Page 73 of Tapped By My Roommate
“I was just teasing you,” Rhett said. “A lot of people assume my eyes are brown at first glance.”
Sure, atfirstglance. But how many of those people were having sex with him?
Well, I wasn’t either now. So it hardly mattered. I scratched at my neck, feeling a bit naked without a bowtie. Rhett had made me feel so good about them that they’d almost become armor. I’d worn them nearly every day for a few weeks. Now, I couldn’t bring myself to put one on. They reminded me of Rhett and how sexy he always said they were. How much he loved to take them off of me.
“For what it’s worth,” Rhett added, “I noticed your smile too.”
I blinked out of my mental meltdown. “My smile is goofy.”
“Yeah, I like it. It’s full of real happiness, nothing artificial.”
I felt kind of embarrassed, but in a good way. It was nice that Rhett liked things about me that generally made other people think I was a big dork. “Thanks.”
He nodded once, then with a teasing note, added: “I noticed your eyes too. Before today. They’re beautiful.”
My lips parted, but I couldn’t find any words. I wanted to grab his face and kiss him. Wanted to beg him to invite me to the futon for a “movie.” The urge to touch him made me vibrate in my own skin.
Rhett turned toward the computer. “But we should figure this out. I have to get to class soon.”
Right. The posters. The whole reason we were in such close proximity. On Rhett’s other side, the crust of a sandwich was all that remained of the lunch I’d made for him. He’d thanked me while wolfing it down in large bites. It shouldn’t be sexy at all to watch someone take bites so large their cheeks bulged, but there was something so aggressive about the way he ate. I’d had to look away or risk begging to be his next meal.
Maybe it was just Rhett. Maybe he could do anything at all, and it would seem sexy. I tried to picture him on the toilet. It wasn’t aterribleimage. Those strong, muscled thighs of his would be on display.
“Ethan? Which color do you want?”
Rhett flipped between the two for me. They both looked so good. I hesitated. “Um, I really like the orange, but…”
“Orange, it is. Any other tweaks you want before I send this to you?”
I forced myself to focus, leaning in to read it. Rhett hadn’t only redesigned the poster, he’d given it an entirely different feel. Rather than use the practical, plain title I’d given the event, he’d put in large, orange text at the top:Wild Night!
Below it, in smaller type, it said:Join the safari to scavenge for clues, visit local watering holes, and compete for trivia bragging rights!
It was taking a bit of effort, but Violet and I had decided to make the scavenger clues also be helpful hints to answering questions that would come up in trivia. You didn’t have to participate in one to participate in the other, but it added incentive to do it all and gain an edge. As part of the scavenger hunt, people would also turn in their pictures—proving they’d found the clue—to us. Once all teams had found a clue, we’d post their images on social media with tags like #wildnight and #oasisanimalrescue.
I looked through the rest of the poster, re-reading all the smaller print to ensure there were no errors. It looked great. Somehow, Rhett had designed it in a way that my eye traveled from the title, to the subtitle, to the imagery, to the smaller fine text—all in the order that made the most sense.
“It’s perfect,” I said with a grin. “You’re really good at this. I didn’t know graphic design was part of Computer Science. I thought it was, like, writing software programs.”
“It’s that too,” he said as he saved and closed the file. “There’s a few classes that overlap with both the Public Relations and Journalism program in the early stages. Some are optional, like graphics and social media, and some aren’t, like digital foundations and media literacy.”
“Huh. Interesting.”
“To be honest, I liked those early classes alotmore than the advanced crap I have to do now.”
“Well, you obviously took to graphics. Really, you had a lot of good ideas for this whole event.” I shot him a smile. “Maybe you should have gone into marketing.”
Rhett’s smile tensed. “I’ll send this to you.”
He opened an email window, attached the poster file, and hit send. I watched him close down his computer, trying to put my finger on why he’d suddenly slumped with defeat.
“I didn’t mean to be critical of your major choice,” I said tentatively. “If that’s what’s wrong…”
“Nothing’s wrong.” He stood and grabbed his backpack off the back of the chair. “I really do need to get going.”
I stood too, following him to the door. “Thanks again, Rhett. I’m sorry if— Well, thank you.”
He stopped and turned back toward me, forcing a small smile. “You don’t have to apologize for anything, Ethan. I’ve just got a lot of school stress right now, okay? It’s not you.”
