BURN

Chapter five

CHAPTER FIVE

“Because I have four rules. One, never f**k the same girl twice. Two, never f**k my friend’s ex. Three, never ever try to sleep with a drunk girl and the Fourth rule which now applies to you, never f**k my friend,” I felt time stop and my breathing slow down for a moment.

“Friend?” I stated in disbelief after quite some time of processing.

“Yeah. Some guys in the basketball team are playing around with a huge load of cash. If I could befriend you without trying to get into your pants for the rest of the semester then the money will all be mine,” he shrugged like it was nothing big.

“If you could befriend me?” I pointed my index finger on my chest to emphasize on my question.

“Well, they didn’t specifically say you. I mean your name came up among the three chosen freshmen. But whoever I had to choose had be too damn irresistible for me, so I picked you,”

“You picked me because you found me irresistible?” the thought that he actually found me rather irresistible was really huge boost to my confidence. I mean, I had just known the guy a couple of hours and yet I wanted to dance alongside the butterflies in the pit of my stomach.

“Don’t beat yourself about it. I can hop in bed with the next freshman I find irresistible enough and trust me I have already caught a couple of them making eyes at me during service today,” he just had to say that and all the tingles crawling all over my body vanished into the thin evening air.

“You go to church?” he had to be joking about that part.

“Yeah. Even the worst of sinners still have a place in the Holy building, don’t they?”

“Of course,”

“Now that we are friends, I guess I could forgive for the mess last Friday,”

“Thanks,” I tried to the fact that I was disappointed he wanted to be friends with me when he had been all flirty with me just two nights ago. Actually, if I had not soiled his clothes I would have probably woken up naked in his bed the next morning.

“Well, I’m done with the food. Malcolm please fry the chicken and this time don’t over oil it. I’m going to pick Tina up,” Trent announced as he walked in the living room.

“Of course buddy,”

I watched Trent disappear into what I assumed to be his room.

“He is a fast cook,” I could not hide my surprise.

“Naah! He is just too anxious to get some action,” Malcolm grinned infectiously, making sure he was loud enough for Trent to hear him.

“I heard that Malcolm and you know damn well my relationship with Tina is all about love and not s*x,” he shouted back.

Malcolm scoffed lowly, just enough for me to hear before dragging himself up to a standing position.

“He knows I hate cooking,” He muttered under his breath.

“I can help,” I offered without hesitation.

“That would be awesome and very much appreciated,” he smiled.

Friends with Malcolm? Just the thought of it sounded so foreign to me. And how in the Seven Wonders of the World does one become friends with a notorious campus womanizer with the looks of a Greek god? Adding to that my brother would kill me if he heard about it and then after that, he’ll obviously report me to our father, who will finish my sentence by killing me all over again.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Just weighing the pros and cons of being friends with you,” I answered honestly.

“Tell me the pros,”

“Unfortunately there is only one pro and that is taking comfort in knowing I won’t be added to the sorry list of freshmen banged by Malcolm,”

“I can be a good friend you know,” he frowned lightly leading the way to the kitchen.

“I doubt that. Unless being a good friends means you trying to get under my skin every spare minute you get,”

“I don’t get under people’s skin,” he denied effusively.

“Yes, you do,”

“What’s making you so sure? Because we have only interacted for a few hours, probably two at best, if I’m not wrong,”

“I’m quite observant Malcolm, you might be surprised,” I smiled as I slowly grated the ginger while he sliced the onions. It was pretty funny watching him struggled not to cry under the burning sensation of the onions. He cussed twice as he blinked repeatedly until he was done.

“Fine. Surprise me. What have you learned so far about me?”

“You are obviously a playboy. You never like losing a bet and that’s why you are not going to stop until we are friends until the end of the semester. Um…getting on people’s nerves is your way of interaction. You never quit on something you want. You have many people around you but only a few you can call friends,” I finished.

“Well, you really keep surprising me Munchkin,”

I watched him reach for the tomatoes, the tattoo becoming visible to my eyes. I was tempted to ask him about it but caught myself at the last minute.

“You are definitely a good girl. You prefer maintaining your parent’s and brother’s reputation by keeping your head low. That party night, was your first party, your first time defying your brother’s rules, your first time tasting liquor. Should I go on?” I’m pretty sure my lower lip had dipped in surprise.

“How did you know all that?” I could not have possibly been that obvious.

“Unlike you, that night was all it took to know all about you. The way your eyes wandered nervously around the party room, how you kept smoothing your dress over and over again and you were parting your hair every now and then. Adding to that you were not even half confident when walking towards me. And I was not the only guy that night who had noticed that,” I was still absorbing the shock. How long had he been at the party?

“I did not realize I actually caught the eye of one more person other than you,”

“If you were pretty enough to catch my attention, that means you had the attention of more than half the straight guys in that room that night. Though none of them really had any good intentions,” his voice was now dead serious. No mischievousness, no emotion. Just straight out taciturn.