Page 16 of Roommate Wars
I take that back.Max and I had played beer pong on it once because we were mature like that.
The table was set with plates and utensils and glasses of water. Elise had even folded paper towels in half as napkins. It was…cozy.
A whooshing noise filled my head, and my heart began to race. I hadn’t had cozy since my mom died. When I was thirteen.
Irrational fear and anger knotted my stomach. This was the kind of shit I didn’t want in my life. “You didn’t need to go to the trouble of setting the table.”
“Oh, not at all,” she said, sashaying over with a covered pot. “Have a seat.”
I sank woodenly into the chair, calming my breathing. This was Elise, and she was a wily one. Never had a woman run out on me the morning after sex; usually they were interested in round two. It was my greatest shame that Elise had. Which was why all this was only for show. She wasn’t trying to get close. No need to stress.
She set the dish on the table and pulled off the cover to reveal…hashbrowns.
And not just any hashbrowns. They were the rectangular frozen ones I bought and tossed in the toaster oven when I wanted to spruce up my morning breakfast of cereal.
My shoulders relaxed in relief. Elise was being a pain in the ass, nothing more. “Looks delicious.”
Picking up a fork, I was about to dig in when she said, “Hang on. There’s more.” She pulled out a bottle of ketchup she had stashed in her apron pocket and squirted the two hashbrown patties with ketchup in the shape of happy faces. Then she grabbed a jar of sweetened pickles I hadn’t noticed on the table, speared one, and shook it off onto the plate.
She stood back and admired her work. “There, now you can eat.”
Without batting an eye, I dug into the food, chewing and moaning my delight. I glanced up and caught her frown. “It’s delicious. Why don’t you join me?”
This was clearly not the reaction she had intended, but she covered it well. “Can’t,” she said. “I have a date.”
Elise untied the apron and set it on the counter, and my hackles rose. Because she’d changed, but it wasn’t into her new clothes.
I nearly choked on my food. “Dressed like that?”
She looked down. “What? I thought I did a good job using what I had and borrowing from my sister,as you suggested.” Her smile was the definition of naughty.
I took a deep breath, having forgotten all about my panic from earlier, and counted to five. “I can see your underwear.”
She tugged on the sides of what had to be the smallest skirt ever made. “No you can’t. You’re just saying that.”
I gestured to her legs. “It shows the curves of your thighs.”
“Looking at my thighs, are you?”
“Everyone will be. Sophia’s much shorter than you, and so are her clothes.” Elise was too hot, too sexy. The male vultures of the world would be all over my beautiful roommate in seconds.
“Which is why,” she said while she grabbed the purse I’d finally returned after getting the all-clear from the mold guy, “I suggested going back for my things.”
Her things had been bagged and burned, but best not to tell her that.
She headed for the door, and I abruptly stood. “Wait.”
She turned. “Yes?”
“What about dinner?”
She bowed and gestured to the table. “It’s right there. You never said I had to eat with you.Byeee.” She pinky-waved.
ChapterEight
Jack
An hour later,I opened the front door for Max and Sophia. “Did you bring the leftovers?”
