Page 31 of Roommates
“How do you think your parents are going to react?” Nathan asked.
“My mom is overreacting a little,” I said, stacking plastic cups next to the register. We were twenty minutes away from the next rush hour, and it was good to be prepared for the onslaught of caffeine-deprived customers who would be running in our door like zombies looking for coffee instead of brains.
“You already talked to your mom?” Nathan looked at me flabbergasted. “Have you picked out a ring too?”
I groaned. Just becausehecouldn't get a move on with Raphael... “You're jealous,” I said to deflect his attention—and because it was true. “And I know you're hiding a wedding catalogue under your bed where other people hide their dirty porn mags. Your roomie told me about it. You're the one fantasizing about getting hitched, my friend, not me.”
Nathan looked flustered. “That's not... My dad left that on his last visit. He's a wedding planner. It must have rolled under the bed.”
“Yeah, I'm sure that's what happened. How are things going with Raph anyway?”
“Everything's going according to plan,” Nathan claimed as he returned to scrubbing the countertop even though it was already spotless.
“Was your plan to let him slip through your fingers? Honestly, Nate, a lot of the alphas on campus have noticed Raphael. If you're not putting a claim on him,someonewill.”
“He's a strong, independent omega and he's not looking for a relationship right now. I respect that,”
Nathan told me in a tone of voice that told me clearly wanted me to back off.
“Okay, okay,” I held a hand up. “That's honorable. I only hope that everyone else will respect that too.”
“Raph can take care of himself. He knows karate.” Nathan discarded the wet rag he'd been using to clean. “Anyway, I know what I'm doing with Raphael. Do you know what you're doing with your roommate?”
“I know exactly what I'm doing,” I claimed, and then, as if I'd timed it, a customer came in and diverted Nathan's attention, which was good, because otherwise, he might have found out the truth.
I did not know what I was doing. Then again, I rarely ever did.
1 7
L U C A S
I spent the majority of my day in the library, but unfortunately I couldn't stay there forever—or at least that was what the librarians said. They closed at midnight sharp, and no, I could not stay longer if I was being really quiet and didn't move much. In the end, I was forced to return to my room.Ourroom. I knew Adam was going to be there. At this time of night, there really weren't a lot of other places for him to be, and after the way I'd left that morning, he'd be waiting for me.
And I knew we needed to talk.
If he wanted to go public with this non-relationship we had, he should have all the facts.Allthe facts, including what I was and what I'd done.
Standing in front of the door to our room, I hesitated. Adam's words from this morning rang in my ears. The way he'd insisted that we weren't in a relationship. If this was nothing more than sex to him, then maybe the lies wouldn't be such a big deal to him.
Why then did I still want it to be more?
Because I was being stupid. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and stepped into the room. Adam was lying on his bed, but the lights were on and he wasn't sleeping. The moment he saw me, he sat up.
“I thought you'd never come back,” he said.
“I didn't really want to,” I admitted, closing the door behind me. Nobody on our floor needed to hear the conversation we were about to have.
Adam rose from his bed and took a step toward me, but didn't come close enough to crowd me.
“What's going on with you?” he asked. “You promised you would tell me today.”
Digging my phone out of my pocked, I glanced at the time. Just past midnight. “Actually I promised to tell youyesterday.” Anything I could do to stall...
“Come on, Lucas, don't be like that.”
With a sigh, I walked past Lucas and sat on my bed. “I'm going to tell you what's going on, but you might not like me very much after. If you were starting to like me.”
“Just tell me.” For a moment, Adam looked as if he wanted to sit next to me, but then he thought better of it. He sat on his own bed instead. Good. I didn't think I could have handled being close to him just then. Not if I wanted to keep a clear mind at the same time.
