Page 13 of The House Guest
“I bet these were my dad’s, too. He loved spicy shit.” A look of sadness crossed his face as he stared down at the bag.
I interrupted his haze. “The reality hits in waves, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah,” he murmured. Taking a deep breath, he forced a smile. “Let’s take these out to the table.”
Dorian and I sat at the breakfast nook in the corner of the kitchen that featured a window overlooking the ocean. It was dark out now, so we couldn’t see much. Through the glass, we could hear the waves crashing, though.
He opened a can of caviar and the bag of Cheetos. After dipping one of the cheese puffs into the caviar, he handed it to me across the table.
I took a bite and chewed for a while. “It’s salty. But in an obnoxious way.” Licking my lips, I added, “I feel like these two foods are a pretty accurate representation of the two of us. You’re caviar, by the way. And I’m the Cheetos.”
He took a bite. “I’m…overrated, obnoxious, and salty?”
“Basically.” I smiled.
“And you’re cheesy as all hell.” He winked.
“You were supposed to tell me I’mhot.”
His eyes seared into mine. “I don’t need to tell you that.”
My face felt hotter than the darn Cheetos now.
“Okay, hot’s the obvious one.” He lifted a Cheeto. “But from my observations, there are better reasons why you’re similar to this Cheeto.”
“Do tell.” I wiped the corner of my mouth.
“You’re bold. Moving across the country to follow your dreams and now having to face an uncertain future, yet with a smile on your face most of the time—that’s a very bold thing. To smile in the face of uncertainty and tragedy is probably one of the greatest skills anyone can hold in life.” He paused. “You also leave an impression. Just like these do.”
“Heartburn?”
He shook his head and chuckled. “No.”
“Well, thank you. I feel like I need to reciprocate—but I can’t exactly call you fishy.” I winked.
As we continued to munch and make easy conversation, I hoped this wouldn’t be the last late-night snack session I’d get to have with Dorian. I enjoyed his company.
When I licked the spicy seasoning off my fingers, I noticed the way his eyes fell to my lips, following the motion of my tongue.
And suddenly my tongue wasn’t the only thing burning up.
CHAPTER 5
A few days later, I was tucked into bed when my friend Janelle FaceTimed me. Janelle and I went to school together, but we hadn’t crossed paths lately due to our class schedules. I’d just finished telling her about my late-night encounter with Dorian.
“You went on a date with him,” she informed me.
“It wasn’t a date. It was an accidental…moment in time.”
“He ditched his potential hookup to watch a movie with you.”
“He didn’t ditch her. She was grossed out by Tess’s asshole.”
“What?”
“Never mind. But Dorian didn’t mean to hang out with me. It was sort of a fluke.”
“But he specifically found you again down in the basement, didn’t he?”
