Tale Teller (West Hampton U Series #1)

Chapter 13 ● Too Fast

-- Muskaan--

I walk out of my exam with the same amount of confidence as a high school student doing a full heart transplant. None.

I have to actively hold back my frustrated groan as I trek across campus to my street but instead of going to my building, I cross the street to Sameer's building complex. I text him to see if he's home and he responds instantly that he just got home from practice. He's waiting with his head popped in the hallway when I step out of the elevator.

"VP," he smiles in greeting, pulling me in for a kiss.

"Were you busy?" I ask, kicking off my boots.

"Nope, just looking for something to eat," he leads me into the kitchen, gesturing to sit. Instead of listening, I join him in staring inside the fridge, looking for something to occupy my thoughts from the exam I just wrote.

"You have peppers. You have onions. I can make you Suhana's desi macaroni."

"Desi macaroni?" he chuckles, pulling out the ingredients I pointed to.

"She has these four-five recipes of hers which are so good. She puts her own twist on them and it actually works. And they're quick and easy," I grab a cutting board and knife, prepping my workstation like they do in MasterChef. You'd think I owned this kitchen the way I moved around in it.

"Did you hear from the prof about your paper yet?" Sameer asks after a few minutes of silence.

"Not yet," I sigh, dicing the onion with water pooling in my eyes. "She's taking forever and I don't want to keep bugging her."

"Well, you've done your part. Forget about it now. Focus on me," Sameer wraps his arms around me from behind, resting his chin awkwardly on my shoulder with his much taller height.

"And what exactly requires me focus?" I chuckle.

"I've seen you for a total of three minutes in the last two weeks. And we're leaving this weekend to go home. I want to hang out."

"What should we do?" I turn in his arms, rolling a green pepper between my fingers.

"The team's throwing a party tonight. Wanna go and throw around some darts?" he suggests.

I debate internally before looking up at him with an agreeable smile. I'd love to spend my weekend burrowed under blankets and panicking about my failing grade and the upcoming cumbersome days with my parents. But I couldn't hide from the world forever. Plus, I wanted to spend some time with Sameer before we went off for break. "Sure, let's do it."

"We don't have to," he brushes the back of his fingers down the side of my face tenderly. "We could stay here. Watch some Netflix... Chill...."

Oh. Oh.

I knew what chill meant.

Before I could think any further, or respond, my phone buzzes in my back pocket.

I grin sheepishly, pulling it out to see Suhana's name flash across the screen. Probably checking to see if I reached home. I text her quickly to leave me alone before turning my attention to my very cute boyfriend.

"What's new on Netflix?" I tease, turning down the stovetop with the boiling pasta.

Sameer snorts, stretching his arms up above his head. His shirt rides up with the movement, giving me a little reminder of just exactly what I would be doing the chill part with. No complaints. I poke his stomach, pushing him a step away to tend to the macaroni which was probably a soggy mess at this point.