18. Kirin
Kirin
It wasn’t until Thursday afternoon that Kirin found a break between his class and practice long enough to grab lunch at his favorite sandwich spot.
A rare break between games this early in the season was more of a nuisance than a gift when they were just getting their feet under them.
Still, he couldn’t complain since it meant finding himself in the sandwich haven known as Subs by Bob.
Though so far, his sandwich was figurative, since he had yet to lay eyes on actual food, and the small shop was packed. While he waited, Kirin’s focus was on the list of messages between him and Rose.
He’d barely seen Rose since they had fallen asleep on her couch Monday night, aka the best nap of his life.
And if he hadn’t known her schedule was worse than his, he might have been suspicious.
It didn’t help that as his week calmed, hers grew crazier.
The damn soccer schedule with its two games a week, sometimes three, was running her ragged.
So, he’d opted to give her whatever space she needed—satiating his desire to talk to her by scrolling through their thread.
Kirin scrolled all the way back to that night and bit back his smile.
Rose
You left a note on my door? You’re such a dork.
Kirin
I didn’t want you to think I dipped after we slept together.
Rose
We didn’t sleep together.
Well, we did, but not like, sexually?
Forget it.
Kirin
You good?
He hadn’t gotten a response to that. She probably passed out.
She left him on read until she slipped into class late and nodded at him as she sat down on the other side of the auditorium.
It was adorable that she thought he was going to let that slide.
So he watched, taking the odd note as Professor Nadae spoke, until she took her phone out for her own notes.
Kirin
Just gonna leave me on read? I thought we were partners.
When he saw her stiffen, he hid his smirk and turned his laugh into a cough. A few of his classmates shot him questioning and accusatory looks.
Rose
You are the worst.
Kirin
How was practice this morning?
Now, at Subs by Bob, he was scrolling and smiling to himself when the seat across from him jerked back and a body dropped into it. Rose’s defeated expression disappeared behind a curtain of hair as she covered her face. “I think my advisor hates me.”
“Well, good afternoon. It’s fabulous to see you. I am doing great, a little tired, but managing fine,” he joked as she looked up with a frown. “How’d you know I’d be here?”
“Hi, sorry, it’s been a rough few days. I didn’t. I was heading home to wallow when I saw you.” Rose’s fingers disappeared into the mass of loose curls, and he got distracted. It was down again, and he wanted to be the one with his hands in it.
She rubbed her head under the mass, groaning low enough that the table next to them looked over, and he grinned.
It was highly unlikely that her advisor hated her, and significantly more likely that her advisor was being unintentionally obtuse.
He’d heard plenty of stories from his mom about how she put her students through hell over the years without meaning to, in some cases, and definitely on purpose in others.
“Have you eaten?” The question had Rose’s head lifting. She looked miserable. “I’ve tried every sandwich on this menu. Nothing is bad.”
She blinked, dragging her hands down her face before she looked up at the menu on the wall across from them like she was just realizing where she was. “Do you have a favorite? Or a recommendation?”
“I’d say number ten, Spicy Wanderer, is probably the best I’ve had.
It’s got spicy mayo, pickles, mesquite turkey, a crisp layer of lettuce, and a thick slice of pepper jack.
” She blinked again and looked over at the register where the line was getting longer by the second, then back up to the menu.
She hummed and looked at him. “But that’s not what you get. It’s not your favorite.”
He tilted his head, surprised. “What do you think I get?”
Rose looked him over. Her eyes narrowed every now and again, like something about his outfit or the look in his eye would tell her the answer before she went back to examining the menu while she considered.
“Is it the Buckaroo Bar-B-Que?” she asked, and he snorted, then shook his head.
“But that one is delicious, and I highly recommend it. You should try it.”
Her narrowed eyes were back on him, the playful light in them slowly returning as she looked over the menu again, humming to herself.
And he watched her, enjoying the way her shoulders relaxed with every murmured guess to herself.
She was glancing at him just as Jaime, the eldest son of the owners, Bob and Nora, stepped up to the counter, a familiar smile on his face.
“Kirin Callaghan! Well, I’ll be. It’s been an age!” Jaime stepped out from behind the counter and came over to them, offering a hand for Kirin to shake.
“I’m not the one who moved away. It’s good to see you again, Jaime.” He pumped the man’s hand twice as Rose glanced between them. Caught, she resumed studying the menu.
Then, it was Jaime’s turn to glance between them, his brows rising with unspoken questions, so Kirin answered the one question he could. “She’s trying to guess my favorite sandwich, but she’s way off, so we have time. How’re the boys?”
“Oh, you know, growing like weeds. Sarah can’t keep enough food in the house to feed them and their pack of friends, so I always bring home sandwiches.” He shrugged, and Kirin laughed. “Perks of knowing the owners.”
“Just like your dad did with you and Paul, I’d bet.”
“Of course! It’s a family tradition at this point.” Jaime laughed and looked at Rose, his voice lowering. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you bring a girl in here.”
“Oh, he didn’t—”
“It’s a special place. Can’t bring just anyone around here,” Kirin said to cut off Rose’s denial. He enjoyed the blush she tried to hide behind her fingers as she looked back at the menu.
“Dad said you were bound to get hung up on a girl at some point,” Jaime chuckled, and Kirin matched it, giving his friend a pointed look toward Rose.
“This is Rose.”
Jaime smiled and offered his hand to her, which she took with a smile. Her cheeks were still pink.
“Brave of you to show up when my dad might be lurking around. He totally busted me with Sarah when I first brought her home. I think I had to say she was my friend about fifty times.”
Kirin laughed. “Bob has never been one for subtlety. I think he busted Harrison the first time he brought a girl here, too.”
“How long have you two known one another?” Rose asked, and to Kirin’s surprise, she had shifted her focus to him and Jaime. He was used to being the one watching her. It made him nervous to have all her attention on him. And all he wanted was to keep it.
“Oh, probably since the day after Kirin moved to Kismet?” Jaime rubbed his chin and looked off to the side like he had to think about it. “Leon and H brought you the following summer during the camps, right?”
“Back when we were babies,” Kirin agreed, a smile tilting his lips at the memory. “I think we met when I was fifteen? So almost seven years? But we didn’t really get to know another until I met H and Leon during that camp before Junior year.”
“Kismet should thanks it’s lucky stars H and Leon weren’t living here at the same time as you in high school.” Jaime chuckled. “Those two were chaos as kids, moving away saved half the town from getting an ulcer.”
“Would have been nice to have them during the school year though.” Kirin countered, his grin dimming a bit.
“You wouldn’t be at the same college if they had.” Jaime patted Kirin’s shoulder. “It all worked out. Better that your each terrorized your own schools and kept the antics to summer for those last two summers before college.”
“True, a sacrifice worth the outcome.”
Jaime nodded. “There you go.”
Rose glanced between them and when he nodded to himself, she looked back at Jaime with bright eyes. “So you knew awkward Kirin.”
Kirin grinned again.
“Oh, Jaime’s known a lot of different Kirins over the years.” He leaned toward Rose and crooked a finger at her until she leaned toward him. “Even my rough phases, but that’s not something we tell just anyone.”
“You’re gonna have to guess the sandwich before I’ll spill any beans about his emo music phase,” Jaime said with a wink.
“Hey, we agreed never to discuss that topic again, even if the music still holds up.”
Jaime motioned as if his hair were covering his eyes. “Not a good look on him.”
“Hey!” Kirin objected with a grimace.
“It’s number twenty-six, Holiday Jam Sesh.” She didn’t even look at the menu, her gaze on Jaime. “Did he have the fake lip piercings? A lot of guys at my high school had those.”
“Uh…” Jaime glanced his way, as if he was waiting for permission to confirm. Though he wasn’t sure if Jaime wanted to confirm the sandwich choice or the fact that Kirin had had a fake piercing for about two weeks as his own kind of rebellion during that move after freshman year.
“Now how did you—” Kirin started, but Rose lifted her hand and gave him an exasperated look, like it was obvious.
“You like your comfort foods. All I’ve seen you eat since we met is comfort food, which is weird for an athlete of your caliber.” She shrugged. “Number twenty-six is basically a Thanksgiving dinner in a sandwich.”
She grinned, her nose scrunching in the most adorable way. He glanced at Jaime, who chuckled. “Well, she’s got your number there, man.”
“Evidently,” Kirin grumbled.
He ate one carb-heavy meal a day before the season to stay sane with his planned meals. Now that the season had started, he was limiting it to once a week. Most of which he had shared with Rose, but he didn’t think she had been paying attention.
“You deserve one of my mom’s cookies,” Jaime whispered to Rose as he stood up and pointed to Kirin. “I’ll get your food out and make sure I tell Dad about this development tonight. You’re going to have to bring her back.”