[This chapter is dedicated to darcy_Goodson for being the top 2 fan of our story. Thank you for choosing this book. I appreciate your support!]

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"I don't have to ask you if you had a great weekend, right?"

Luke was grinning maliciously at her while they did an inventory of the laboratory equipment. They were tasked to do the inventory as soon as they arrived. Luke rolled his eyes when he heard that was their task this morning.

However, when they were given the inventory sheet, they realized why the others don't want the job, and why the two of them had to do a simple inventory. Because even though it was such an easy task - it was tedious.

They have to do it once a month to make sure the laboratory is fully equipped and they have enough supplies. And the supplies included printer ink to bond papers, test tubes, and many more.

Everything has to be accounted for in the inventory sheet, and they also have to place a request to get the supplies needed.

Luke who was silently rolling his eyes when they were given the task was now thankful that he has to do it with Jess. Because if he would do it alone, his whole day would be consumed counting every single supply in the lab that was printed in more than twenty pages of a spreadsheet.

And since the whole research team was busy, hence, nobody wanted this job, there were a lot of backlogs that they also had to account for and update.

"From filing last Friday, now inventory. I wonder when they will give us an actual job," she told Luke as she balanced the laptop on her knees.

They were in the supply room that was too cramped for two people inside, and Luke being six feet tall made the room smaller than it already was.

Jess sat down on the floor, she had the laptop on her knees while Luke was the one counting all the supplies on the shelves.

"You are working under Dr. Sison, I would assume that you would be busier than me in the next few days. That's why you have to tell me now all the details of your glorious weekend."

"What do you want me to tell you?"

"Microtiter plates, four boxes and a half-opened one with three pieces left."

"We need to ask for fifty boxes of them as far as what is needed."

"I'd say add twenty more boxes just to be sure since it is clear that they don't do this inventory as often as it should."

"You think it's okay?" Jess deleted the entry on the spreadsheet and changed the fifty boxes to seventy boxes.

"They told us to judge accordingly. Add twenty. We use these a lot. Better to have extra supplies than not have one when you need one."

"Okay." She looked at the next on the list, "Flask and beakers are next."

"Come now, Jess. While I count these beakers and flasks tell me about Noah's Volumetric flask."

The laptop that Jess was balancing on her folded knees almost fell down when she laughed rather loudly with Luke's joke loaded with sexual innuendos.

"See, you have changed. It was just a weekend." He stopped counting the Erlenmeyer flask and stared at Jess who was laughing on the floor.

"What do you mean changed?"

"Let's see. Before whenever I would make a dirty joke, you get pissed off. Now, you laughed. Noah's flask must have done you real good, huh?" He leered at her.

"Continue counting. We are just on the first page." She snapped at Luke, trying to avoid the topic of Noah's flask. The one that was really good. She pressed her knees closer not because of the laptop but because she was worried that if she remembered the memory of her weekend with Noah, she ended up with an 'accident' where she would need to use the bathroom or worse, a change of fresh underwear.

"Don't be stingy. Tell me what happened over the weekend!"

"Don't expect me to kiss and tell!"

"Huh, I think Noah realized how terrible you are in bed," he taunted. It's the sure way to make Jess spill out the beans whenever she tries to hide something from him. He just has to piss her off and she would say something that she won't normally say.

"I slept over at his house Friday night, then I went home the next day around noon."

"Don't think I would believe that. You sent me a message Saturday night, telling me not to return your car. So, spill the tea, sister! I don't believe Noah would let you go home the next day."

"Why would you think that?" she glanced up to Luke from the laptop screen.

"Because you two had a fight, duh? A night won't be enough for make up sex unless Noah was disappointed with your performance, that's why he sent you home the next day."

Jess didn't reply to what Luke said. She remembered the talk she had with her father. She forgot to send him a message when she ran away to Noah's apartment on Saturday night. The next day, he called her to ask where she was so they could have lunch together.

She had to lie to her father that she was at a friend's house. She felt ashamed that at her age, she still couldn't face her problem properly. She would always choose to run away from it.

Her father didn't insist for her to come home for lunch but he asked her to come back for dinner, in which, she had to lie once again since she promised Noah that she won't go anywhere the whole day and they would come together today at work.

That's why she ended up making up lies after lies to her father. She was guilty because, despite their fights over their differences, Jess doesn't usually lie to her father. The last lie she told to her father was when she was in sixth grade when he asked her if she had a crush on their neighbor, which she denied.

"Earth to Jess! Are you imagining Noah's flask?" He said teasingly, but he could see from Jess's expression that something happened during the weekend. Something that hurt her.

She gave Luke a small smile. "How many flasks do we still have and how many are needed?"

"We have three dozen available. How many are supposed to be in stock?"

"Minimum of ten dozen, according to the list."

Luke shook his head. "No wonder they want us to finish this. We are badly in need of new supplies." He glanced over his shoulder, "How about the beakers? How many are supposed to be in stock?"

"Twelve dozen."

"There were only ten pieces here." He clicked his tongue. We need to restock ASAP."

"I will put a note on it. Okay, the next on the list is the microplates."

"Jess, I can count the microplates while listening to you talk, you know that right?"

She sighed. She knew that Luke won't stop asking her until she told him what he wanted to hear. "The weekend with Noah was awesome. It was more than I could ever imagine. And no, he didn't send me home. I choose to go home because I have to talk to my father."

"Are you okay?"

She smiled when she heard the worries in Luke's question. "I am fine. The important thing was, Noah didn't send me home because I am terrible in bed," she rolled her eyes saying it.

"Oh, is that so?" The teasing tone was back on Luke's voice. "Tell me about it. The weekend consists of Saturday and Sunday. So far, you only told me about Saturday."

"After a talk with my father, I was feeling down and needed some tender loving care, so I went to Noah's place and crawled into his bed… however, tender loving care didn't happen."

"How so?" His eyebrow raised so high in his forehead, Jess laughed.

"Well, let's just say tender wasn't in Noah's dictionary when it comes to bed."

Luke stopped what he was doing and turned to face Jess. "I'm loving the sound of it," he grinned. "Go on, continue."

"It's breathtaking, earth-shattering, mind-boggling and so much more." She closed the laptop on and stretched her knees on the floor. "I truly wonder if the way I respond to Noah was because he was my first man."

Luke leaned against the shelves and crossed his ankles. "Now, that's something. He may be your actual first but you weren't so innocent yourself, Jess."

"I know. That's why I wonder. If he wasn't my first man, or if I slept with another man, would sex be as maddening?"

"You are the only one who can answer that Jess. All I can say is, you are in a deep shit girl. If you have a plan to run, better do it now."

She folded her legs under her thighs, put down her laptop, and opened it again, "That's the thing, I don't have a plan of running."