"The Chaos Gremlin Strikes Back"

The next evening I was a nervous wreck.

I had spent the entire day overthinking everything. What if Lucas thought I was too loud? Too weird? Too much of a walking disaster? What if he changed his mind and decided the 24-year-old chaos gremlin next door wasn’t worth the trouble?

At exactly 8 PM, there was a firm knock on my door.

I opened it wearing an oversized t-shirt and anxiety. Lucas stood there looking unfairly hot in a dark gray button-up, holding another small black bag.

“Hi, Professor Grump,” I said, trying to sound confident but failing miserably.

His lips twitched. “Chaos Gremlin.”

He...