New Novel
Chapter 32: Three Days. Any Request. What Could Go Wrong?

Chapter 32: Three Days. Any Request. What Could Go Wrong?

ADRIAN POV

Adrian leaned back against the seat, fork down, plate mostly clear, and let the wager settle somewhere in his chest for a second.

Three days. Any request she made. No exceptions. He’d tried protesting, but that had gone about as well as expected.

That was either impressive or deeply concerning.

Probably both.

"I’m going to regret agreeing to this."

Rose looked entirely too comfortable about that. She didn’t reassure him. She just smiled, picked up her drink, and seemed perfectly content to let him sit with his decision.

He made peace with it. Nothing he could do about it now, and if there was a wager to be lost, he’d apparently rather lose it to someone who could at least cook well. Small mercies.

He expected her to use it immediately.

That was what he’d have done. State something specific before the conversation moved on.

Rose sat there. Thought about it.

For a moment he ran through every category of request a girl who called him hentai regularly might reach for. Most of the scenarios were mildly alarming.

She set her plate aside.

"Let’s watch something."

He blinked. "That’s the request?"

"That’s the request." She muttered, entirely unbothered by his confusion.

She was already standing up. "I’ll make popcorn."

He watched her move into the kitchen without further explanation, genuinely unclear whether this was a trap or whether she actually just wanted to watch television with him on a Saturday evening.

His phone buzzed against his thigh.

He unlocked it, half-expecting Drew, and found Jenna instead.

Jenna: You disappeared on me... again.

Adrian typed back.

Adrian: Sorry. Something came up.

A moment later, another message appeared.

Jenna: You sure you’re okay? I’m just really worried about you.

He almost smiled.

Adrian: I’m fine. Really. You don’t have to worry so much.

Jenna: I do. You’re my friend, idiot.

He read that one twice, hands hovering over the keyboard for a beat.

The microwave started going in the kitchen. Popcorn, judging by the smell.

Adrian glanced up briefly, catching Rose pulling things from a cupboard before looking back at his phone.

Adrian: I’m fine, Jenna. We’ll talk.

A pause later.

Jenna:... Like a date?

Adrian stared at the text. A date. That was oddly specific.

Adrian: Sure. Just us.

Rose came back in with two drinks, set his on the coffee table, and dropped onto the couch. Adrian glanced down at his phone, quickly finishing his last message to Jenna before...

"You know you can survive without a phone for an hour."

He looked up. Rose stood in front of him. "I’m checking one message."

She looked at the phone. Then at him. "You’ve been on that thing since the whole day."

He held her gaze. She held it back, patient, unbothered. "C’mon. You’re exaggerating."

"I’m not."

"You are." He replied.

She paused for a moment and then crossed her hands. A second passed.

"New request."

He knew what was coming before she finished the sentence. "Already?"

"Put it away."

He looked at the phone. Looked at her. The wager had three days in it, and she’d used her second request on a phone.

He couldn’t even argue it was unreasonable.

He tried to pocket it. She pointed at the counter. He put it there instead.

Rose looked satisfied, reached for her drink, and turned toward the screen. "So. What are we watching?"

He let her pick. It seemed safer, given the current power dynamic.

"Grand Blue."

He had no strong feelings about it either way. "Sure."

She looked at him with a brief, faint surprise, like she’d expected a reaction she wasn’t getting. "You know it?"

"Diving anime. College setting. It gets loud."

Something shifted in her expression, subtle enough that he almost missed it. "Most guys I know wouldn’t know that."

"I watched it a while back." He shrugged. "Figured you were more of a K-drama person."

She turned to him fully. "I do watch K-dramas."

"Oh."

"Doesn’t mean I won’t watch anime." She shrugged. "I can watch anything. As long as it’s fun."

He looked at her for a second longer than necessary before turning back to the screen.

The opening started, and something in the room settled into a different kind of quiet. A calm one almost. He caught himself thinking that was fine. Didn’t examine why.

A few seconds later, the microwave beeped. Rose immediately got up.

"Shit." Rose glanced toward the microwave. "Almost forgot the pop corn. Pause it."

Adrian looked at her.

"You want me to pause the opening?"

"Unless you plan on watching it without me."

That was fair enough. He paused it. Rose disappeared into the kitchen.

Adrian leaned back and waited, his phone still sitting where he’d left it. The apartment was quiet except for the faint sounds coming from the kitchen; the cupboard opening, and the microwave door closing.

Then Rose came back with the popcorn.

She stopped beside the couch, looked at the empty space, and sat down.

Beside him. Closer than before.

The contact landed before he’d fully processed that she’d sat down.

Her bare thigh rested against his, the thin red shorts doing very little to separate the contact.

He kept his eyes on the television. Rose settled the bowl between them.

Then she looked at him. Adrian could feel her watching him.

"You okay?" She tilted her head. "You’re not eating?"

He glanced at the popcorn.

"I was waiting."

"For what?"

He looked at her.

She was close enough now that he could see the faint amusement in her eyes, along with the faint floral scent of her perfume.

"Um." He shaked the rising pervious thoughts off as they came. "Yeah. I’m good."

Rose’s eyebrows lifted for a pause. She smiled then picked up a piece of popcorn and ate it herself.

Adrian reached into the bowl.

"Tasty?" She tilted her head, watching him eat.

"Very."

He ate another handful of the popcorn and looked back at the television. Rose reached for the remote then glanced back at him.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

She pressed play.

The opening began. Adrian settled back into the couch, determined to pay attention this time.

It lasted about five seconds before he became aware of her leg against his.

He didn’t move. Neither did she.