"Is it spring break yet?"

"Not yet, Mama." I laugh lightly at her question, shifting my phone against my ear.

"Farms a little less bright without you around, sunshine." She sighs. "These boys are a scowling bunch, I don't know who raised them."

'These boys' are my brother Jude and my cousins who help run the farm and her, my Dad, and my uncle raised them.

A vice grip of homesickness clutches my stomach tightly. "Tell them I said to smile more, they're prettier that way."

"Now if I tell them that they'll scowl more, they hate when you call them pretty."

"Well they'll—" Something wet and cold nudges my hand, I squeal and jerk my hand away in surprise.

I spin around to see Xan whose got a smirk on his face, his hand holding multiple leashes that are attached to four big dogs, the biggest being the one who's nose just scared me half to death.

"Tell me what's going on before I dial 911 right now, young lady!" Mama shouts in my ear.

I clutch my chest tightly as if that will help slow my heart. "I'm sorry, Mama, it was nothing. I thought a spider was crawling up my arm. I've gotta go, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Don't scare me like that, I think I just aged ten years." She sighs. "Love you, sunshine."

"Love you too, Mama. Bye." I reply and slip my phone in my pocket, shooting a glare at Xan.

He arches an eyebrow at me. "What? It wasn't my nose on your hand."

I reach out and pet the perpetrator. His coats black with some gray around his snout and ears. His size doubled with his face shape and floppy ears makes me think he could be a Great Dane. His tail wags as I give him attention, the long limb smacking Xan's side. Thwack, thwack, thwack. Soon the other three demand attention as well so I pet each of them.

"Whose dogs did you steal?" I ask.

"I work at the shelter a few blocks away, I was taking them for a walk. It helps them stretch their legs and to get their faces out there to be adopted." Xan explains.

Surprise shoots through me. I can't say I expected that response, not that Xan seems like a particularly bad guy or anything, he just doesn't seem like the type to take care of animals in his spare time. I guess I really don't know him that well when I think about it.

He scowls at me. "Don't look so surprised, Lennon Rose."

With my hands on my hips I give a huff, "Why do you insist on calling me that? It makes me feel like I'm in trouble."

He cocks his head. "Why?"

"Because my Mama calls me Sunshine but when I've done something wrong it's Lennon Rose. Makes my heart race in fear." I admit.

I know when Mama calls me Lennon Rose she means business and I better listen good to what she has to say.

He gives me that crooked grin. "I like knowing I make your heart race."

I roll my eyes at him. "Not like that."

The Great Dane jerks Xan forward as he realizes our focus is no longer on him and demands more attention.

"I think Brutus likes you." Xan says and then offers me his leash. "You wanna walk him back to the shelter?"

I stare down at Brutus' brown eyes and sigh, taking the leash in my hand. "Sure."

It's not like I have anything else to do, I just made it half way through a paper that's due on Friday and was leaving the library when Mama called.

Brutus is a slow walker and he's got a limp, when I ask Xan about it he tells me Brutus has arthritis and was surrendered because he couldn't go on runs with his owner anymore. It breaks my heart, I don't know how you could just leave him like that. I press a kiss against Brutus' head even though he has no idea why. I've always loved animals, it's hard not to growing up taking care of a whole farm with your family.

We don't talk the entire walk to the shelter after I ask about Brutus and normally I'd ramble but the silence is nice for once. The dogs get excited every time someone passes by us and they're petted often in return. By the time we make it to the shelter I'm not ready to see Brutus go even though I'm freezing. I wasn't exactly prepared for a long walk.

"Wait for me here while I finish up a few things." Xan says, taking Brutus' leash from me in the waiting area at the shelter.

I take a seat and pull out my lap top, deciding I'll get some more work done on my paper while I wait. Xan's only gone for about twenty minutes when he comes back. I save my work and put my laptop back in my backpack before rising from my seat.

"You hungry?" He asks as we exit the building.

"One thing you should know about me, Xan, is I'm always hungry." I laugh.

I follow him to the parking lot to an older model blue Subaru. He starts the car and we sit there for a minute letting it warm up

"I didn't even know you had a car." I say, rubbing my hands together to warm them.

A blanket of snow covers the road now and I'm wary about riding with him.

"Don't look so scared." He scoffs. "It's all wheel drive and I've driven in snow plenty of times."

"That doesn't make me feel better."

Xan reverses out of the parking spot and pulls onto the road silently. He turns the volume up on the radio and Half Alive by Blackbear plays and I mouth the lyrics to keep my mind away from the snowy road. Xan notices and turns it up more and soon I'm singing loudly into my fist like I'm serenading him, he's smiling and singing along. By the time the songs over I'm smiling too, who knew Xan could be fun.

"I thought we were getting food?" I ask as he slows down in front of his house.

"I don't know about you but I don't have the money to constantly eat out all the time. I'm a pretty decent cook, I was gonna make us something." He shrugs.

"Okay." I mutter, surprised for the millionth time today.

His breakfast burritos were delicious so I'm definitely not going to turn down him cooking.

Xan pulls up beside a truck and smoothly parallel parks into the space behind it. I don't know why I even pay much attention to the action, probably because I can't parallel park to save my life, but it's oddly kinda hot.

I grab my backpack off the floorboard and follow him out, trying my best to act nonchalant. If he knows I find something he did attractive I just know he'll taunt me over it.

When we enter the house Jax is sitting on the floor with his laptop in front of him and books spread around him. He's wearing a pair of black framed glasses and oh my god he looks even more attractive than usual.

"How were the dogs today?" He asks, not looking up from his laptop.

"Good. Brutus made a friend." Xan replies, dropping his keys in the bow that's on the table by the door.

Jax glances up and notices me standing beside Xan. "Oh, hey..." he trails.

"Lennon." I say, biting back my annoyance.

"You already eat?" Xan asks Jax, removing his shoes and I follow with my own.

Jax nods and motions toward the fast food bag beside him. "Yeah, Akira brought me food."

Xan gives him a nod in return and then glances over at me. "I'm gonna shower real quick."

"Okay." I reply.

Xan disappears and Jax closes the book to his right. The front says Anatomy, Physiology and Disease.

"What's your major?" I ask.

I know Xan said they were both pre-Med but there's quite a few different things they could major in.

"Biology." He answers and rises from the floor. "I'm Pre-Med. What's yours?"

"I'm an engineering major."

His eyebrows raise in surprise, the same look I get often when telling someone my major. "What kind of engineering?"

"Biomedical." I answer proudly.

He smiles. "Impressive."

I feel a tingle of satisfaction at the little bit of praise. "Thanks."

He chuckles lightly and stacks his books and laptop on the coffee table before taking a seat on the couch and turning the tv on. I take a seat at the other end, unsure what exactly I'm supposed to do while waiting for Xan.

"Do you work at the shelter too?"

He shakes his head. "No, but sometimes I stop by to see Xan. I've gotten to know the dogs that have been there a while, Brutus has been in the shelter since he first got a job there."

I frown. "That's so sad, he's such a sweet dog."

Jax nods. "He reminds me of my dog at my parents house, he's also a Great Dane his name is Jasper." He pulls his phone from his pocket and scoots closer to me as he taps the screen a few times and then shows me a pretty merle Great Dane.

"Oh my god, he's so cute." I gush.

"He's a big baby." He smiles and I bite my lip at the sight.

His phone starts vibrating and I see Akira's name flash on the screen just before he rises from the couch and takes the call down the hallway.

I sigh and lean back into the cushions, my eyes going to The Office playing on tv. A moment later I hear a door open and close and Xan enters the living room.

He quirks an eyebrow at me. "What's your problem?"

"Nothing." I mutter and follow him into the kitchen.

His hair is damp and hanging in his eyes and he's dressed in a pair of low riding sweat pants.

"Do you like Ramen?" He asks me.

"Of course." I reply.

"Spicy or no?"

"Either." I shrug. "I'm not picky, I'll eat pretty much anything."

He starts pulling stuff out of the cabinets. " So what's it like where you grew up? You're obviously not from here."

I quirk an eyebrow at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing bad, your accent just says you're from the south."

I never realized I even had an accent until I came to U.M. and everyone I talked to pointed it out.

"I'm from Tennessee. The town is so small we don't even have a single stoplight, everybody knows everybody, and my parents leave the house unlocked when they leave." I reply.

He cringes. "Everybody knows everybody, that sounds awful."

"It can, be especially when you get caught doing things you aren't supposed to be doing." I shrug and lean back against the counter.

The amount of times I got caught as kid were ridiculous.

"I'm sure." A smirk plays on his lips.

"What about you, where are you from?" I ask.

I can't detect any particular accent when he talks.

"I grew up an hour away, it's pretty much the same as here. Jax and I actually grew up together, our families have been friends since our great-great grandparents moved to the US together when they were in their early twenties." He answers.

"Do you have any pets? Jax showed me a picture of his dog while you were showering."

He shakes his head. "I don't. I don't really have the time a pet would deserve right now. Do you?"

"Lots of them although Mama always told me not to consider them that because it's harder when it comes time to slaughter or to sell." His eyes widen and I laugh. "I grew up on a farm."

Xan continues with his questions while he cooks. He has me chop an onion and scallions as I answer. Each time he walks by I get a whiff of whatever body wash he used in the shower and it smells so good. His biceps and the muscles in his back flex as he stirs and it's very distracting.

He says he doesn't do anything for fun other than hanging out with his friends because his schedule is so busy between class, tutoring underclassmen, and working at the animal shelter. By the time we take a seat at the table my stomach is growling loudly and the smell of the ramen makes my mouth water.

"I usually put pork belly in it but we don't have any." He says handing me a set of chopsticks.

I can see a poached egg and the kimchi floating with the chopped scallion and noodles in the reddish colored broth. It smells amazing.

Xan watches me intently as I take my first bite and oh my god.

I groan, not even caring that the food is so hot it burns my tongue. "If I were rich I'd hire you as my personal chef. You should just drop out of college and open a restaurant."

"My Mom would have a heart attack." He chuckles lightly and slurps up some noodles.

We're both quiet as we eat, our appetites overriding the need for conversation. I eat every bit of food in the bowl even going as far as tipping it up and drinking what remains of the broth. I feel all warm, sleepy, and stuffed when I sit the bowl in the sink.

Xan pulls his phone from his pocket and glances at the time after placing his bowl beside mine. "I should probably walk you home."

I blink at him for a minute. "Umm.. okay."

Did he really only bring me back here to feed me? Not that I'm complaining because that is hands down the best ramen I've ever eaten, but I kind of thought...

He cocks his head and stares down at me. "What is it?"

I shake my head. "Nothing."

"You're a bad liar, Lennon Rose." He says with a smirk tilting his lips and then pins me against with counter with his hips. He brings his mouth to my ear. "Did you think I brought you back here to make you come?"

I stiffen and scoff. "No, I didn't even know we were coming here. Remember?"

I just thought it may have been a possibility after I knew we were eating here, but I don't say that.

He opens his mouth with a retort but the sound of the front door opening and then closing gains his attention. I follow him into the living room where Ace runs down the hallway, disappears for a minute, and comes back with a duffel bag in his hand.

"Oh. Hey guys." He says.

"Where you headed?" Xan asks.

"Staying with Tay tonight." He answers, holding the duffel bag up.

"Oh good, I'll walk with you." I say and quickly tug my shoes and coat on. "Bye Xan." I scoop my backpack off the floor and follow Ace out the door.

"Running?" Ace asks as we walk down the sidewalk.

"Maybe." I mutter and he laughs.

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