the roommates

Chapter Seven

Nesta was in the kitchen making herself dinner the next time she saw Cassian. He walked in confidently, hopped up to sit on the countertop, and watched her intently as she chopped vegetables. She immediately felt the tension in her body from his presence but tried to remain cool and not envision the last time she had been with him when he'd had his hands up her dress.

"Can I help you?" She asked, not looking up at him as she continued to work.

"Oh, I'm sure you can," he smirked.

"I'm busy," she snapped at him. He chuckled.

"I'm a patient man, Nesta."

Her cheeks heated and she tried to hide the slight shaking in her hands as she placed her chopped vegetables in a sauté pan. She added oil and seasoning, allowing the food time to heat up to a sizzle.

"Where's Azriel?"

"Why do you wanna know?" Cassian asked, a seductive lilt to his voice.

"Just wondering," she said plainly.

"I could go find him for you, if you wanted." Cassian leaned back on his hands as he looked down at her from where he perched on the kitchen counter.

"Why would I want that?" She said angrily, using a spatula to push the vegetables around the pan to keep her hands busy.

"You tell me."

"I want nothing to do with either of you," she rolled her eyes.

"Somehow, I don't think that's true, is it?"

"What are you implying?"

He jutted out his bottom lip slightly, raising his hands in surrender. "Nothing."

"Then why are you here?" She asked him, looking up to glare at him. The corner of his mouth tipped upward in a way that highlighted the dimple in his cheek and Nesta hated how distracting that was. She needed to avoid looking at him as much as possible. Looking at him never caused anything good.

"Do you like him? Azriel?" Cass asked nonchalantly, and she could feel how he was preening knowing he could make her this tense so easily.

"No," she lied a little too quickly. "Why? Are you jealous?"

"Not in the slightest," he shook his head. "Do you want me to be jealous?"

"Why would I want that?"

"You're very defensive," Cassian noted.

"And you're nosy," she rebutted. He grinned. He was toying with her to try and get her worked up, and it was clearly working. She hated that so much. She hated that she always gave him the exact reaction he was looking for.