Chapter 3
Isaac
Holy shit. The moment I saw Jenna, I knew I’d seen her somewhere before.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that she was the mysterious hookup I had a couple of years ago.
What are the chances that my new neighbor is the girl I’ve thought about time and time again ever since she left my apartment that night?
We never exchanged names. She disappeared after we had incredible sex, and I never saw her again, making me wonder who she was for two long years.
“You okay, man?” Joe asks as I shove my wallet in my back pocket.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Joe looks at me as if he doesn’t believe me. “You got weird in there, and so did that girl Jenna. What was that about? Do you two actually know each other?”
I shrug, not wanting to make this into a big deal. And Joe will make this a big deal. “I don’t know.”
“She’s pretty. So is Misha. I think we lucked out as far as neighbors go.” He claps my shoulder. “Ready?”
I nod, and we head outside to meet Jenna and Misha, who happen to be walking out of their apartment at the same time.
We walk two by two, Misha and Joe side by side, with Jenna and me following. We’re quiet at first, although our friends carry on a conversation of their own. Finally, I break the silence between the two of us.
“So I think I remember where I know you from,” I say, hoping she doesn’t take offense to me bringing it up.
“I think I do, too,” she says.
“Did we meet at a party at the Beta house?”
She glances at me, and I see her cheeks blush. “Yes. And your apartment was just down the street?”
“It was.” I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face. This is definitely my mystery hookup. I thought I’d go the rest of my life never knowing who she was.
“It’s quite a coincidence that we’re neighbors now,” she says with a nervous laugh.
“You can say that.” I rub the back of my neck.
I’m nervous, too. Will it be possible for us to just be friends now that we know we slept together two years ago?
I’ve thought about her so many times since that night…
and not just in an innocent way. I’ve gotten myself off more times than I can count thinking about that night with her, and I’m definitely attracted to her just as strongly now as I was back then.
Would it be possible for us to be more than friends?
“Do you have a girlfriend?” Her question takes me by surprise and also gives me hope. Maybe she’s having the same thoughts I am.
“No, I don’t. Do you have a boyfriend?”
“No,” she replies, and I mentally fist pump at the good news.
“What are you guys talking about back there?” Misha turns around and asks us.
“Nothing much.” Jenna shrugs. “What are you two chatting about up there?”
“Our time at CRU. Just things we miss about college.”
I notice a subtle smirk Misha gives Jenna before turning around again. She must know. Jenna must’ve told her after we left their apartment.
We arrive at the Margarita Factory and are seated in a booth.
Joe and I sit on one side, and Jenna is directly across from me.
The four of us talk about various things as we enjoy good food and drinks, and it doesn’t take long for the nerves I was feeling to go away.
With our friends here, I don’t feel the pressure of worrying about our past, and Jenna seems less nervous as well.
I’m enjoying getting to know her, too. She’s easy to talk to, and we have a lot in common.
We like the same kind of music, watch the same shows, and we’re both fans of the Rainier Renegades football team.
Misha and Joe seem to be getting along well, too, or at least enjoying our conversation.
I’m not sure if they’re attracted to one another like I know I am to Jenna, but at least we’ve moved in next door to cool neighbors with whom we get along.
“Well, it’s Saturday night,” Misha says. “Do you guys have plans?”
“Besides unpacking our boxes, no,” Joe replies. “Have any ideas?”
“Have you heard of Hot Toddy’s?” Misha asks. “It’s a bar not too far away, and they have live music tonight. It’s one of our usual places to go on the weekend.”
“We’ve been there before,” I reply. I hit Joe’s shoulder lightly with the back of my hand. “Want to go?” I’d like to spend more time with Jenna, and hopefully, Joe doesn’t object.
“Hell yeah,” he says. “You know I’m always up for live music.”
I look across the table at Jenna, and she smiles. Good. I feel as if she’s into me, just as I’m into her. After all, that night we shared two years ago proves we have chemistry. Now that we’re getting to know each other, I can’t imagine how good things could be between us.
I don’t want to get ahead of myself, though. If she wants to take things slow or just be friends, I’ll have to accept it.
Our server arrives with our bill, and Joe picks it up. “We’ve got this,” he says.
“What?” Misha and Jenna both say.
“Isaac and I will pay.” He turns to me. “You cool with that?”
“Yeah, of course.”
He pulls his wallet out of his back pocket. “Cool. I’ll pay, and you can Venmo me half. Sound good?”
“Of course.” He must be into Misha if he wants to buy her dinner.
“Thank you,” Jenna says.
“Yeah, that’s so nice of you guys,” Misha adds.
“We’ll get you guys drinks at Hot Toddy’s,” Jenna offers.
“It’s no problem,” I tell them. “We’re glad to have such cool neighbors living next door.”
“We’re glad to have such cool neighbors move in,” Misha says, and I notice she smiles wider as she looks at Joe.
So maybe there is some attraction between the two of them.
After we pay, we walk back to our apartments. Once again, Jenna and I walk side by side behind Joe and Misha.
“I have to ask you something,” I say to her when we’re about halfway home. The large margarita I had with dinner has given me some liquid courage. This question will either be a good thing or it’ll make things awkward.
“What’s that?” Jenna asks.
Taking a deep breath, I hope I’m not making a mistake by asking her this. “Do you ever think about that night we hooked up?”
She glances at me as we walk along, and I notice she’s stifling a smile. “Well, to be honest,” she says, then pauses. I rub the back of my neck out of nervousness, waiting for her to continue. Finally, she looks at me and says, “Yes. Do you?”
Thank God! What a relief to know that I’m not the only one who’s thought about that night. “Yes,” I reply, trying not to sound as excited as I feel. I don’t want to come across as a psycho who has thought about her more times than I probably should.
“That was a fun night,” she says. “I have to admit I regretted not knowing who you were. I couldn’t believe we never saw each other on campus. Although I graduated a couple of weeks later and moved here, so I guess we didn’t have much of a chance to run into each other.”
“It’s a relief to hear you say that. I wished I had gotten your name before you left, too.”
Saying it’s a relief is an understatement. I’m fucking overjoyed to hear her say that!
Misha turns around. “What time do you guys want to leave for Hot Toddy’s?”
“The music usually starts around nine, so maybe leave at eight thirty?” I suggest.
As we approach our apartments, we all agree on the time to leave, and Joe says he’ll get us an Uber. We say goodbye to Jenna and Misha, then go into our new home.
“They’re fun,” Joe says as we walk into our mess of an apartment. Boxes are everywhere, and we have a lot to unpack, but that can wait until tomorrow.
“Yeah. Lucky for us, we have nice neighbors.”
“You and Jenna seemed to be flirting a bit,” he says.
I shrug. “We think we know why we recognized each other.”
“Oh really?” Joe’s eyebrows rise. Here we go. Once I tell him, he’s going to give me hell.
“We met at a party once,” I say, deciding not to divulge the whole story. Not that Joe would be a dick about it, but I feel like I should keep Jenna’s and my night together private.
“You remember her from a party? How long ago was it?”
“About two years ago. I know it sounds crazy that we recognized each other, but as we were walking, she asked if I’d ever gone to a party at the Beta house.”
“No way,” Joe says. “That’s crazy!”
Joe and I were both Betas, but we didn’t live at the fraternity house our senior year.
Instead, we got an apartment together down the street, where we have lived for the past two years as we began our careers.
The low rent made it worth staying there, but we eventually got tired of living so close to the CRU campus when we were no longer students, which is why we decided to move here.
“Small world for sure,” I reply. “What about you and Misha? Was there any flirting going on between you two?”
He shrugs. “She’s cute, for sure. I like her, but I’m not sure I can say we were flirting in any way. I guess time will tell. I’m not not interested.”
I look at the oven clock in the kitchen and see that we have about an hour before we leave for Hot Toddy’s. “I’m going to go unpack a few boxes in my room until it’s time to go.”
“Sounds like a plan. I should do the same thing,” Joe replies.
As I open the first box in my room, I can’t help but feel excited for where the night could take us.