Page 37 of Some Things Never Change

She flashed me a fake, offended look. “And you never introduced me to either of them the whole time I was single?”

My fingers quickly came up to wipe the corners of my eye as I began to cackle hard. “I hate to break it to you, Cindy. But I doubt either of them could handle you. You’re a force to be reckoned with.”

She laughed. “What can I say? I’m the Cindy Liu, after all.”

Chapter

Sixteen

By the time I realized it, it was already another Thursday night. I was already living here for almost a month. How in the world was it already February? The thought quickly dissipated as I shifted in my seat with my hot chamomile tea in hand.

I let out a long sigh over my exhaustion and my regret at overexerting myself. I had been working on the nightstand I bought from a yard sale over the weekend as soon as I got home today. I was excited and wanted to get a head start on my new project for this upcoming weekend.

So, I sanded it down to a quarter of the way before I gave up due to how exhausted I was from work. Now I was winding down with Andy in the living room and completely regretting it because I could hardly keep my eyes open.

Although it was my night to take over the TV, I wasn’t even truly watching the newly released rom-com movie Shoua, Cindy, and the girls at work had been raving about. It took too much of my mental energy to even focus on the film since I was that tired.

“Are you okay?” asked Andy from my side.

He was munching on some freshly popped popcorn drizzled lightly with extra virgin olive oil and a dash of sea salt. I reached into his large bowl with my free hand and popped a kernel into my mouth. I wasn’t up to helping him finish building his Lego project, so he decided to pop some popcorn and watch my movie with me instead.

“You health nut,” I said with a small laugh. I held up another kernel to him and then tossed it into my mouth.

“All the stuff that’s packed in store-bought microwave popcorn is fake. Filled with preservatives, fake butter, and a crap load of chemicals,” said Andy with a scoff. He turned to me with a frown and shook his head. “At least this stuff is real, and it’s way better than that trash.”

I nodded my head as I mindlessly munched on Andy’s healthy popcorn. It was far too healthy for my personal taste. I found it funny how Andy was always the advocate for the healthier crap whenever we grocery shop. Yet I still caught him red-handed, dipping into my stash of junk foods. Not once, but a few too many times.

I leaned over and poked him in his rock hard abs. “Sure, sure. That’s not what you said last night when you were munching on my chips, by the way.”

Andy laughed and threw a piece of popcorn at me. “That was simply a moment of weakness, Tink.”

“Whatever you say, health nut."

I quickly put my hot mug of tea down on the coffee table before I scalded myself with the tired, lazy way I was holding it. I involuntarily sighed as I leaned back into the comfy couch and licked the oil and salt off of my fingers.

“You didn’t answer my question, though. Are you okay?”

“I’m just exhausted.” I hummed as I shifted under the warm throw blanket we shared to look at him. Our knees touched for a second as I gave him a small, tired smile. “Thanks for helping me make dinner. You had a lot of work to finish up on, too.”

It was my night to make dinner, but Andy graciously offered to help me out. So, we both made spaghetti with meatballs together and I now knew the recipe. I shoved two big plates of it down my throat and was now suffering from a food coma in the midst of my exhaustion.

“It’s just spaghetti. Don’t worry about it, I don’t mind. Seems like you had a long week.” He gazed at me as I felt his warm fingers brush against mine on the sofa cushion.

“It’s hard being a newbie at work, no matter how experienced you are.” I blinked slowly as I turned back to the TV.

“You should just go to sleep early if you’re tired.”

“But I want to spend some time with you.” I frowned as I quickly checked the time on my phone. “It’s also only eight.”

Andy’s shoulders began to shake with laughter, causing me to look over at him. “We have all the time in the world to spend with each other. We’re roommates and even work in the same building.”

“True, but I never see you at work. I only see you before or after when we’re off work.”

“But we spend our weekends together. Isn’t that too much for you?” Andy popped a kernel into his mouth and raised his brow at me.

I loved hanging out with him, though. Even if I had been solely focused on furnishing my bedroom or stopping by local thrift stores for the perfect pieces I wanted, Andy was always there with me and I loved that. I liked spending time with him.

But when the sun dipped below the horizon, he either headed to the gym for two hours or for a fun Saturday night out with his friends. From the sound of it, he often went to a craft brewery or sports bar on his nights out. The one thing I was the most surprised about was how he hadn't brought home a woman once.

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