Home > Franco (Bright Side #3)(7)

Franco (Bright Side #3)(7)
Author: Kim Holden

My feet are walking to 215 before I've read if you want to come over. My hand is raised, poised to knock on the door, and I'm still three steps away.

Two steps away the door opens.

I guess we're both anxious.

And there stands Gemma. In leopard print shorts and a black tank top with a union jack flag on the front. It only reinforces everything else about her that screams subtle sophistication. I'm one who defines sophistication as setting oneself apart from the rest of the crowd. And not in a douchey, I'm-too-good-for-you manner—but worldly, unique, classy. Classy is all about the way a woman carries herself. And Gemma can rock the hell out of classy in a pair of animal print shorts and a tank top.

"Hiya." She's beaming. It's a smile that springs forth from a chasm of happiness deep inside.

"Hey, Gem." I'm smiling, too. And my heart is racing again, spurred on by her joy. Happiness in another person always finds its way inside me. I subconsciously welcome it into my soul. I feed on it. It's not a complicated process. It just happens. When I was young, I watched my grandmother, who lived with us for a short time, battle Alzheimer's. It stole not only her memories; it stole her ability to function. But it never stole her happiness and kind heart. And I remember at eleven years old thinking how admirable that was. Because she fought to hold onto it. My friend Kate only reinforced my feelings when she got sick. She was positive and happy up to the very end.

She steps back so I can walk in. And by the time she's shut the door behind me I'm lost in the aroma of something hearty and meaty and...substantial...as if just the scent the food is giving off is enough to satisfy my hunger. "What smells so good?"

Her smile drops from one corner of her mouth, but it doesn't extinguish the happiness she's radiating. It's just transformed into something slightly more pride based. "Scouse."

"Excuse me? In English this time for us Americans." I can't help smiling even while I'm teasing her.

She turns, but not before I catch her wicked grin, and heads for the kitchen. "It was our language first."

"You win. Sounds better with the accent too."

She pinches the fabric of her shorts and mocks a curtsy as she walks through the kitchen doorway. "All right then." She walks to a cupboard and pulls out a bowl and a glass. And then she proceeds to unlid a crock pot and ladle out the concoction that smells so good I can already taste it.

When she points to a small table and chairs in the corner, I sit like the obedient starving man that I am. "What's scouse?" I ask as she places the bowl in front of me.

"Meat, potatoes, carrots, onions."

Taking the spoon in my eager hand, I shrug. "It's stew."

She grins. "Call it whatever you like. It's still scouse."

I take a bite, and it's the best stew I've ever tasted. So much better than normal stew that I decide the special name is justified. "This is good."

"Course it is. It's my mum's recipe. You want milk or water to drink?"

"Beer?" I ask hopefully.

"None of my own, only my roommate's beer in the fridge," she answers apologetically.

"Would she mind?"

"He," she corrects. "And yes, he would mind very much."

"Your roommate is a dude?" I don't know why I'm so stunned, but I am.

"I haven't seen his twig and berries, but yeah, judging by his burly beard and deep baritone voice, I would say yes, definitely a bloke."

"How'd you meet him? How'd you become roommates?" I ask, curious.

"I answered his Craigslist ad," when I open my mouth to interrupt, and almost spit out the stew in my mouth in the process, she gives me a pleading look not to, "which I know was stupid and naive, I've been told so a million times by a million different people since. But here's a little secret about me," she widens her eyes, "I'm trusting."

"That's no secret. Possibly to your detriment. You shacked up with a strange dude in a foreign country and you let me walk you home last night after knowing me for an hour."

She smiles a smile that tells me I'm wrong. "I've good instincts. You're harmless. And sweet. And easy on the eyes."

Just then a guy walks into the kitchen. No beard. He's young. Way too young to be the roommate in question.

"Hiya, Brandon," Gemma greets.

He raises his chin in answer, with aloofness only a twelve-year-old boy can pull off like a boss.

"Want some scouse?"

He shakes his head; it's so minute it's almost an insult, while he walks to the refrigerator and pulls out a Gatorade. A prompt exit without ever uttering a word follows.

"Friendly kid," I say sarcastically. The silent treatment when she was obviously trying to be nice was a dick move though.

"He's my roommate's son. He doesn't speak."

I raise my eyebrows. "I noticed."

She shakes her head at me like I didn't understand. "No, he can't speak. His vocal chords were damaged. He literally can't speak."

"Oh." And now I feel like the dick.

"Milk or water?" she asks again, returning to the original conversation. Her voice is light and happy again.

Or maybe it never changed, and it's just me feeling guilty. I laugh at her teasing parental tone. "Milk, please."

When she sets the glass in front of me, I'm halfway through the bowl and already hoping she has enough to offer me a second. I haven't had a home-cooked meal since New Year's Day dinner with my parents. "Do you have any bendy straws?" I ask through a full mouth of food.

"Bendy straws?"

I shrug. "It's rock star stuff. You wouldn't understand. Bendy straws are the shit."

Surprisingly, she shrugs with me in solidarity. "I don't have any, but bendy straws are fab. Why don't Americans use them? It's all we use in England."

I clutch at my heart. "I knew I loved you Brits."

"Shut up, naughty American boy."

I do. Shut up. Because she asked so nicely. And I finish two bowls of better-than-stew scouse, like a starving man.

Then we move to the couch to watch a movie.

As soon as she sits down next to me and her presence and scent and Gemma-ness invades my personal space, I'm lost in her.

   
Most Popular
» Nothing But Trouble (Malibu University #1)
» Kill Switch (Devil's Night #3)
» Hold Me Today (Put A Ring On It #1)
» Spinning Silver
» Birthday Girl
» A Nordic King (Royal Romance #3)
» The Wild Heir (Royal Romance #2)
» The Swedish Prince (Royal Romance #1)
» Nothing Personal (Karina Halle)
» My Life in Shambles
» The Warrior Queen (The Hundredth Queen #4)
» The Rogue Queen (The Hundredth Queen #3)
romance.readsbookonline.com Copyright 2016 - 2024