Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 116759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
“Okay.” She shrugged. “I’ll think about it.”
“Good.”
“So …” Lily took a sip of her latte while searching my face. She wiped a smear of coffee off her lips, almost distracting me from her next question. “You mentioned you have a sister. What’s she like?”
“Juno is two years older than me, but you’d think she was ten years older. We grew up close, she grew up protective.” I chuckled. “She’s one of my closest friends, really. Not sure that’s very cool to admit, but it’s true.”
“I don’t care about cool. I love that you’re so close to her.”
“She’s mad as a hatter. Ballsy, take no prisoners. Says the most preposterous things and mocks me relentlessly. But I love her.”
Lily’s expression softened. “She sounds wonderful. She sounds like she’d get on really well with January.”
“Your little sister?”
Lily nodded. “She’s a fresher this year. And my complete opposite.”
“Plain, stupid, and unkind?” I teased.
She grimaced. “No, I meant she’s loud and überconfident, assertive, blunt. She’s also hilarious. But from the outside in, I think people find her intimidating. I’m as intimidating as the saber-toothed tiger in The Croods.”
Chuckling, I pulled out my phone to google the movie. “I’ve never seen it.” An adorable animation of a saber-toothed tiger appeared on my screen, and I burst out laughing. “Yes, you are definitely as intimidating as that.”
“He’s so cute, isn’t he?” Lily peered over the table at my phone, her dimples melting me.
“Not as adorable as you.”
She wrinkled her nose. “That’s me. Adorable.”
“It’s not a bad thing, you know.”
“Hmm, if you say so.”
“I do say so. Have you seen Rise of the Guardians?”
“Uh, aye. Queen of animations over here.”
Grinning, I nodded. “It’s one of my favorite movies, but that’s just between you and me. If anyone else asks, my favorite movie is The Godfather.”
“Have you even seen The Godfather?”
“Of course. Once.”
Lily burst out laughing and I found myself grinning like the Cheshire fucking Cat. And that’s how our morning went. Easy, natural conversation over three coffees. She told me more about her love for romance novels and I insisted on a list of recommendations. She sent me a few links, looking very much like she thought I never intended to click on them. She was wrong.
I could’ve sat there for hours talking nonsense with Lily.
When she announced she had to leave to get ready for an afternoon class, I wanted to plead with her to stay a little longer. Instead, I walked her out of the coffee shop and down the street to her flat.
“So, this is where you live?” I stared up at the building as noisy traffic passed behind us.
“This is it.” She glanced over her shoulder at me, her key dangling in the main entrance door. “So … I’ll see you.”
“I’ll text you,” I promised her firmly. “If you’ve got time, I’d love to see you before Friday.”
“I might come on Friday. Might.”
I sighed. “Please. It’ll make me feel better to check out this bloke and to know you’re surrounded by friends. Safe.”
“Thorne, you do realize I’ve been on many dates?”
I smirked at her use of my surname. “Yes, Sawyer, I do. But that was before you knew me and I’m overprotective of my friends.”
Lily rolled her eyes. “I’ll talk to you soon. Thanks for coffee.” And then she was inside, the heavy entrance door shutting behind her.
A pang of something weird spread across my chest.
I didn’t like the feeling.
Pulling my phone from my pocket, I quickly sent Lily a text.
Lunch. Teviot. Thursday. You free?
I turned and started walking back toward home.
A minute later, my phone beeped.
I can do 1 p.m.
A massive grin split my face as I quickly texted back.
See you then.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
LILY
For some reason, I woke up feeling a wee bit overwhelmed about trying to juggle my coursework with the podcast. However, I had a meeting with my advisor, Anna, a research grad student and tutor who was my advisor in third year too. On top of my dissertation, I had a general paper to write, a tutorial course, and then I had to select three classes over the course of the two semesters. I decided to take two classes this semester, leaving me extra time in the second semester for my dissertation. My plan was also to do most of my interviews for the dissertation this semester as well. Anna thought in general it was a good plan but told me to consider spreading out some of the interviews so my first semester wasn’t so top heavy.
I came out of the meeting feeling better but also worse because I had a nagging feeling I needed to chat with the girls about giving more airtime to January and Aiysha this year than we’d originally planned. The idea of trying to date on top of all this work made my head spin.
After my meeting, I had a seminar—Emotions: Social and Neuroscience Perspectives.