Page 15 of Heat Stroke

What other house would you possibly be in?!

I snap, “Of course you are! You’re a damn snake!”

He laughs as he sets the bag on my table and sniffs the air while opening it. The smells of sauce, cheese, and meats fill my nose. My stomach growls again. Blaze glances down at it. “Your stomach wants some. You don’t want to have dinner with me, fine. I knew that. I figured you’d do something like this.” His eyes trail over me again and I cross my arms over my chest to hide my body’s reaction to him. He asks, “Do you want a plate or are you going to eat out of the box? I wasn’t certain what you’d want so I ordered a little variety: The Krewe Breadsticks, a Pepperoni Calzone, a Vin Monster Calzone, and a large Caesar salad. At least one of those should tickle your fancy.”

The scents are enticing my senses and my mouth starts watering. My stomach growls again.

I’m starving. But, I don’t want to eat with him.

Smirking at my stubbornness, he shrugs indifferently and pulls out a chair from my dining room table before sitting down. I snap, “By all means, make yourself comfortable!”

Laughing, he gestures to the seat across from him. “The longer you stand there, the colder the food gets and it’s so delicious when it’s hot. You might want to get over yourself and sit down. No sense in wasting good food.” Reaching out, he breaks off one of the breadsticks. Still watching me, he takes a big bite. His lips glisten from the oil of the cheese, pepperoni, and feta. The food does look delicious and I’m starving.

He moans, “Mmmmmm.”

Well, the food is here…

There’s no point in not eating it. But, I don’t have to talk to him and he is not staying!

He can eat and go!

Glaring at him, I take the pepperoni calzone and a single breadstick and leave him at the table, walking back over to the couch. I sit down and turn the volume up. A dinosaur is eating someone on tv. I smile as I see Blaze glance over and grimace.

Settling back, I watch the movie, though I’ve seen it a hundred times and eat the delicious calzone. I keep glancing at Blaze from the corner of my eye. He’s just watching me while he eats with an amused smirk on his face.

After leaning back and patting his trim waist, he closes the boxes on the table and stacks them neatly before standing with dirty napkins and his empty box. He looks in the cabinet under my sink. Not finding what he’s looking for, his head turns as he looks around the kitchen.

I could just tell him that the garbage can is in the pantry, but, I don’t want to.

Finally, he spots the door and crosses the kitchen, opening the pantry and throwing his trash away. He closes the door back and walks to the fridge. Leaning down, he opens it and takes out one of my Angry Orchard hard ciders, twisting the top off and taking a large swallow. He mutters, “This would have gone great with the food.”

He’s certainly just making himself comfortable.

Just dig through all my shit, asshole.

Looking up, he sees me looking at him. I refuse to look away though I’m caught red-handed. He holds up the bottle. “Want one?”

I mutter crossly, “Yeah, sure. I’d love one of my own ciders…”

Laughing, he pops the top off of another one before bringing both into the living room and sitting beside me… in the middle of the couch.

My heart rate quickens and I try to scoot as far into the side of the sofa as I can. He hands me one of the ciders.

Quickly, I grab it, but not before my fingers brush against his and a lightning bolt shoots up my arm! The bottle is cold, but my arm and fingers are on fire.

Blaze

Wren jumps backon the couch. I felt a zing of electricity when our fingers touched and if her reaction is any indication, so did she.

I made certain to sit in the middle of the couch so that she couldn’t scoot away, but she’s still trying to. I wouldn’t put it past her to climb over the arm and race away.

Why are you so nervous around me, Wren?!

Ignoring it so that shedoesn’tactually jump over the back of the couch, I lean back, relaxing though my heart is still elevated. “What are we watching? Jurassic Park?”

She stares straight ahead. Glancing over at her, I see her fixated on the tv like it’s the most interesting thing she’s ever seen. Her hand is wrapped so tightly around the glass bottle, I’m afraid she’s going to shatter it. Her fingers are white from the lack of blood flow.

Finally, she sighs. Her voice is strained as she says, “Why are you here, Blaze? You have to be painfully aware that I do not want you here. So, why are you tormenting me… again? Middle and high school weren’t enough for you? Now you have to try to make my adult life complete hell, too?”

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