Page 27 of The Hardest Fall

“Sir, yes sir,” she deadpanned with a serious but amused expression on her face.

“Another one is when people play with their phone all the damn time, like it’s glued to their hand or some shit.”

“My dad is the same. We actually have a rule about that. If we’re having dinner—and he always insists on eating together, whether it’s in front of the TV or at the table—I can’t touch my phone. The same thing goes if we’re having a conversation. He hates when I stare down at my phone while I’m talking with him.”

“I don’t like people who lie,” I said.

“I don’t like liars either.”

“People who don’t love animals.”

“Oh, yeah. I wouldn’t trust them with anything. So basically it sounds like we don’t like people very much.”

“Well, we have that in common, so that’s good.”

Resting her wrists on her crossed legs, she fidgeted in her seat. “I believe it’s my turn to ask something.”

“Go ahead.”

“Who do you wanna be?”

“I’ll be a pro football player. You?”

“I’ll be a professional photographer.”

We smiled at each other. I liked that we were both so sure about our futures.

“What’s your favorite spot?” I asked.

“As in, my favorite spot…to go to?”

“Yeah, and don’t tell me it’s the library or anywhere near campus.”

She raised her eyebrow at me, pairing it with a little grin on her face. “Now who’s being judgmental? It’s not the library. It’s actually the beach. I don’t have a long list at all, but it’s probably one of the few things I love about L.A., especially when it’s a little deserted. A few people here and there is okay, but I hate when it’s too crowded. Santa Monica can be a bit much. It’s even better if it’s closer to sunset. And yeah, fine, I do like the library, too. You?”

“The field.”

That earned me an eye roll. “You’re probably on the field all the time.”

“And I wouldn’t have it any other way. So you’re from Phoenix?”

“Yep. You? L.A.?”

“Nope. San Francisco.”

“You know, none of these questions have anything to do with us living together. If you’d asked me what my schedule looked like, if I was a loud roommate, or if I sleepwalked, or…I don’t know, anything related to this situation, I’d get it, but…” She pointed a finger somewhere over my shoulder so I turned to look and saw she was pointing at the big clock hanging on the wall. “It’s past midnight, and something else you might want to learn about me is that I rarely stay up this late, so I better…skedaddle. This was—” She paused and seemed to be surprised at what she was about to say. “This was fun, and maybe not so bad, and hopefully you won’t be scared to go to sleep now. I’m not planning on hurting you with my secret ninja skills or anything like that. I have an early class tomorrow, so…” She uncrossed her legs and pushed herself up.

I stood up, too, and went to stand right in front of her. She rubbed her forearms as if she was itchy because I was standing so close to her. That close, I could smell the faint scent of her perfume, something fresh and sweet, but not over the top. It suited her.

I held out my hand, and she looked at me as if I had sprouted a second head.

“What’s that for?” she asked with a small frown on her face.

“We’re gonna shake hands.”

“Why?”

I reached out, gently grabbed her wrist, and put her hand in mine. “Now, we shake.”

With my help, she shook my hand. “No one does this anymore, you know that, right?”

“I don’t know what you mean, but I like that we have officially met after two years of skirting each other.”

“You think you’ll be able to sleep on your own?”

She didn’t realize what she’d said before I raised an eyebrow and grinned at her.

“Shit. I didn’t mean it like that. You’re gonna be sleeping on your own either way—that wasn’t me trying to say I’d like to sleep with you if you can’t sleep on your own, or that I would. Not sleep sleep, as in sex, but just sleep next to each other…and why don’t you just go ahead and kill me now? Please?”

She tried to pull her hand away, but I held on to it. “For you, Flash, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear any of that. It was nice getting to know you, Zoe Clarke. This was good. We should do it again sometime.”

“Sure,” she agreed, but somehow made it sound like the opposite. I let her hand go. “This Flash thing, the nickname—that’s gonna be a thing isn’t it?”

Grinning, I nodded.

She had only managed to get a few steps away from me when I called after her.

“One last question.” Reluctantly, she looked at me over her shoulder. “A year with no sex or a year without a smartphone?”