Page 45 of Some Things Never Change

I could tell he was much more relaxed now with all the tomfoolery and laughing he let out compared to his tense and strained aura from earlier. I knew Andy well, and I doubted he would usually be this mischievous at work. But it seemed like he needed to blow off some steam. I was glad he had me to understand and laugh along with his dumb antics, at least.

I placed my hand on the small of his back and rubbed circles into it after my colleagues finally got off on another floor. The smile he wore stretched a tad bigger as he let out a small hum.

“Thanks, Tink,” he whispered when the elevator opened on our floor. “For letting me be a dumbass in public.”

“You’re welcome,” I said back with a small laugh.

The marinade for the perfectly marbled ribeye steaks was simple, so I took care of that quickly and let it sit in a bowl at room temperature. Thankfully, Andy was already at the cutting board, chopping up shallots for the dipping sauce. When I glanced over, he finished washing the fresh Thai chili peppers, green onions, and cilantro and perfectly chopped it all up.

“What’s next?” asked Andy. “I’m almost done with the cutting board.”

“You can crush and pound up the toasted rice that’s in the mortar and pestle.” I suggested, as I filled up the bottom half of our steamer with water to steam the rice.

Andy quickly worked away, mashing the little grains into a fine powder. As he busied himself, I made sure to start up the stove top to get the pot of water going to steam the rice.

“By the way, what did you decide to say to your friend about the guy she tried to hook you up with this morning?”

The clanging of the wooden pestle against the clay mortar continued, but softly, as if Andy were waiting for my answer. I looked over my shoulder at him, but instead of meeting his curious gaze and raised brows, all I saw was his broad back turned to me.

“I didn’t really say anything,” I said. “But I’m seriously considering it.”

Cindy could be persistent, but she wasn’t coercive. She would never force me to do something I didn’t want to do. If I had told her to stop, she would have.

I was about to grab the bowl of the pre-soaked rice grains when the loud clanging of the mortar and pestle came to a sudden stop. I could feel Andy’s sudden presence by my side, and I turned to look up at him.

He was wearing the same grim, irritated expression from this morning. His lips pursed into a thin line again. This was when I realized he was probably upset this morning because he thought Cindy was trying to force me to say yes to dating her husband’s friend. Not because he was angry or irritated at how loud or annoying we were.

“Are you only saying yes because Cindy was pressuring you?” His voice sounded serious and almost accusatory of my long-time friend.

I furrowed my brows. “What? No. Cindy’s not that type of person. I told her a few weeks ago that I wasn’t ready to date, but may consider it if the right guy comes by. She was simply relaying the message that her husband’s friend wanted to connect with me.”

His eyes narrowed as his mouth pulled into a small scowl. “Well, she should respect your wishes. You’re not even interested in dating right now.”

“I’ve known Cindy for years and I trust her judgment, Andy. She was actually the first person to tell me to dump David from the very beginning, but I didn’t. If I had listened to her, I would’ve spared myself from that horrible relationship. With this guy, I think she’s right again. I asked her a few questions about him and, from what she has told me, he really seems to be an amazing guy.”

Andy’s hard expression softened a bit. He took a step back and turned away to let out a long breath. “Yeah, I guess he seems like a great guy. So you’re really going to talk to him, huh?”

“I would like to.” I gave him a small smile.

He smiled back and nodded. “Just don’t fall too hard for him, alright? I’d hate seeing you get hurt again and again by these stupid men you fall for.”

I felt a hot blush creep up my neck at his concern. “I won’t. We’re just going to chat and see where it leads from there.”

“Good, because I just don’t want to see you get hurt again. You deserve to be treated right.” He blinked slowly as his serious gaze on me shifted to a tender one. “It’s the bare minimum they should do for you. Because if it was me, I know I would treat you the way you deserve to be treated.”

His words made my heart flutter as a warmth bloomed deeply in the crevices of my chest. I could barely breathe as I continued to look into those alluring hazel green pools of his eyes.

“Yeah, I know.”

There was a moment of silence as our words settled between us. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I could feel this world I shared with him shift. Even if it was just a tiny and gentle one, I still felt the change. I blinked, finally realizing the warmth in my chest still hadn’t simmered down long after his comment.

Chapter

Nineteen

My alarm clock jolted me awake, like it did last week when I fell asleep on the couch with Andy. After that incident, I was too self-conscious to make the same mistake twice and headed to bed early this entire week.

I quickly turned off my alarm and stared at the time. Eight o’clock. Sure, it wasn’t six in the morning, but waking up at eight was a feat for me on the weekends especially for a Sunday morning. If I wasn’t so motivated by Andy to start doing morning workouts, I wouldn’t be up this early just to go to the gym.

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