt, not an actual question. Of course, he didn’tlikeher. Nobody in their right mind would.
Vir
He didn’t understand why Nori wassuddenly livid and so… sad, when only moments ago her insides were crackling fireworks of pure joy at the sight of the poha. It looked like her favorite fruit had irked her for some reason. At least that’s what her inner turmoil showed, while her face remained the stoic mask he’d gotten used to by now.
With the way she sat glaring at him, she was clearly waiting for him to answer. And it looked like she’d flip the table, if he didn’t answer soon.
Did he really like her that much?
It’d be an understatement, if he simply said yes. But anything beyond that was guaranteed to make Nori pack her bags and run in the opposite direction; the experiment be damned.
“Yes.” Understatement it was.
Seconds ticked by, each growing lengthier than the one before, till she finally showed some sign of having heard him.
“What?” she mouthed without sound, before her pupils dilated, seeping outwards into the brown, paused, then shrank back into tiny black dots. Her formerly stoic expression changed first into disbelief, then into an angry scowl that became angrier the longer she stared at him.
Vir took a small sip of his coffee in an attempt to appear as nonchalant as he possibly could. He hoped it wasn’t obvious how hard his heart was hammering against his ribs, ready to jump out of his throat at any moment. He’d just told Nori he liked her, while demonstrating an exceptional range of vocabulary. With a deadpan,yes.
Yes.Please clap.
Of course, she was mad.
Fuck. Be cool. Be cool.
But him having feelings for her… why did it bother hersomuch?
“I was being sarcastic.” Nori huffed; her expression composed again.
“I wasn’t.” Vir leaned back, crossing his arms against his chest while he tried to keep the hurt from seeping out into his features.
“Are you out of your mind?”
“I hope not.”
They glared at each other, unblinking. His icy stare to her burning embers. Neither made a sound.
If the situation wasn’t what it was, he would’ve praised her top-notch stare-off abilities. He’d yet to meet anyone who didn’t blink first when he glared at them like that. He’d finally found a worthy opponent. And of course it was Nori.
His jaw clenched while his fingertips dug into his arms. The whole intense eye-contact thing was making him want to lean across the table and capture her angry mouth with his. To run the tip of his tongue over her lips till they weren’t sulking anymore.
He blinked, forcing himself to look away, baffled at the impulsiveness of his thoughts. She really,reallyseemed to dislike him. Yet he couldn’t stop picturing himself with her.
Nori huffed again before straightening in her seat. “Look, you’re mistaken. I’m just doing my job. There’s no other reason.”
“What?”
“There’s no other reason for you to think you have feelings for me. You don’t. It’s only because you think I’m saving your life or something. There’s even a word for it. It’s called transference. Look it up—”
