Page 99 of Damn Roommate

“A few weeks.”

“Weeks?” Leo repeats. “Was that the case at the bar? When you admitted you liked him, and I told you he didn’t care?”

“More or less.”

“Shit,” he sighs. “That makes me an asshole.”

“You couldn’t have known.”

His fingers tighten on the steering wheel, and he mechanically runs his hand through his short hair.

“I’m sorry for hiding it from you.”

“Your brother is going to have a hard time forgiving you.”

“I know.”

My heart tightens a little more as I realize how much everything will change now. Nothing will ever be the same again. The living situation, my relationship with my brother, Nolan.

“And you, will you forgive me?”

Leo laughs, puts a hand on my knee and gives me a sincere look.

“I’m not mad at you. Neither you nor Nolan. I’m just surprised, a little hurt that I found out so late, but I understand.”

“You do?”

“Edgar is super protective of you. We’ve all been, and I know how careful he was that his buddies didn’t go around you. He probably just feels betrayed. I think you have the right to go out with whoever you want.”

“Even Nolan?”

He bites the inside of his cheek.

“Nolan is my best friend. I know he can act like an asshole around girls, but I also know he adores you and if he knew he was going to hurt you in any way, he wouldn’t have gone into this.”

“Denying what happened hurts.”

“He screwed up.”

I remain silent, reliving the moment when it all went wrong. The kitchen, the arrival of my brother and Leo, the hurtful words they threw at each other.

We both screwed up.

“I blame him,” I admit. “For not supporting me. For not taking responsibility.”

“I know,” Leo breathes. “And believe me, I think he blames himself too. But he just has to take the time to understand.”

“Understand what?”

“That when you love someone, there’s no point in fighting it.”

I don’t answer, my throat clogged with a huge lump at Leo’s simple remark. That Nolan confessed to loving me a few moments earlier, completely shook me up. Leo saying it in this car, brings back too many things. It hurts me even more. Becausehedidn’t do anything to hold me back. To give us a real chance. He said he loved me, but then again did he really mean it? When we love, we don’t act out of cowardice.

The car pulls up in front of my parents’ house and a burst of stress takes hold of my guts.

“You want me to come?”

I shake my head, lean over to hug him, and whisper in his ear, “Thanks for being here, Leo.”

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