Page 94 of Damn Roommate

I giggle, grab a cookie, and swallow the saliva that’s built up in my mouth from excitement. I have a terrible time bringing down the pressure lodged absolutely everywhere.

Nolan is the king of flirting.

And if it wasn’t already complicated enough to live a secret story in an apartment with several people, being discreet at night becomes an obstacle course.

“Ready for Friday?” I ask him to give myself a break.

They’re officially starting the hockey championship, and for the past two weeks, training on the ice has really intensified. I know they are ready. I have seen them more than once in action.

“We’re going to beat them up,” he says.

“You’d better! I didn’t come back here to support a team of losers.”

He laughs into his glass, and I challenge him with my gaze.

“And what jersey are you going to support us in?”

My stomach flips, and under the weight of his attention, I liquefy a little more. “Edgar will want me to wear his on.”

Nolan frowns. “What if I want you to wear mine?”

“I’ll wear your bracelet.”

He stares at his wrist for a second and sighs. “I guess I have no choice.”

“You always give it to me, what difference does it make now?”

“It’s not the same as if you came wearingmynumber.”

“You and your possessiveness!”

“Don’t I have the right to want my girlfriend to support me?”

“I’ll be your girlfriend when you tell my brother that you’re dating me.”

My accusation smacks through the air like a slap in the face and Nolan stops short. He stares at me for a long moment in silence, his jaw clenched. His breathing quickens. It’s been more than fifteen days since he promised me that he was going to talk about it with Edgar. Fifteen days that we continue to hide in plain sight. Milo, Gabriel, and my two best friends are the only ones who know. Yet we are roommates with two people to whom we have been lying for almost three weeks.

“You swore you’d try!”

“Not now, Scarlett,” he sighs.

“It’s never the right time with you,” I get carry away. “You’ve had ten thousand chances and you keep pushing back againand again! And then you want me to wear yourfuckinghockey jersey? You can’t have it all, Nolan, at some point you’ll have to choose!”

“Choose what exactly?” he yells, raising both arms.

I step back imperceptibly, surprised by his frank and harsh tone.

“To lose my best mate or lose the girl of my dreams, Scarlett? Is that what you want me to decide? Don’t you understand that if I postpone this moment, it’s precisely because I don’t want to have tochoose?”

He places his head in his hands and all the air in my lungs becomes trapped. Nolan looks up at me and I read in his eyes all the pain he’s been hiding for weeks. My heart breaks. I walk towards him with a determined step, sliding my fingers on his cheeks to make him look down at me.

“I’m scared, Scar. Scared that everything you and I have now will be gone when I tell your brother. I’m scared to hurt him, to make you suffer and especially that you leave me because it will be too difficult for you to wait for me.”

I sigh for a long moment, swallowing a sob as my eyes fill with tears. He wraps an arm around my neck and pulls me to his chest. His mouth rests on my forehead and he kisses me tenderly.

“I love you, Scarlett.”

My stomach twists and a flock of butterflies start spinning in my stomach.

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