Page 73 of Fostering Chemistry
Especially with someone who struggled with communication like Cody did. But I still wanted to help him if I could.
There was no question now of asking Mia to come babysit with me. Nor on a date. No way was I going to stand in Cody’s way if he was strong enough to pull it together. As far as I knew, that was the first time he'd been interested in a woman since he’d moved in here.
I wouldn’t stand in the way of that.
“Can you invite her to do something else?” I said at last. “Do you have any concerts or music events coming up?”
He shrugged. “She likes hearing me play piano.”
Wow. It was a pretty big step that he even let her.
“Well, maybe you could do that again.”
“And then what?”
“I don’t know. This is a start, man. You apologize. You see if she’ll do something with you again and you take it from there. Don’t think too far ahead. I’d say go with the flow, but…”
He quirked an eyebrow. “Not my strong suit.”
Exactly. But I didn’t say that. “If you get stuck, my door is always open.”
I glanced over it, noting that it was closed. But I meant what I said. Cody’d had such a rough life. “Just try. Just talk to her. She’s a good listener.” I didn’t actually know if that was true, but it seemed like she would be. “Maybe think about what you’re going to say ahead of time and just try. That’s all you can do.”
“All right.”
He got to his feet and pulled the door open. “Thanks.”
Then he was gone. I leaned back on the bed, my head bouncing on the mattress.
Cody liked Mia. It was a surprise, but in a weird way, even though he’d obviously said the wrong thing to her, I was proud of him. To even admit that he liked a woman, that was a big step for him. No way in hell I was going to interfere with that.
Also, no way in hell I was going to get any more studying done tonight. Instead, I scrolled through my phone checking the news and sports.
I didn’t get very far before there was another knock at my door. Maybe I should start holding office hours on Thursday evenings.
“Come in,” I called again, sitting up.
And I got to my feet as Mia entered the room. What the hell? Was she here to talk about whatever Cody had done that upset her? If she was, I’d listen without revealing he was just here.
But I was almost as surprised to see her here as I had Cody. When she’d first moved in, it seemed like she would never come to me for help.
“What’s up?”
“Can I talk to you?”
“Of course. Do you want to go to the dining room?”
“No.”
So far, this conversation was identical to the one with Cody.
She even closed the door and sat down in the chair that Cody had just abandoned.
It was starting to feel like déjà vu. I sat back on the edge of the bed. “What’s going on? Problem with your classes? Problem with one of your roommates?”
If it was about Cody, that might be a good opening.
“No. The problem is me. I’m not… dealing with things very well.” Unlike Cody, she was perched on the edge of the chair, her legs and arms crossed.
