Page 19 of Always a Roommate
“Rule number two,” he started writing again, “the bickering has to stop.”
“Bickering? I don’t bicker.”
He leveled me with a stare, and I backed down.
“Okay, maybe I bicker. But you make it so easy.”
“With my grunts and scowls?”
I got the distinct impression he was laughing at me, and I sort of liked it. “When I said rules, I sort of meant stuff like Rae gets first bathroom use in the morning.”
He ignored me and wrote a third rule.
3. When we have an issue, we need to talk about it.
“You do realize that will require words, right?” I crossed my arms, rethinking the brilliance of this plan.
“Rae.” He sighed. “It’s only thirty days. We can go that long without driving each other mad.”
“Fine. But I have one too.”
4. Shane has to tell Rae why he dislikes her so much.
He stared at the paper, as if those words would disappear, but he didn’t speak. Taking the pen from me, he wrote one final rule before grabbing his travel mug and practically sprinting toward the door. “Going to be late for work,” he called as he left. It wasn’t until the door shut behind him that I read what he’d written.
5. Rae gets first bathroom use in the morning.
My lips curled into a smile. He might not have told me what I wanted to know, but underneath all that gruff exterior, Shane actually had a sense of humor.
A whistle pierced the air, and I turned to move the tea kettle off the burner and pour boiling hot water over the tea leaves.
There was a knock at the door as soon as I sat down on the couch with my computer. I wasn’t sure who’d be here at this hour, but I set my mug on the coffee table and got up. When I pulled open the door, there was a teenage boy on the other side. His dirty blond hair sat messily on top of his head like it hadn’t been washed in a while.
There was a stain on his wrinkled t-shirt.
“Can I help you?” I kept one hand on the door.
The kid lifted sad eyes to mine and sniffled. “Is Mr. Kelly here?”
“Mr. Kel—Shane?”
He nodded.
“I’m sorry, he just left for work.”
The boy’s shoulders dropped. “Oh, I was hoping to talk to him before school.”
Something about this kid made my heart ache. “Are you okay, honey?”
He nodded, wiping his nose on his arm. “I’m… I’m fine.”
He didn’t sound fine. I studied him closer, realizing what he looked like. He looked homeless.
As if sensing the conclusion I’d come to, he took a step back. “I had… an assignment I wanted to talk to Mr. Kelly about for history.”
“And you couldn’t do that at school?”
“He told me to come to him if I ever needed anything.”
