Page 73 of Roommating

“He was fine! He faked it for Marcia’s sympathy.” The devious side of Adam took me by surprise. What’s worse is that it’s kind of hot.

“Aah. The grandson card… another angle.” She crinkles her nose. “But wait. Back it up a second. Who’s the judge of this battle, Marcia or Adam?”

I sigh. “With any luck, Marcia will never even know about it, but essentially, we’re all the judges. Marcia already told Adam to start thinking about his next steps, sohisgoal is to convince me that I should be the one to move, not him.Mygoal is to be so wonderful that even if Adam proves to me that he’s not a flake and I agree not to renew my lease, Marcia vetoes the decision.”

Carley gets up and walks to the refrigerator. Looking at me over her shoulder, she says, “So now Adam is a flake? I thought you liked him.” She returns to the couch with half a bottle of white wine and two glasses.

I empty the bottle evenly into them. “I do like him, and I respect his desire to be a good grandson, but he can do that without kicking me out of house and home! I don’t think he knows what he wants. His track record for sticking things out is not great. I came up with this idea to buy time. I’m hoping he’ll change his mind and prove me right.”

“I get it.” She takes a sip of wine. “So does this mean you won’t be sleeping with him again?”

I slump against her enormous soft-pink heart-shaped throw pillow. “Sadly, yes. I can’t afford the distraction. But you should have seen the way he took off his apron. It was like a striptease. And there’s no way he didn’t know what he was doing when he bent down and practically shook his ass in my face.” I finish off half the contents of my wine in one gulp.

She nods. “Sex. Another angle.” Her lips curl into a slow smile.

My heart thumps. I know that look. “What are you thinking?”

“Hear me out.” She stands and paces the multicolor area rug in front of the couch. “Who says Adam is the only one who can use his sex appeal to distract the enemy? You want him and he knows it and is using it to throw you off your game. But he also wants you. Maybe he thinks you’re too sweet to use it against him, but he’s forgetting one vital piece of the puzzle.” She stops pacing and faces me.

The hair on the back of my neck stands up. “What’s that?”

She grins. “Me. I’m a bad influence.”

I chuckle. “I sort of like where you’re going with this, but let’snot lose sight of the goal. It’s not a battle of the sexes. This is all for Marcia… to prove we’re the better roommatefor Marcia.”

Carley flumps back on the couch. “Of course that’s part of it, but don’t pretend you also don’t love living in a luxury apartment building that you don’t have to share with three other people for less than $1000 a month.”

I dip my chin, unable to deny this. Even if I found another roommate using the RoomBridge app, the apartment probably wouldn’t be as conveniently located within walking distance from the library and school. And it might not have perks like a private bathroom, so many streaming channels, and a dishwasher. But appreciating all these extras doesn’t make me a bad person. And Marcia is my absolute favorite part of the package!

“I also think it would be fun to tease slash torture Adam. Fun for you, of course. But fun for me secondhand.”

I look up at her. “What are you suggesting exactly?”

“It’s simple really. You should absolutely focus on Marcia but do it while wearing sexy clothes or as few clothes as possible to make Adam sweat. Tit for tat.” She shimmies her chest. “Pun intended.”

I grin. Thiscouldbe fun, but there’s one problem. “I’m kind of at a loss for how to focus on Marcia in the first place. I think I’m a pretty great roommate as it is.”

“You are.” She stands again. “But there must besomethingelse you can do to make her life easier that you haven’t thought of.”

I bite my lip. “The one place I’m lacking is the kitchen. Whenever we eat together, Marcia does the cooking and I just set the table and help her wash the dishes.”

“That’s it then.”

I grimace. “But I’m an awful cook!”

Carley grins. “Girl, you are so lucky I love you becauseI’man amazing cook.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

That Sunday, I tell Marcia I’ll make dinner (with Carley’s help). Carley has three older sisters and about a hundred cousins (no exaggeration). The huge extended family lived on the same street while she was growing up and would rotate preparing meals they’d eat together as one big unit. Suffice it to say, Carley’s cooking expertise is on par with her makeup skills. With her guidance via FaceTime, I’m making her family’s lasagna recipe. When she texted me the list of ingredients this morning, she promised it was simple… easy for her to say… which is exactly what I told her when she suggested it instead of the more straightforward spaghetti and tomato sauce. But she convinced me to try it, along with garlic bread and a salad, and so far her cooking tutorial has been seamless to follow. I’ve already made the sauce, boiled the noodles, and assembled the cheese, and now I’m layering everything in a rectangular pan.

Just because cooking doesn’t come naturally to me doesn’t mean I can’t get better with practice, and Marcia is worth the effort. What I’m wearing while doing it, however, is entirely for Adam’s benefit (or detriment, depending on how you look at it). During a video tour of my wardrobe, Carley suggested a low-cut, tightly fitted white tank top because it shows off my cleavage. I paired it with short frayed hot-pink denim shorts in case Adam is a leg man. Having slept withhim several times, I’m pretty sure he’s equally turned on by all my body parts.

“What if he made other dinner plans?”

“As soon as he sees your top, he’ll break them,” she says without blinking.

Just then, he walks into the kitchen, filling the space with his large frame.

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