I shrugged then pulled everything out, putting it off to the side. I wrapped my hand in a towel so I wouldn’t have to touch anything directly.

Gross.

Then I threw my stuff inside.

“Excuse me?” A beautiful voice reached my ears. It made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Without turning around, I knew who it was. Only one woman could sound like that. My body had become entranced to her presence and appearance. Even if I were blindfolded, I would know it was she. The smell of lavender was heavy.

I turned around. “Hey there.” Hey there? God, I sounded like a douchebag.

She didn’t look happy. “You can’t wait your turn?”

Huh? “Sorry?”

“My clothes.  You just decided to move them and do your laundry instead? Sorry, doc. Other people have places to be too. Maybe we don’t save lives, but we’re still important.”

I was pretty sure she hated me. “I…I didn’t know they were yours.”

She put her hands on her hips. “Regardless of who they belong to, you were still rude.”

“I didn’t know if the owner was coming back.”

She held up her laundry soap. “I just ran back to pick up this. I was gone less than a minute.”

Her attitude was starting to get on my nerves. “I’m sorry. I did what any other person would do.”

“Not me.” She walked over to a different machine and put her laundry soap on it. “I would have just used the other machine.”

“It’s out of order,” I snapped.

“No, it isn’t,” she hissed. She threw her clothes inside then started it. “See?”

It wasn’t working last time I was down here. “I didn’t know, geez.”

“Looks like someone cheated on their MCAT…”

I had a very short fuse and it was hard for me to hold my tongue. I said whatever came to mind and didn’t hold back. And I couldn’t keep my attitude in check with her. “Are you on your period or something?”

She turned to me, her eyes wide. “I just don’t like jerks.”

“Jerks? When was I ever a jerk to you?” I clenched my fist while I stared her down.

She started to mimic me. “Oh, I’m in medical school. Look in my wallet and see how much money I have. Oh, look at my flashy car. Okay, now that you’ve seen my resume, can we cut the shit and fuck at my place?” She rolled her eyes. “Despicable.”

Okay, I did come off bad. “I politely asked if you wanted to hook up. So what? People do that.”

“I don’t.”

I had to admit I was disappointed. “Maybe you wouldn’t be such a bitch if you got laid once in a while.”

She flashed me a look of hatred.

Damn, why did I say that? “I take it back.” I said it before she could open her mouth and reciprocate. “I’m sorry.” I held up my hand. “Sorry.”

She growled then moved to the chair in the corner, taking out her laptop. She didn’t look at me again.

After I stared at her for a moment, I threw my stuff in the washer and started it.

Then it became awkward. She stared at her laptop and ignored me. I stood in the corner and played with my phone. When I got tired of standing, I sat in a chair, a foot between us. Curious to see what she was going, I peeked at her screen.

I expected her to be on Facebook or looking at her own selfies but she wasn’t. She using Photoshop to crop and enhance an image of the foothills. A silhouette was in the background, a woman’s silhouette. “Did you take that?” I blurted.

She flashed me that same look of annoyance. “Maybe you should mind your own business.”

“I was just curious, geez. It’s not like you work for the government.”

“How do you know I don’t?” she challenged.

“Then I really want to know what that picture is for.”

She turned her gaze back to the screen.

“If that is a picture taken by you, you are very talented.” Maybe a compliment would douse the heat between us.

She glanced at me from the corner of her eye. “Thank you.” There was no venom.

Phew. We made some progress. “When did you move in?”

“About a week ago.” She changed the color of the background slightly, and cropped a rock in the distance.

“You like it so far?”

“I did until I realized you were my neighbor.”

I smirked. “Well, I’m a nice guy. I’ll get your paper for you when you are on vacation and I’m pretty quiet.”

“No roommates?” she asked.

“I’m alone.” I wanted to make sure she knew that. “Are you alone?” Say yes.

“I don’t have any roommates.”

“Cool.” Cool? “So, what do you do for a living?”

“I’m a photographer.” She saved the image then exited out of the program.

I wasn’t expecting that. “Oh.”

“Oh?” She eyed me. “Why are you surprised?”

“I just assumed you would be the subject of the picture, not the person behind the lens.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “What?”

“I thought you were a model or something.”

She chuckled. “No, definitely not.”

Why was that funny? “How long have you been doing it?”

“For a few years. I do free lance stuff but I’m trying to get better gigs.”

“Judging that picture, I’m sure you’ll go far.” I wasn’t feeding her a line.

“Thanks…”

I wanted our conversation to keep going. “My sister is an artist.”

“Really?” She seemed interested. “What does she do? Paint? Sculpt?”

“She’s a painter. And she’s very good.”

“I guess you’re the analytical one of the family.”

I shrugged. “She’s way smarter than I am. She just applies it in a different way.”

She looked at me again. “You’re fond of her?”

“I hate her but I love her. You wouldn’t understand my meaning unless you had a sibling.”

“I do. I have a younger sister.”

That must have been her friend at the bar. “Then you do.” I leaned back in the chair and crossed my foot at my knee.

“A little too well.” She laughed lightly.

Silence ensued again. Talking to her was nice. Most of the time I was annoyed with girls. They talked too much and said things I didn’t care about. I had to pretend I was listening most of the time. But Alaska seemed cool.

She was wearing yoga pants and a yellow t-shirt. Her legs looked nice but I hadn’t gotten a look at her ass yet. I’m sure it looked fucking wonderful. Being near her made me think dirty thoughts. I wanted to pin her to my bed and pound her pussy hard and fast. I was a good-looking guy. She must be attracted to me too. “The laundry is going to take awhile…”

She didn’t pick up on my hint.

“We could go to my place and pass the time…”

She looked me straight in the eye. “Doing what?”

I had a feeling she already knew. I sat up and leaned toward her, giving her my best smolder. “Whatever you want, baby.”

She cringed. “You’re gross.”

What…?

“Why do you do that?

“Do what?”

“We were having a great conversation and then you tried to have sex with me. I made it pretty clear I’m not a one-night stand kind of girl. And you ask in such a sleazy way. I’m sure you get girls to do it all the time, but call me old-fashioned or call me classy, but that’s not how I roll.”

She should have just slapped me in the face. It would have hurt less.

She rolled her eyes then turned her attention back to her computer.

That blew up in my face. I stayed silent while I waited for my laundry. She didn’t try to make conversation and neither did I. My pride was wounded and now I was in a bad mood. I could score any girl that I wanted, but then when a really spectacular girl came along, I couldn’t have her. It wasn’t fair.

When her laundry was finally done, she pulled it out of the dryer, giving me a gorgeous view of her ass.

I shoved my fist in my mouth because it looked so nice.

She folded her laundry, keeping her back to me.

I let myself fantasize about her. Her legs were thin and toned, and she had a tiny waist. Her shoulders were slim and her hair reached down her back.