STUFFED

Sworn Enemies

"It's crazy that someone left that at your door."

Courtney hates that he's trying to make small talk with her as if they aren't sworn enemies. She keeps her responses short and lets him do all the talking.

"I saw a package downstairs with your name on it and I was going to bring it upstairs for you but decided against it."

Bullshit.

Courtney can't imagine this man doing anything nice for her, "Yeah, that's probably the lamp I ordered. The box that came to my apartment didn't have a name on it. I just got over excited and opened it anyway."

He goes on about how he would probably have done the same thing.

"Can I use your bathroom?" She needs a break from hearing him talk.

"Yeah, it's just down that hallway to the left." He says, pointing.

When she gets up to leave, she can feel his stare boring a hole in her back; she only feels relief once she shuts the door behind her. The bathroom is surprisingly clean for a single man and there aren't any "3-in-one" bottles anywhere. It even looks like he has a skin care routine. Courtney doesn't really need to pee but she makes it sound as if she's using the bathroom as she snoops around.

She flushes the toilet and then spots his wallet sitting on the counter. She grabs it and opens it, sifting through his cards. She finds his ID, realizing for the first time she's never gotten his name:

Sterling Oliver Clarke
Ht: 6'3"
Wt: 87.3 kg
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Green

They should issue him a new ID and add a bit more information, she thinks to herself. Courtney turns on the tap:

Blood Type: Asshole
Advisory warning: Prone to agressive behaviour inflicted by possessiveness over laundry machines

She turns the tap off and then waits a reasonable amount of "drying hands time" before exiting. She walks back to the kitchen, unamused by the sight of him still standing in the same spot he was in when she left him. She had hoped by some miracle he had disappeared.

"So, Sterling. What's for dinner?" She makes eye contact with him to see his reaction. His eyebrows lower and he smiles slightly.

Hearing his name in her voice catches him slightly off guard but it's her mention of dinner and thinking about her eating that awakens something below his waist. Sterling leans over the counter.

"What do you want?"

Courtney shrugs, acting disinterested. He can already tell that she's not going to make this easy; but why should she? He acted like a douche so he deserves it. He catches Courtney's quick glance down at his folded arms and the spot on his arm where she touched him when they first met heats up.

"I can cook something for you."

She'd consider it hot that he's offering to cook for her if she didn't already dislike him.

"Sure." She responds.

"What do yo–" He stops himself short because he knows he's not going to get a straight answer out of her, "How about breakfast for dinner?"

For the first time he can pick out a bit of amusement in her face.

"Yeah, sure."

Her tone of voice doesn't match her expression.

Courtney climbs up on one of the high island chairs to watch Sterling as he walks around the kitchen pulling out ingredients. She pretends to be busy on her phone but steals glances at him whenever his back is turned. There's a little bit of a tattoo showing above the collar of his shirt on the back of his neck but that's the only visible tattoo she can see. He has an athletic build paired with some really nice arms.