Agony Read Free

teased.
    “ No. I was earlier, but I left,” he joked.
    I laughed again and grabbed a pen and piece of paper and wrote down what he wanted.
    “Come over whenever you’re ready. And dress comfortably. I’m in my pajamas and don’t plan on changing,” I warned.
    “Maybe I’ll just throw on a pair of boxers and we can have a pajama party,” he replied.
    “Wear comfortable clothes ,” I stressed.
    Arsen laughed and told me he’d be over as soon as he could.
    I called the Chinese restaurant and placed our order. I used my debit card to pay for it over the phone because to be honest, I had no idea where my cash was and I didn’t feel like looking for it.
    Fifteen minutes later, the delivery man knocked on my apartment door. Five minutes later, Arsen knocked.
    I looked through the peephole and my heart started to beat a little faster when I saw him. I smoothed out my hair and opened the door.
    “Comfortable enough for you?” he asked with a grin.
    I stepped back and smiled. He was wearing a loose pair of sweatpants, a black muscle shirt, and flip flops.
    “Come on in,” I said, shaking my head and laughing.
    Arsen dropped a bag on the carpet and looked around.
    Is that an overnight bag? He couldn’t have been serious about the pajama party.
    “What’s that all about?” I asked pointing at his bag.
    “Hmm?”
    “This isn’t a sleepover party, buddy,” I replied shaking my finger at him, in mock seriousness.
    Arsen laughed and followed me as I went over to the tiny kitchen and started to pull containers out of the large brown paper bag.
    “If you look in that cabinet, there are plates,” I said, not looking up.
    While Arsen pulled out plates for us, I separated our food and reached into the drawer I kept my utensils in. I pulled out two forks and gave him one. I grabbed my container of pork fried rice, dumped half of it on my plate, and went into the living room. I set my food down and went back into the kitchen where he was busy putting portions of his order onto the plate.
    “Want a can of soda?” I asked, peering inside.
    “Sure. Anything is fine,” he replied.
    I grabbed two Cokes and went back into the living room. I sat on the couch and crossed my legs underneath myself, my plate on my lap, and cracked open my can. Arsen walked around the table and sat next to me. He handed me a napkin and sat back.
    “Thanks,” I replied absentmindedly as one of my favorite shows came on.
    “You’re welcome.”
    We sat and ate in silence for a little bit, while the first story came and went. By the time the third and final part of the show had come on, I put my empty plate on the table and Arsen had stopped eating to stare at the program.
    “What the hell are you watching?” he asked.
    “It’s a show about women killers. It’s pretty cool; my favorite on this channel,” I replied.
    I felt his eyes on me as he stared but I didn’t turn to meet his gaze. It was the same look that Addie always gave me when I had this on and all I could do was an internal eye roll.
    “Trust me, this sure beats watching people fucking all day,” I said dryly.
    He chuckled and went back to eating his food. The program lasted usually a half an hour or so, but since I could tell he was uncomfortable watching it, I made up some bullshit excuse about how these were reruns and that there was a movie on Netflix I wanted to see.
    I flipped through the new arrivals section until I found something that looked halfway decent and pressed play.
    Arsen finished his food and stood up, grabbing my plate as well, and went into the kitchen. I heard them clink slightly as he placed them in the sink and ran water over them. I glanced over and saw that he wasn’t just rinsing them off and leaving them there, he was washing them.
    Impressive.
    I turned my attention back to the movie, when my phone screen lit up. I leaned over and glanced at it.
    “Adesynne Lee,” I exclaimed into the phone.
    “How’s it going over in sex world?” she