Page 20 of Drop Pass

She trailed off and I cut in before her imagination ran while. “I wanted to bring dinner over as a thank you.”

She made a humming sound which I ignored.

“I want to check in and make sure he’s okay, but I figured I should bring a peace offering just in case.”

“That’s probably a good idea. He can be such a grump sometimes. I doubt he’d like an unexpected drop-in, so food is a good idea.”

Was going over a mistake? But I wouldn’t be able to relax until I knew he was okay.

“We went to the place in the mall that serves burgers, I forgot what it’s called but it’s on the first floor on your end. He seemed to like it.”

“You don’t know what he ordered, do you?”

She blew out a breath. “Most of the guys got the one that had a huge onion ring on it. I can’t remember if he did or not though.”

“Did they like it?”

“Oh yeah. It was all they could talk about for days.”

“Okay I’ll go with that one.”

“He really liked the chocolate cheesecake too. I remember he ordered that and all the guys got jealous but he said he didn’t care about diets. He works out enough to enjoy food.” She mimicked his voice and I laughed.

“Perfect. I’ll order that and take it over to him.”

“Good luck. Let me know how it goes.”

“Okay. Thanks for your help.”

“Anytime.”

I hung up and pulled up the mall directory until I found Teton Burgers. It was the only restaurant in the location she described, so I read over the menu and found the burger and cheesecake she mentioned.

I called and ordered, relieved it was only a ten-minute wait. Hopefully, he hadn’t already had dinner. Without looking like I spent too much time trying, I changed into jeans and a sweater and fixed what was left of my makeup. There. Not too much effort. I wasn’t doing this for any other reason than to say thanks. The last thing I needed was for my crush to come back. He’d made it clear the first time I came to visit he wasn’t interested. I tried flirting, casual touches, even directly asking him to coffee but he turned my attempts. It was fine now, but I was just being neighborly.

The restaurant had the order ready and waiting so I was back upstairs and in front of his door much too quickly.

I’d ordered a chicken Caesar salad for myself and kept it in the same bag. I wondered, should I take it out so I don’t have to do an awkward shuffle if he doesn’t invite me in? Do I want to be invited in?

I hadn’t thought this through, obviously. I blew out a breath and maneuvered the to-go boxes until mine was on the top. There. Easy access.

I knocked and took a step back. There was no noise coming from inside. Not that these units allowed for it. The sound proofing was impressive. Did they do that on purpose?

What was I thinking? I shook my head and waited a few more seconds before turning. Either he wasn’t home or he was too sore to come to the door. Or he didn’t want to answer.

That seemed the most realistic.

Oh well. At least I tried. There wasn’t much I could do if he didn’t want to let me in.

“Elena?” His rough voice sent a shiver down my spine.

I spun, holding tight to the bag. “Hi Nikolay.”

His eyebrows furrowed. “What are you doing?”

He seemed fine. He was leaning against the door frame but I couldn’t tell if it was from fatigue, injury, or just a casual pose. There I was, overthinking again.

“I brought over some food. Have you had dinner?”