Page 10 of Cherish

And because the gods want to punish me, she’s standing a few feet away from me with my sister, waiting for her food to warm up in one of the microwaves in the hospital cafeteria.

“Hey, Jase,” Mellie says way too loudly for a public space. “Where’s the lunch I packed for you?”

“I ate it for breakfast,” I say. I cut my eyes in Alex’s direction, only to find her looking anywhere but at me. In fact, she grabs her lunch and walks away from the group to sit at a table in the far corner of the room.

“Come and sit with us,” Ananda says.

I look at Alex, who is now pretending to look at something out the window.

“Maybe another time.” I start to walk away, but Mellie grabs my arm and practically shoves me toward Alex’s table.

“Sit down, Jason. I’ll go get you something to eat. You’re always on your feet. Relax for a few.” And with those last words, she shoves me into an empty chair across from Alex. Mellie runs back across the room and says something to Ananda, who nods.

I turn to my table mate and watch as she puts a small bite of food in her mouth. Chicken and rice. It smells good.

I look back at her. She chews slowly and swallows, and my dick awakens in my pants. Neither one of us speaks, but I notice her cheeks turn a light shade of pink. She drops the fork and it clangs loudly against the plastic bowl before she picks up her drink. I will myself not to moan at the sight of her lips wrapping around her straw.

I don’t think I succeed though because she turns her head toward me, eyes wide, and cheeks pinker than before.

“Please, stop staring at me,” she says, her voice strained. She takes another sip of her drink and puts the cup against her neck.

I should look away. I can see the color creeping from her neck up to her face. I can see her pulse at the base of her neck. I can practically hear her heart beating in her chest.

“Get over yourself. Why don’t you stop looking atme?” I say, finally finding my voice.

“I’m not looking at you.” She angrily shoves two pickle slices into her mouth.

“Then how do you know I’m looking at you?” I challenge.

“Very mature. How old are you? Nine?” She rolls her eyes at me, but she doesn’t look away.

Her nostrils flare at the same time she pushes her food away. I don’t bother looking away. I look into her gray eyes before looking down at her mouth. I moan and lick my bottom lip at the sight of her breasts, pressed together underneath a shirt with sunflowers. I bite my bottom lip as I envision sucking one nipple then the other.

“I’m not interested in you that way.” She says the words while looking straight ahead.

“I’m just sitting here waiting on my sister.”

“Arrogant,” she throws back at me.

“Your mouth says one thing, but your body language says another,” I say to her.

She finally turns toward me, her eyes darkened with anger.

“My body language? Look at me,” she crosses her arms, blocking my view of her ample chest. “I’m sure you studied psychology, right?”

“I’m familiar with it. It’s not my area of expertise, though.”

“Notice my arms are crossed? You know what that means, don’t you? It’s a barrier between something or someone you don’t like. Since you’re the only one here…” She gestures toward me with her hand before crossing her arms back across her chest.

“You’re protesting a bit too much, don’t you think? I don’t remember telling you that I’m interested in you. I’m here for my sister, not to pick up a hostile woman.”

She grabs her food and angrily shoves a forkful in her mouth. I try to block out the dirty thoughts but fail miserably. I’d like nothing more than to stick something else in her mouth.

The sound of plastic gets my attention. I watch, mesmerized as she takes out a pickle slice, covers it with rice and shoves it in her mouth. She does this three times before I speak.

“You’re weird.”

She eats another rice covered pickle before she responds. “Weird?” Her voice is full of disdain. “Is that your medical opinion, Dr. Dupree?”

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