Eden paused, dark eyes rising to look at her classmate. Really? Homework?
“Decent,” she answered after a while, knowing she couldn’t be disrespectful in front of her parents. “How have you been coping? Rather difficult managing after missing a lot of work.”
Sterling shrugged, stopping he fork that was halfway to his mouth. "Is not bad, actually. Most of this is review for me."
Eden bit back a roll of her eyes, looking back at her plate. She chewed on her bottom lip–she knew she should be eating. At least half of what was on her plate, but she couldn't bring herself to. Bile rose to her throat and she looked away.
"Good for you…" she murmured, mostly to herself. Hunter gave his daughter a concerned look before turning his attention towards Sterling.
"So, Sterling," he smiled. "What are your plans for the future? Terrible question to ask, but it's a start."
Sterlinc chuckled and shook his head, giving the other man a grin. "It's not a terrible question. It's actually a good one… In the future, I'd like to become a lawer, like my father. Hopefully marry a wonderful woman and start a family of my own."
(Eden is a very wonderful woman, Sterling)
(Isn't she? :P)
"That sounds wonderful," Hunter hummed in agreement. "I also wanted to marry a wonderful woman and start a family. Though I married an extraordinary woman… I can't say the same for my children. Eden, as you can see, is quite a troublemaker."
"Hilarious, dad," his daughter responded drily. "Also, talking like that doesn't make you sound professional."
"Hunter, stop bragging about me!" Kenzie laughed, playfully swatting at her husband. "What have I told you about that?"
Sterling's gaze was drawn back toward Eden as her parents spoke — it was more like flirting, but whatever. He examined her with a guarded expression, curious but not willing to show it in front of his parents. Who knew what would happen if their parents found out he was actually interested in Eden?
"Who else would I brag about if not you?" Hunter laughed back, grabbing his wife's hand gently. "I need to show off my amazing wife."
At this point, Eden decided following her parents' conversation would get her nowhere, so she turned her attention elsewhere.
Only to feel eyes on herself. The hair on the back of her neck stood erect and she slowly lifted her head to meet Sterling's eyes. His gaze on her was far too intense for her liking. Though he wore a guarded expression… she quirked a smooth eyebrow, trying to ignore the way her toes curled.
She met his eyes. She met his eyes, and she wasn't frowning at her. Granted, she was smirking, but that only added to her allure for him. This girl was truly a mystery, wasn't she?
Sterling smirked right back at her and stuck a bite of food into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed, wondering about the mysterious girl across from him. What has caused her to be so on guard?
What did he want from her? Eden couldn’t point her finger at it. He didn’t want a higher position in the hierarchy, she knew. He didn’t want to be the one who bring her down. So what exactly did he want from her?
Then he smirked, his lips twitching upwards in amusement and Eden found herself blinking, staring at his mouth before she finally rolled her eyes and shook her head lightly. She was just about ready to go home now, though she knew there was a long way to go.
(I think I meant smiled, but I was writing that when I was half asleep last night. Lol. I fell asleep writing that response. XD)
Dinner finished up relatively quietly. The adults continued to talk, Hunter kept flirting with his wife and she kept trying to get him to stop. It seemed like this was a normal occurrence for them, which didn't surprise Sterling at all. They seemed very good at it.
(That’s okay! 🤣)
“Next weekend’s dinner is on us,” Hunter said, his hand rubbing his wife’s gently. Eden barely managed to hold back her groan. Dealing Sterling at school was too much, and now she had to survive even weekends in his presence? “This time, I’m sure all of our children would be present.”
Sterling’s parents nodded and stood up to hug Hunter and Kenzie ‘goodbye’. He simply started clearing the table off, unsure of how to speak to Eden without her just hating him more.
“It was great seeing you again,” Marie said as she reased McKenzie from a hug.
The other woman smiled back, nodding her agreement. “It was. I’ll be glad to see you all again soon. Like Hunter said, next time it’s on us.”
"Thank you for having us today," Eden said politely, relieved to be going home. She stood up from her seat, noticing Sterling beginning to clear off the table. Biting down on her lip, she started to help, finding it only polite to do so.
Sterling shot Eden a surprised look as she began to help him. “You don’t have to help with this. You should go enjoy the company,” he murmured, reaching for the dishes she held.
Eden snorted, moving the plates away from him. “I’d rather not,” she said quietly. “I prefer putting these away.”
“If you’re sure…” Sterling murmured, beginning to wash the dishes already there. “Then you can grab the rest while I wash.”
Eden nodded as she set each plate on top of the other, balancing as much as she could. She carried the plates to the kitchen before setting them in the sink. There wasn’t anything else she needed to bring over, so she stayed near Sterling, leaning against a counter.
“Thank you,” she said quietly. “For yesterday.”
She didn’t know the exact reason why she was thanking him. Because he hadn’t left her alone, thinking she would be unsafe by herself? Because he kept her mind from the pain half of the time? Or because he was there, she had more motivation to pretend it didn’t hurt?
Sterling slowly raised his eyed from the plate to look at her. He cocked an eyebrow before offering a tiny smile, shaking his head.
“You don’t have to thank me for that, Eden. Any decent person would have done the same for someone in need,” he murmured, handing her a plate. You just happen to be someone that I want to help. A lot… “Dry these for me?”
Eden grabbed a clean towel from the side before taking the plate from him, his long fingers brushing against hers. She pretended not to notice as she dried the plate.
“No, they wouldn’t have,” she replied just as softly, a distant look in her eyes. “Not without wanting something in return.”
Sterling let his eyes linger on her for a moment longer, his gaze soft as he took her in. She was pretty, there was no doubt about that. And she didn’t flaunt it, either. Did she even know how beautiful she was?
“No, they wouldn’t have. Good people do good things and want nothing in return. Why can’t you see that?” he asked softly.
Eden felt his eyes on her, but she chose to ignore them as she set the dried plate away, grabbing another one.
“Shame I’ve yet to meet people like that, then,” she said calmly as she dried the dish. “Perhaps other than you. I’m not too sure about that.”
Sterling sighed and drew his gaze back to the dishes in the sink. “Yeah, well, I guess they are harder to find these days… Gosh, I sound like an old man. What’ve you done to me, Eden?” he chuckled, hoping to lighten the atmosphere a bit.
Eden rolled her eyes at his attempt.
“What, are you going to say you’ve walked a thousand miles to school during a blizzard, too?” She asked sarcastically, shaking her head. “Give it a few more years, Ainsley. You’ll begin to look like an old man as well.”
Maybe a lot more than a few years.