Cats In the Cradle

3. Daniel

"She's perfect for you, I swear. She just transferred here after completing her AA at a community college. You stay right here, and I'm going to go get her. Thank me later." Naomi said excitedly. She was out the door before I even had a chance to protest.

I considered locking myself in my room again. I really did just want to rest. I could be an asshole when I was sleep-deprived and stressed, and it was usually best to just isolate myself or go to the gym.

Or bake myself some fresh bread...

I hovered near the door for a few minutes, contemplating whether I should lock the door and put in my AirPods while I watched my documentary. Naomi was taking a while, so maybe she got lost in the growing crowd and had given up.

I was just reaching for the door, about to lock it and enjoy my beer in peace, when it burst open. Naomi stomped in, tugging on someone's reluctant arm.

I eyed Naomi warily. She was extremely persistent at times, and it was abundantly clear that her friend was about as excited as I was. Naomi grinned at me like an evil, gorgeous Cheshire cat and yanked firmly on her friend's arm.

She stumbled into my room, glaring at Naomi. Then she directed her glare towards me. I smiled awkwardly, feeling a tiny bit miserable.

She was the girl from earlier who'd scowled and rolled her eyes.

"This is my friend, Sienna. She's amazing. She sings, she bakes, she likes to fuck. She wants to be wifed up. You two get to know each other. Fall in love. Make gorgeous babies. You're welcome." She pushed Sienna towards me and then quickly backed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Sienna and I stood in front of each other, looking around awkwardly, avoiding eye contact.

I occasionally glanced longingly at my laptop, just desperate for this forced interaction to end.

"You like Bob Marley." She said finally, breaking the awkward silence. She was staring at the Bob Marley poster on my wall. I nodded, also staring at the poster now.

"Does this mean you're a pot head?" She asked with a little smile.

"No." I said, probably a little more rudely than I meant to. My grandmother was Jamaican, and I liked reggae. I had no issue with weed, but it was an annoying misconception that you had to be a diehard pothead to enjoy reggae.

And like I said, I was really fucking tired.

"Soooo...did you fuck Naomi and then ask her to call me in here so you'd officially be able to say that you've fucked every girl on campus...?" She pried, now looking at me dead-on with a tiny smirk.

I scrunched my face in annoyance. What the actual fuck?

"Well, no... I haven't fucked every girl on campus. But all I'm hearing right now is that you still came into my room to get me to fuck you...even though you think I've fucked every girl on campus." I told her without batting an eyelid.

Her smirk turned into a little smile.

"Maybe I just wanted to see what all the fuss is about. Maybe I felt left out," she said flirtatiously.

I honestly couldn't tell if I was more turned on or annoyed at this point. Maybe it was like 50-50.

"Normally." I started, stalking closer to her. I could see her breathing a little heavier, and I held back a smile. "I'd happily show you what all the fuss is about. Naomi says you like to fuck...so I guess we have that in common." I stopped about a half a foot away, and stared down at her. She was tiny, like maybe 5'2". Definitely shorter than my mom and my sisters.