ALEXANDER

Chapter Two

My week sort of blurs out and before I even know it, the weekend is finally here. I am thankful for that because I get weekends off at work. The only time I work on the weekends is when I have to fill in for someone then I get to take one or two days off depending on whether I had filled in both on Saturday and Sunday or I had just worked for one day. 

As much as I hate going in at work on my off days, the extra cash helps me put a lot. 

Gigi and I are currently sitting on our mini balcony, looking over the city on this lovely Saturday afternoon. We are just relaxing and are basking in the sun enjoying its heat on our faces and bodies. 

Both of us are wearing shorts. Gigi has on a tie dyed cropped top, revealing her toned belly that I am totally envious of. I am in an oversized navy blue long sleeved t-shirt . It’s made of a light cotton material, so I am not feeling hot with it on. 

The doorbell rings and immediately opens and in walks Bryce in all his six foot glory. 

Bryce has been our friend since we moved into the apartment. He also stays in the building but two floors beneath us. We are on the sixth floor while he is on the fourth. Gigi bumped into him while were moving our stuff in and he was so generous and helped us out. 

I remember how much Gigi and I were gushing over his muscular frame and his gorgeous grey eyes. Seriously when he looks at me it feels like he is staring right into my soul. 

He walks over to us and sits on the only available seat around our small table on the balcony, which so happens is right next to me. 

We all sit in comfortable silence for a few seconds. 

Bryce lets out a long sigh of content. “This is nice”.

“I know right, I can just sleep here the whole day if I could”, Gigi stretches on the chair like a cat. 

“I think you were a cat in a past life”, I say to her. 

We all laugh at that. 

Bryce stays over for a couple of hours. We move from the balcony and end up watching Big Mouth on Netflix. 

While watching the third episode of the first season and laughing our butts of. I check the time and see that it’s almost six in the evening. I get up from the couch where I was snuggled next to Bryce and head to the kitchen to prepare dinner. 

I end up making a quick meal which is basically some Chicken Alfredo. When I am finished I dish up for the three of us. After handing both Bryce and Gigi their plates I grab mine and go back to my spot on the couch next to Bryce. 

“Your Alfredo is always the best”, Gigi says with a mouth filled with pasta. 

“Mhhmm”, Bryce nods in agreement next to me, also with a mouth full. 

“Thanks you guys”,I smile at them and continue to eat. 

After the pasta Bryce collects our plates and puts them in the sink. He then comes back with three cups filled with hot chocolate, the cups filled to the brim with those small marshmallows. 

I take a sip and a moan accidentally erupts from my mouth. Gigi snickers and tries to hide her laugh.

Bryce’s head turns from the tv screen to look at me at a speed that I swear could have given him whiplash. His slightly hooded eyes sparkle with an emotion I have never seen on them before. I blush and look at the tv. 

At about nine o’clock, Gigi’s phone rings and she stands up to take the call in her room. I stand up after her to go and wash the dishes. I hate dirty dishes, in fact I hate dirty places, I am a neat freak. 

Bryce comes over to help me, he dries them up while I wash. 

“You never told me how the internship application went”, he says wiping a plate. 

“I didn’t get in”.

“Oh, I’m sorry. You’ll get the next one for sure”, he says with so much conviction, I almost believe his words. 

“I don’t know Bryce, this is the fourth one I didn’t get”, I let out a groan of frustration. 

He holds my hand and puts the cup I was holding back into the frothy water. I wipe my hands on the dishcloth he was using. 

“I know that it sucks and it’s hard, but trust me it’ll work out”, he looks at me and I see hope in his eyes. 

“I just need to find a proper job, so that I can be able to finally live and not worry too much about money. I can’t ask my parents for a loan, not with what’s currently going on back home”

My grandma on my dad’s side was diagnosed with Alzheimers last year and her hospital bills and also having to pay her caretaker have been a strain on my parents’ finances. I don’t want to be another burden on them. They don’t even know about my situation and I often send them money whenever I can from what I get paid.

I am suddenly lifted up from the ground and I find myself placed on the counter. 

He stands in the space between my legs and my heart rate spikes up. Bryce and I’s friendship is weird. We sometimes behave like a couple even though we aren’t dating. Stuff usually involves snuggling on the couch or holding hands when we go out in public. He still has multiple girls he dates and don’t get me started on his numerous one night stands. 

Despite all of this, my heart still acts up whenever I feel like he’s getting too close. 

His hands move up my thighs all the way up to my arms as he pulls me in for a hug. I return the hug and wrap both my arms and legs around his back. 

“RJ, it’s gonna be okay”. 

I like how he calls me. It’s his special name for me. My full name is Rosalie Ann Jones. He just thought that RJ sounded like a cool nickname for me and it’s been like that for about two years now. 

I get so caught up in the moment and get too comfortable being in this position with him, I end up sniffing the shirt he’s wearing. My hands find their way to the back of his head and play with his hair. 

A small growl comes from him, and he squeezes me tighter onto his chest. 

Someone clearing their throat pulls us out of our cacoon and I turn my head to see Gigi looking at us with a raised eyebrow. Bryce and I slowly let go of each other and he helps me off of the counter. 

“I’ve got to go”, he says to both of us. “Thanks for dinner, I’ll see you guys tomorrow”. 

He hugs Gigi and before he turns to the door he whispers in my ear “You look good in my shirt”.

Yup. The shirt I am wearing belongs to him. I forgot to share that bit of information. He left it at our place a few weeks ago when he slept over. And no we did not share a bed he crashed on the couch. 

“What the hell was that?”, Gigi sits on the spot I occupied on the counter. 

“Nothing”, I say grabbing the cup from the water and rinse the soap off it. It’s the last thing that was left to wash up. 

“Nothing? It looked like something to me”, she says with a smirk. 

Oh how I wish I could just slap it off her face. Gigi always said that Bryce and I should date because we look good together. Somehow through her eyes Bryce has a ‘thing’ for me, one that I am apparently too oblivious to see.

I ignore her and wipe off the sink and the rest of the kitchen, while she puts away the dishes. 

When were finally done, we each go to our rooms. I take off my shorts and decide to sleep in my underwear and the t-shirt I’m wearing. 

Before sleep takes me, my phone vibrates on my bedside table. 

Bryce : Sweet dreams RJ. 

I smile at the text and reply with the same sentiment to him. 

Sleep quickly consumes me and soon enough I am floating in dreamland.