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“Don’t I know you?”
He drops his eyes, a pink flush on his cheeks. “Not really.”
“You were arguing with that guy the other night, right?”
“Yeah,” he rubs the back of his neck, his blush deepening. “You and your buddy came flying in like Batman and Robin, trying to save the day.”
What the fuck?“Hey, I was just trying to be a good Samaritan, would you rather I just leave it and hear about you on the news the next day?”
His eyebrows come up so high they almost get lost behind all that light brown hair falling in his face. “Dramatic much?”
My heart starts pounding in my ears. Who does this guy think he is? I was just trying to help. “Look, do you wanna see the place or not?”
The way he looks at me, his eyes all wide, tells me I’m not being very nice right now – understatement. My brain gives me a helpful reminder that I can’t pay rent by myself.
I need to stop being a dick. Like. Right. Now.
I close the door a lot gentler than I opened it and stand in the middle of the living room with my hands in my pockets, because for some reason, I suddenly don’t know what to do with them.
“Listen, I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to-” he starts.
“Forget about it, seriously, I was just being a grouchy dick because I’m tired.”
One side of his mouth quirks up and my stomach does a little flip. He obviously still thinks I’m a dick. He’s just too nice to tell me to go fuck myself.
“So um… this is it.” I gesture vaguely around the room. It’s nothing special. And it’s small. But we’ve kept it clean and all the appliances are reasonably modern. Some of the places I looked at when I first moved to Jersey were roach motels.
He turns in a little circle to look at everything.
“It’s small but-”
“No, it’s fine, it’s nice I mean.”
When he turns back and looks at me, he’s smiling. Big brown Bambi eyes looking at me, all sweet and innocent. Like I’m not being a grade-A dick right now.
“Can I see the bedroom?”
“Huh?”
I feel the flush start to spread up my neck and turn around before he sees.
“Oh, yeah, it’s this way.”
Storming ahead, I push the door to Wilde’s old room. He left most of the furniture for the next person. Cheap Ikea bed, with a desk and a two door closet.
“It’s nothing fancy.”
Stefanos peeks past me before slipping into the room. He’s like one of those woodland animals in a Disney movie. All graceful and lithe.
“How come you’re looking for a roommate anyway?”
The big doe-eyed expression of awe drops instantly and a dark cloud spreads over his delicate features. I note how his nose is a little crooked and slightly out of proportion with the rest of his face, and how this only makes him hotter somehow.
“I broke up with someone.”
“Don’t tell me, that guy you were arguing with?”
“Ten points Sherlock.”