He gawked at her through the balcony window from his kitchen. The late afternoon sun shone behind her, making her glow, like an… angel, he decided, nodding.

He shook his head quickly trying to remove himself from his stupor, but honestly, he was at her mercy. Her face was gentle and serene, sweat glistened in the valley between her breasts, and her limbs held, in his opinion, an erotic pose stretched out around her.

The dream he had of her played out in his head again, with similarly sweaty limbs stretched out across his bed. If anyone caught him looking at her like this, he was going to get such an earful. Especially from her boyfriend. Oh, but how he wanted to get caught by her, even with the earful, it would be worth it. She would blush, or better she’d pretend she hadn’t noticed him at all so she could languish in his gaze for just another moment. It would probably kill him, if it wasn’t going to drive him clinically insane first.

The fact he still wanted it so badly, probably made him a monster. His roommate and him were already on thin ice from the last time he’d be caught basking in her company. He really didn’t need to be caught ogling her while she did yoga on his balcony. Yet here he was, still doing it. He had never really appreciated yoga for the soul cleansing experience that it was, until about 5 minutes ago when he’d looked up from the chicken he was making. He could have sworn she looked basically enlightened in those moments, though perhaps it was just the sun, lighting up her silhouette. He imagined her looking just as ethereal in his bed, stroking his ego boldly.

Since those moments they shared on the balcony weeks ago, maybe even a month ago now, they had exchanged only a handful of words at once, and it had been a while since she’d met his gaze. All of that had him starved for her attention.

He knew James made her feel bad for the whole thing, which wasn’t fair since it was entirely Brayden’s own fault. He had opened his big dumb mouth. The miserable thought of her suffering for what had transpired dragged him back from his daydreams, just in time to watch the black puck that had been his dinner, start smoking profusely.

The fire alarm went off, right on cue, and he felt his eyes roll all the way back into his head as he clicked off the stove and dumped the puck of charred chicken onto a plate. He eyed it pitifully before he turned and started fanning the smoke detector vigorously, staring at the wall just as pitifully. His poor dinner had paid the price for his careless daydreaming and now he was hungry and horny, with no fix in sight.

Just as the alarm stopped laughing mercilessly at him, he heard the sliding door open from the balcony. He took what he was sure would be his last full breath before his brain stopped working completely and turned to face Lillian, with a sheepish smirk on his face. Every word that would usually shoot across his brain when he laid eyes on her were suddenly far too vague and not at all close to the grandeur, he was sure, she required. His brain was empty.

Lillian glowed from the inside out, sun kissed and glistening. Her ponytail was loose letting whisps of hair curl from sweat and heat frame her face and neck. He forced a sigh to stay behind his teeth. The sweat between her breasts glittered and dripped lower, under the barely-there sports bra she was wearing. An image of him licking those beads of sweat off her flashed before his eyes, the sweet and salty taste prickled on his tongue.

Distantly she cleared her throat. Brayden was staring. He met her eyes and smiled sheepishly, he let his eyes dart down once more, so she knew he was only half sorry, and only for being caught.

“Sorry.”

Lillian blushed.

“I had already finished its okay. I’m sorry your dinner is ruined!”

Brayden smirked at her smooth cover of him openly ogling her chest.

“I guess I’ll just have to get some takeout, anything you’re craving?” Lillian contemplated the question, and her nose scrunched gently.

“As long as you’re paying, I could really go for some sushi.” She grinned.

“When you put it that way, I guess I have no choice. What does James like?”

“James said he’d be late, something came up, rookie stuff I think.”

“So, it’s just us for dinner?”

He tried to hide his excitement but from the cheeky way she was looking at him, he knew he failed. His face attempted to flush, but all that blood rushed south as her cheeks heated in reply.

“Yeah, I guess it is just us, is that okay?”

“Yeah, it’s good. Did you want to eat out, or in?”

It was bold, basically asking her on a date. He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

“I can con better sushi out of you if we go out, but I’d have to shower first, can you wait? If not, ordering in is fine.

“I’ll wait.” He chirped a little eagerly as she disappeared to shower.