The Hardest Fall

She twisted at her waist to look at me. “I have photography lab at two-thirty, but I’m free between four and eight. I was planning on texting Jared and Kayla to see if they were free to hang out, but I can get what you want after my class.”

“Are you sure? If you already made plans, I can ask one of the—”

“It’s fine. I love grocery shopping. I can do my weekly shopping a little early—two birds with one stone. I also happen to love grocery lists. Do you have a list for me?”

“I do.” I smiled at her and reached into my pocket so I could take out my debit card and the short list I’d made earlier. I placed them on the marble island right in front of me. “The pin is seven five three two.”

Her face lit up with a playful smile. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll steal all your money and run away?”

“I’m pretty much broke, and even if you did steal the hundred or so dollars, I’m afraid you wouldn’t get that far.” That reminded me that I needed to somehow handle my schedule better and get in a few hours of work at Jimmy’s bar. Not only was my money dwindling, I also needed to send some back home, too, just to help out a little.

Her eyes softened. “I won’t steal your money.”

I smiled at her and didn’t think before speaking. “I know you won’t, baby.”

I managed to hold her gaze a few seconds longer than our usual before she cleared her throat and turned back to her work.

Maybe baby hadn’t been the best word choice, but I couldn’t take it back now.

“You said you’re free between four and eight, right? Do you have a study group at eight?” Maybe I could thank her with a small surprise.

I watched her shoulders stiffen. “Not exactly. Why?”

“I’ll think I’ll make it back around nine, thought maybe we could watch a movie together or something. I haven’t seen you much this week.”

I put my palms down on the counter and waited for her answer. It took a while.

“I’m not sure when I’ll get back. I…uh…I have a date tonight.”

Well then.

“You have a date.”

Our eyes met for just a second when she looked at me over her shoulder, but she was quick to glance away.

“Yeah. I don’t think I’ll be too late, but you go to bed pretty early on weekdays, so I’m not sure if you’ll still be up when I get back.” Her eyes flicked up and then down again. “We can do it another time? This weekend, maybe?”

“I won’t be around this weekend. We have an away game.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Okay? “I guess I’ll see you later then. Have fun on your date.” Or not, I thought, but didn’t repeat it to her. “Thank you for helping me out today. I owe you one.”

Her lips pressed together and she nodded.

“I have ten minutes before I’m supposed to meet up with my trainer so I’m gonna have to run.” Gulping down my orange juice, I started to look around in the drawers for my last protein bar.

I sighed. “Zoe, have you seen my protein bar? I left it on the counter this morning.”

“Yeah, I put it in the cupboard next to the bowls, the one next to the fridge.”

It’d been weeks since I’d moved in, yet I still didn’t know where everything was in the kitchen. I knew where the pots and pans lived, the mugs and glasses, and the spoons and forks, but that was where my knowledge ended, even though I’d already cooked dinner in there once or twice. I usually ate with the team, since we had our own chefs, but if I was home early, I didn’t go back out just so I could have dinner with everyone else.

One other thing I’d learned about Zoe was that she hated having things lying around. I wouldn’t call her organized, exactly, because I’d seen the state of some of the drawers, but it seemed like as long as the counters were empty and clean, she was fine, which meant if I left something out, she stashed it away as soon as she could get her hands on it.

I opened the cupboard in question and just stared.

“Uh…Zoe?”

“Yeah? It’s right there on the first shelf—did you find it?”

I reached up and grabbed my protein bar. Like she’d said, it was right there…among other things.

“I distinctly remember you saying you didn’t buy peanut butter M&Ms because you had trouble not eating them all at once.” I heard her get up from the floor with a sigh. In a few seconds she was standing next to me, staring at what I was staring at.

“You found them, huh.”

“Uh, yeah. They’re right there. If you were trying to hide them, you did a pretty shitty job.”