The Soldier's Roommate

Chapter 3: See you tomorrow!

ALICE

You have got to be kidding me.

"Seriously?! You again?!" I look up to face the one person I really did not expect to see again today. Or any day, for that matter.

"You again," the rude man from the day of my interview answers, obviously struggling to stand up straight.

Is he drunk?

But then I notice how he shifts his weight to his right foot, and I also remember how he dragged his feet at the office, that day.

"Are you following me?" I ask in a mocking tone, giving him a taste of his own medicine.

"Don't flatter yourself," he rolls his eyes as he answers, although I don't fail to notice the hint of a smirk curling on his lips.

But when I see the way he looks at me, the anger rolling off of him in waves, I decide that I absolutely do not need this shit. And so I just turn on my heels and head to the other end of the bar to get our drinks. I can feel his eyes on me as I walk away, I almost expect him to follow me but instead, when I turn around I see him walking to the table that's dangerously close to ours.

Great.

Felix already hates me for leaving him alone with Laurel, the one friend of mine he doesn't like very much, so I decide to hurry up. After I get all the drinks I dash back to our table, trying very hard not to look at the handsome mountain of a man that's sitting just a couple of tables over.

"What took you so long?" Felix looks like he's about to kiss my feet with how glad he is that I'm back.

"Sorry," I laugh as I place the drinks on the table and sit next to him, "I ran into Mr. Grumpy."

"Mr. Grumpy?" The mention of a male obviously catches Laurel's attention.

"What? Really?"

I nod my head at Felix's question, filling Laurel in on my encounter with the man a few days ago. I told Felix the same day, although I did leave out the very rude stuff, which in hindsight is a blessing, considering the guy is here now, dangerously close to my best friend.

"Ohh..." Laurel grins at me with wide eyes, "And where is Mr. Grumpy now?"

And like two magnets, the second I turn around our eyes immediately meet, his own diving straight into mine like he's trying to figure out every inch of me. Laurel, of course, immediately follows my glance and I avert my gaze, hopefully she didn't notice who I was blatantly staring at.

"Is it that guy?" she finally asks, nodding her head toward the table I just focussed on.

My heart stops for a second. For some reason, I don't want her to know who it is. I haven't been friends with Laurel for long, but I do know she's a predator, hunting the male species like it was her last chance of survival every chance she gets. And somehow I don't want her near him.

When I turn around I see another guy winking at her though, and I release a quiet sigh when I realize it wasn't him, after all. "No, that's not him. I can't seem to find him."

But Laurel doesn't even care anymore, she's just playing with her hair, flirting with the other guy. I look to Felix, both of us simultaneously rolling our eyes before laughing out loud.

I can't help but look back once more, basically feeling his eyes burning into my neck, the laugh still resonating through my body when I meet his gaze. And this time I almost burn up from the sight of him because for the first time since I met him there's an actual smirk playing on his lips, although his eyes still hold that fire.