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“Just lay off,” I snapped.
“Man, you need to chill. You’re wound a little tight since meeting this chick.”
“She’s not like the others,” I said, feeling all down and depressed now that I knew I couldn’t have her. “I mean, the other women—sure, I take them to bed and we have a good time. But with her…I get this warm and fuzzy feeling that none of them have ever come close to.”
“Ya know, I wouldn’t go around talking about warm and fuzzy feelings. Especially around Rae. You know she’ll grab onto that like a tiger and tease you relentlessly.”
He was right. I was going to have to get my shit together. Brock was the only person that could ever know the extent of my feelings for Laura. “I’m invoking the roommate thing.”
“The what?”
“You know…the…silence thing. What we talked about.”
“Oh, you mean how I promised not to tell anyone about you driving into a tornado just so you wouldn’t look foolish when I told you to stay behind?”
I glared at him, not needing a recap. “Yes, that one.”
He shook his head slightly. “I don’t know. It’s gonna cost you.”
“Cost me what? You said this was something between us—that we would keep each other’s secrets!”
“Yeah, but now you have them piling up. I’m beginning to feel used.”
“Feel—” I cut myself off before I said something foolish and ruined everything. “Fine, what will it take?”
His eyes gleamed with the knowledge that he had me by the balls. Maybe this whole roommate thing wasn’t such a good idea.
“You know, I’m gonna think on it and get back to you.”
I stopped him as he was about to leave, grabbing him by the arm. “But you’ll stay quiet.”
“As a mouse.”
I knew at that moment that I had been hasty in using my leverage of the master bed and bath for a mere priority position with my recliner. Now I felt like I gambled that away for something useless. But it was too late now. The mistake had already been made. I was going to have to play it out and wait for the high price I knew he would make me pay.
“So, which one is she?”FNG asked as he walked over to me, staring at the small group by Laura’s house.
“The ethereal goddess with blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes.”
He squinted at the girls. “You can see her eyes sparkling from here?”
I sighed, wishing I had the balls to go talk to her. But I knew if I did, I’d end up saying something stupid. I was crazy about her.
“If you look at her just right, the light reflects off the darker flecks of blue in her eyes.”
“Seriously?”
I shrugged. Nobody else probably noticed, but they weren’t staring at her like I was.
“So…are you going over there or…”
“What’s the point? I was friend-zoned.”
“Ooh, that’s harsh. Hey, if it makes you feel any better, all the women I met over the last year were using me. Well, aside from Honey. She’s special.”
“She’s also just as crazy as you. I caught her yesterday practicing in the gym with an umbrella.”
A stupid grin filled his face. “Yeah, that’s my girl. She saw me in action. It made her hot.”