Page 6 of Tapped By My Roommate
I reluctantly left Bea with Carla, but there’d be chances to handle her later. Beardies were affectionate, and she’d need a little TLC.
“I’ll go prep the meals while you administer rounds of medication.”
“Thank you, Ethan. You’re one step ahead of me, as usual.”
Some of the animals came in infested with mites, suffering from infections or worms. Others simply needed supplements to shore up nutritional deficiencies.
While I mashed up a tasty dinner of mealworms, crickets, and kale for Bea, my mind returned to my own lizard conundrum. I wasn’t sure how to deal with Tess being so intentionally difficult about letting me return for Zilla and my other belongings, but it had to stop.
I set aside Bea’s meal to fix Snippy’s dinner: more crickets and worms, mixed with fruit and veggies. Each animal had its own diet requirements, and there was a cheat sheet available, but I knew most of them by heart and worked on autopilot.
When I finished here in a couple of hours, I’d message Tess again. I’d be more insistent. No matter how hostile she got, I’d have to stand my ground.
I couldn’t live out of a couple of duffel bags’ worth of belongings for the rest of my life. I couldn’t continue to avoid this confrontation—not when a living creature was at stake. I didn’t fool myself into thinking I could become self-confident overnight. But maybe if I couldn’t channel Rhett’s confidence, I could borrow it.
I’d text Tess again and make it clear I wasn’t going away. I’d text her every day or every hour if need be. And when I finally got somewhere, I’d talk to my roommate. Rhett was my best option for some backup. And more importantly, he wasn’t the kind of guy to be pushed around.
If I was going to learn to stand up for myself like he’d suggested, it had to start here.
3
ETHAN
Iwiped down the kitchen counter, searching for stray crumbs or sauce stains. Rhett wasn’t the cleanest guy in the kitchen. He often left signs of his meals behind, with drips and drabs of ketchup or barbecue sauce. After living with Tess—who couldn’t be bothered even to take her dirty dishes to the kitchen—I didn’t mind a few lesser crimes against cleanliness. At least he picked up after himself and washed his own dishes. In a lot of ways, my roommate relationship was a lot more balanced than my relationship with Tess had been.
Our neighbor from across the hall, Linh, slapped the back of my hand.
“It’s clean,” she said around a mouthful of grape-flavored chewing gum. “That’s the third time you’ve wiped it down. Why are you stress cleaning?”
“I’m not,” I lied. “I’m just cleaning up after lunch.”
Linh stared me down. Despite her sweet smile, she had an eerie flat gaze she wasn’t afraid to bring out when it suited her. I bit my lip nervously, but inevitably I broke.
“Okay, maybe I’m stress cleaning alittle.I finally got through to my ex about picking up the rest of my stuff.”
“Ooh, when are you going? I could be your muscle.”
Linh was tiny enough that would be laughable, except she was also intimidating with her own brand of unflappable confidence.
“You’d do that?”
Maybe I wouldn’t need Rhett there. He was so busy already.
“Tell me when and where,” she said.
“Tess said Thursday evening was the only time that would work.”
Even that concession had taken a week of arguing back and forth. As unpleasant as it had been, I was glad I’d pushed. Neither of us would ever have closure until we tied up these loose ends.
“Shoot.” Linh pouted, which was somehow just as scary as her glare. “I have to work Thursday night serving margaritas and burritos to ungrateful assholes at my lame job.”
“Oh, it’s okay,” I said, even as my stomach knotted up. Looked like I’d need Rhett’s help after all.
I didn’t have many other friends to call on. I’d lost a few when I started dating Tess, because they hadn’t meshed well with her. I should have realized then what a bad fit Tess and I were, but I’d been blind to it.
If Rhett said no, I’d have to face Tess alone.Which would be a good step toward manning the fuck up,I reminded myself.
The door opened, and Rhett came in. Linh hopped off her barstool. “It’s just the man to save the day.”
