Page 74 of My Roommate from Hell
It’s genius. Slightly evil, yes. But genius.
“You good?” he asks. He steps closer, coming nearly as close as he did last time. “Sorry, I should’ve told you the plan.”
I can’t explain how hard my heart is racing. It’s like it’s in overdrive, and my body doesn’t know how to process what just happened. The closeness, the sparks when he touched me, him complimenting my eyes, the moment I thought we were going to kiss. It’s all too much.
“It’s fine,” I say as I slip off the bench. “Good idea, by the way.”
“You’re welcome. You should go try to say it wasn’t what it looks like. Act guilty, really incriminate us.”
“Will do.”
“Go get ’em, Greene.”
I leave the kitchen, my head spinning and my heart still pounding like I’m being hunted. When I reach the doorway, I look back atZarmenus. He is finishing his drink, tilting his head back to swallow it in one gulp. The material of his shirt has pulled up, showing a tiny glimpse of the top band of his underwear.
I tear my eyes away and go through the house. That reaction is totally fine. He’s literally supernaturally attractive, and too good to be true. I am but a simple human, and I can’t control the way my body responds. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s just human nature.
I reach the doorway of the living room and stop to compose myself. Then I remember I need to act guilty and flustered, which is conveniently exactly how I’m feeling right now.
I go inside, and Avery starts to clap. The conversations come to a halt, and by the way everyone is looking at me, I’d be willing to bet big that Avery told everyone about what he saw in the kitchen.
“That wasn’t what it looked like, I swear.”
“Girl, please,” says Avery. “Don’t worry, we all get it. I’m sure everyone here would go there if they could.”
“Not me,” says Evie. “But I can respect how pretty he is, so well done.” She lifts her drink to me, earning her a glare from Madison. “What? You know he’s got nothing on you, Mads.”
Tyrell is at the back of the room, quiet. Zarmenus stops beside me and quickly reads what’s going on.
“They know?” he asks.
“They know.”
“Damn,” he says. “I was hoping we could keep this a secret a little longer.” He puts his arm over my shoulder. “I take it none of you will tell anyone about us until we’re ready?”
“I promise,” says Avery. But the maniacal glee radiating off him tells me not to believe a word he says. “Your secret’s safe with us.”
“Good,” says Zarmenus. “Tyrell, a word?”
Tyrell joins us, and we go back to the hallway.
“Tell me everything,” he says. “You two are actually dating?”
He looks to me for the answer.
“We are,” I say, and I take Zarmenus’s hand.
“Okay, wow,” he says. “I need a second to process this.”
“We want to ask for a favor,” says Zarmenus. “Would you be willing to run a story on us? We want everyone to know we’re together.”
“A story?” he asks. “Why do you need that? And why do you even want people to know? You’ve only been dating a few days, right?”
“I don’t like secrets,” says Zarmenus. “And with how curious people are about me, it’ll get out sooner or later. If we get ahead of the story, then we won’t need to hide for even a second.”
Tyrell thinks that over. As I see him start to consider that we’re telling the truth, the guilt from within rears up. I’m lying to him. Is this going to have to be a secret I keep forever? If I don’t, how will he feel when he finds out about the lie?
“Sure,” he says. “But we’d need to check with Leeke first.”
