Page 74 of Crimson Promises
He shook off his bag. “Guess we just like the same things then,” he said as breezy as a summer’s day.
I shifted my weight, wondering how to proceed. “Are you sure there isn’t more to what you’re saying?” I accused. “You don’t find it weird that we have every snack preference in common?”
He tipped his head on the base of his neck to look skyward. “Not really. I don’t see the big deal about the fact that I got us candy we both like.”
When he put it like that, he made me sound crazy. Was I getting so worked up over nothing? Probably. Guess that's what I get for forever being socially awkward.
“Well, thank you for grabbing all of this,” I relented. “No better brain food than chips and candy.”
A slow smile emerged from Ben. He got the hint that I was willing to drop this for now. I wouldn’t ruin a productive study session over candy, but he had fanned the initial flame of doubt that had sparked to life back at Vic and Darlene’s.
I made myself comfortable and opened a bag of chips. The satisfying pop and acrid smell of vinegar greeted me. My mouth was watering for the first crunch.
Ben moved to the corner of the room and bent down. “Flat or sparkling?”
“Huh?”
“Water. Do you have a preference?”
“Oh. I’ll take sparkling water, please. You did think of everything.”
“I figured you had a shift this morning and wasn’t sure if you took a lunch break. Thought I’d be prepared either way.”
Now, I felt guilty for feeling suspicious. Everyone has secrets, but like Ben said, it's probably a coincidence. Whoever doesn’t like Airheads or chips are the people that I should be taking issue with.
Once we were set up with snacks, Ben put his legs up and made himself comfortable as if we were sitting in his living room, about to watch a movie.
“I think I mentioned I did some work on the project. I started formulating some arguments. Of course, the non-brainer is discussing Hercules' twelve labors, but we’ve already mentioned that you will cover that. A unique point of view, I think, is the history of his relationship with Hera and Zeus, along with the other God. We can provide a scholarly argument about the evidence used of the behaviors he exuded to be classified as a hero. I think that especially the part where we can provide examples of his behaviors will be the perfect place to pull in the primary and secondary sources that Dr. Spencer spoke about us including.”
“Consider me impressed.”
He winked at me. “So, what have you come up with, Ms. Librarian and knower of all things historic.”
“Not as much as you have,” I stalled. “Things have been kind of hectic.”
“You mean too busy with Riley?” His eyes darkened.
“Don’t sour the afternoon with your masculine alpha bullshit. I’m not a fire hydrant you or Riley get to pee on and mark as yours. I can make my own decisions, and I think I’ve been pretty clear about how far I am or am not willing to go. Last night was an obvious indication of that.”
Ben ran his hands through his hair. “Ye-ah…I recall. You had no problem, um, acting on your, uh, desires.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Point made, I believe, or mic drop, whichever cliched expression you prefer.”
“Neither.” Ben leaned over the chair and pretended to wretch, unnecessary sound effects and all. “Your choices in cliches are horrible. For someone as well-read as you, I expected more of a diverse repertoire. Cliches are cliches for a reason, you know.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you have the uncanny ability to turn any subject into a lecture? And I don’t mean that as a compliment.”
Ben interlaced his fingers, put them behind his head, and leaned into them. “Shockingly, I’ve never heard that. I will take it as a compliment just to irk you.”
He was infuriating.I don’t think I’ve met another person in my entire life who can press my buttons the way he does.
“Anyways…” I needed to steer this discussion to something productive. Assignments for my other courses were starting to pile up. Between work and everything else, I desperately needed to check something off my list. “I agree with the points you presented. I’ll show you what I have jotted down. Since we split most of the work last time, maybe we can try getting most of the writing done today.”
“Aye, aye, captain,” was his only response as he opened a book and started writing. In-fur-i-at-ing.
My eyes burned as a headache started to form right between my eyes. I slammed the lid of my laptop closed and placed my forehead against it. We had been at it for the last two hours with little to no breaks. “I can’t read any name that ends with -us anymore.”
I felt a tiny pat on my head. “There, there, Aurora, or should I call you Aurorieus.”
