Chapter 3

What a d*ck. It had been a few days and I was still livid. What made me angrier is that I couldn’t stop thinking about it. His blue eyes darkening as he looked at me, and he really looked at me. I felt seen, if only just for a moment.

Then the a*hole drops me and leaves me in the clutter of my things. Oh god, that was embarrassing. Thankfully, the other students had the decency not to say anything.

I was so mortified that I didn’t even bring it up to Jessica yet. Apparently, I have the allure of a catfish. Whatever. I have other things to do right now. Like mastering this pasta dough. I was in the teaching kitchen, working on my homemade pasta before that week’s skill drill.

Cracking the eggs into the flour well and gently incorporating the flour until the dough became a lovely yellow color. I kneaded and kneaded until the dough became soft and smooth.

It wasn’t super difficult, but it did at least keep my mind off of what’s-his-name. See. Already forgot.

Rowan.

Right. It was like an earworm. This reminds me of something my mama would always say, in Spanish, of course, “If you let somebody bother you again, come home and I will hit you harder.” Such a way with words, that woman. She was pretty much telling me to get over it.

And she’s right.

I pressed my dough through the pasta roller and made these long, elegant sheets of pasta. After leading the dough into the other side of the machine, I got these yummy strands of fresh pasta. I think this skill drill is going to be a breeze.

There was the sound of thunder, telling me to hurry up if I didn’t want to get caught in a downpour.

The Tupperware snapped closed as I made three servings of pasta. One for me and one for my garbage disposal of a friend. And it a little extra too. Honestly, Jessica would probably chew the rubber off of a tire if she was hungry enough, so it’s my job to make sure that she didn’t go hungry.

Jessica had invited me to the library to go study with her and some friends. I’ve always envied her for her ability to stay so social. I don’t really get out and meet people, so she pushes me out of my shell. I don’t always like it, but I appreciate it.

When we were in elementary school, I was the quiet kid with big glasses and a book in front of me. I would hide in the back of the classroom and flinch away from loud noises.

Then in came Jessica.

She was loud, proud, and determined. I swear she took one look at me and thought to herself, “that girl is going to be my friend.” She was an only child, with two very busy parents who were rarely ever home. It wasn’t long before she became my sister, and another daughter to mi mama. Even my perpetually unimpressed abuela took a liking to Jessica instantly.

Though middle school and high school, Jessica was there for me, and I was there for her. At the time, I was pursuing my teaching certificate and Jessica would be teaching my abuela all sorts of new knots and knitting techniques while she went to school for fashion. It seemed so easy back then. We were a family.

Until I met Marco.

The library sign snapped me out of my thoughts for a moment. I opened the door into the quiet space. I had always enjoyed libraries. No one ever bothered me when I had a book open on my table. This library wasn’t too busy, and I saw Jessica sitting at a table not too far away. I smiled and waved.

As I looked at the two guys with her, I saw a familiar pair of eyes snap over to me. They were just as dark as I remember. Once he realized who I was, I watched his face screw up in a way that I could only interpret as disgust. What was his problem with me?

Remember when I said that I was going to get over it? Well, sometimes mama isn’t right.

I didn’t expect the fiery anger to bubble up in my chest when I saw Rowan again. My lips pressed into a thin line and my eyes narrowed. I never was good at hiding my emotions. If he was going to look at me like that then I was going to raise him a glare.

Jessica looked across the table at Rowan and then back at me again. I folded my arms across my chest and couldn’t control how my feet stomped over to the table. I didn’t even realize that the other guy there had seen me too.

His big brown eyes furrowed in confusion as he looked over at Rowan, who got up, shoved his chair back underneath the table, and left the library. Rowan even pushed someone out of way on his way out the door. He put on some sunglasses and walked out into the cloudy day.

So rude. So freaking rude. What did I do to him?

I continued to glare at him until he left the library. Then I marched all the way over to the table, slammed my bag down, and sat down in a huff. When I looked back up, Jessica was staring at me.

“What was that?” Jessica asked.

I brushed my hair off of my shoulder. “It was nothing.”

Jessica cleared her throat. “Anyways, this is James. James, this is my best friend, Astrid. You know the girl that scared your friend away.”

I tried to compose myself before looking up at the stranger. This is the second time that Rowan has left me feeling embarrassed. I gave James a small half-wave, nervously brushing my hair out of my face and up into a bun.

James looked back up at the door that Rowan stormed out of. “Sorry about that. He’s not usually like that.”

“Then what’s he usually like when he’s not being a d*ck.” As soon as the words fell from my lips, I flushed and covered my mouth with both of my hands. Then I do what anyone else would do in that situation. I backpedal. I backpedal hard. “Um, I mean. Um. That’s not what I meant.”

Way to break the ice, Astrid. Good job, I thought to myself. I babbled for about ten more seconds before Jessica and James burst out laughing.

“Isn’t she just so cute?” Jessica teased, nudging me with her shoulder.

James laughed for a moment before saying, “Really, it’s fine. He can be a d*ck. I should know, he’s my best friend.”

I breathe a sigh of relief at the playful gesture. Suddenly, Jessica leans over and sniffs my hair.

“Dios Mio, Astrid, you smell like Italian food. Please tell me that you saved me some,” Jessica said excitedly.

“Of course! Always,” I look over at James. “I even have an extra serving.”

James seemed very interested in the prospect of food, but politely said, “No, I could never-”

“When the culinary arts student offers you handmade pasta, you better accept that handmade pasta,” Jessica interrupted. Jessica looked over and narrowed her eyes at me. “You’re going to make me fat, but it’ll be so worth it.”

James chuckled and playfully said, “Well, if you insist.” I pushed my extra Tupperware of pasta over to him and he put it in his bag. “Thank you, Astrid.”

I nodded at him and asked, “So how did you two meet?”

“One day I was in the courtyard, you know, minding my own business, then Jessica walks right up to me, asks if she can borrow my coffee, and dumps it all over this guy who’s bothering her.”

Jessica shrugged. “Some guys just can’t no for an answer.”

“I lost a coffee, but then Jessica bought me another coffee and we hit it off. She’s really cool,” James said genuinely.

A charming smile pulled at Jessica’s lips, and she said, “You’re pretty cool too.”

We spent some time chatting before James had to leave. Jessica watches James leave and my eyes snap over to her. “What was that?”

Jessica gave me a coy smile, her eyes betraying that she knew exactly what she was doing. “Oh, that was nothing.” She stands up. “Let’s go heat up this pasta and have dinner, yeah?”

“Sounds good. I am pretty hungry,” I concurred, standing up.

“And you need to tell me what happened with that Rowan guy,” Jessica teased in passing. I stopped in my tracks and Jessica looked back at me. “Non-negotiable.”

“Fine,” I muttered, following Jessica out of the library.

*****

Rowan was on the floor of his kitchen, surrounded by blood bags before James came back. James opened the door to the apartment, causing Rowan to jump up and hiss. James rolled his eyes and put his newly acquired pasta into the microwave.

“Dude, you need to get it together,” James said, the microwave beeping and humming as it started. “Astrid is actually really nice.” He paused. “But you would know that if you didn’t storm out like a lunatic.”

Rowan frowned deeply. If he thought about Astrid, he thought about the scent of honeysuckles and lavender and that just made him so hungry. “I need more blood.”

The microwave beeped and James took out his dinner. “Wow, okay, so no ‘hi James’ or ‘how was your day, James,’” He popped off the lid of the bowl and twirled some pasta with a fork. “She was right, you are acting like a jerk.”

Rowan sat up and said half-heartedly, “Hi James. How was your day, James?”

James ate a forkful of pasta, placing a hand over his chest and feigning contentment, “Oh, it was great. Thanks for asking. My new friend brought me some handmade food.”

Rowan sighed deeply. “Please James. I need more blood.” His eyes were dark with hunger as he stared at his friend.

“Fine. Just let me finish eating first. What’s going on with you?”

Rowan stood up completely, looking very irate. “I can’t explain it to a mortal.”

“I’ve been your familiar for almost eight years. Cut the bullsh*t.”

That seemed to make Rowan even more annoyed, but he conceded. “Every time I pass that woman, I want to kill her. She smells like, how do I explain it, like how fresh pasta smells to you. I don’t like feeling like that.”

James nodded, slurping up another noodle. “I think I understand, but if you can’t control yourself, you’re going to have to go back.”

Rowan’s frown deepened. “I could just completely avoid her. Drop out of that class.”

“Not an option. I want to keep seeing Jessica, so you need to get it together. Act normal. Apologize to Astrid. That girl is too nice to be treated like that.” James gestured to his now empty bowl of food. “And I like the perks.”

James put his bowl in the sink and pulled a blood bag and sterilized needle from the cupboard. Rowan sighed again. “Fine.”

“Okay, I’m off. Do the dishes, will ya?” James gestured to the full sink before walking into his room to get to work bloodletting.

Rowan hated doing the dishes, but it was the least he could do. He buried his head in his hands, no idea how he was going to apologize to her.