Page 8 of Loud Hot Roomie (Taboo Streets #4)

Riko

I’m going to suck Derek’s dick.

I just have to figure out how to break it to him. Last night, he was a perfect gentleman even though his erection was so fucking obvious. All through the movie, he was hard. And that made me hard.

But did we do anything?

No.

This troubles me. I’m used to men who pursue hard. I’m one of those men. Derek just suffers through his need.

So why didn’t I make the first move?

To be honest, he shook me at dinner. When he confessed to scanning through other men on the dating app, I’d gotten butt hurt about it. Not going to lie. It was what happened after that that rocked my world. He waited for me, apologized, and then hugged me.

Freaking hugged me.

That’s what makes this so strange. I want him to fuck me, but I also just want to kiss his unsmiling mouth or hold his hand. There’s a steady comfort in him that I apparently deeply crave.

This is so outside my usual. I don’t know what to do.

“Yo.”

I fist bump my best friend as soon as he folds himself into my car.

Rhett Monahan is a golden boy through and through.

Despite being a spoiled shit like me, he excels in everything he does.

Whether it’s lacrosse, soccer, school, he’s the best at it.

Unlike me, his dad actually adores and believes in him.

“What’s up with your hair?” I ask, playfully tugging at one of the blond strands that hangs over his eye.

He swats me away. “Growing it out.”

“I’m sure Mommy loves that.”

“She moved out. Plus, I’m an adult. I can do what I want.”

Technically, that’s a lie, and we both know it. His father, Owen, has a hand in everything Rhett or his siblings Addison and Cason, do. So, if his dad tells him to jump, he does it.

“How’re the sibs?”

He grunts and shrugs. “Addison is still dramatic. Cason is a brat.”

At least he has siblings. I always wanted a brother or a sister, but alas, I was an only child.

“Thanks for agreeing to hang with me,” I say as I speed out of his neighborhood. “I needed this.”

It’s true. I need some normalcy. Everything in my life is so out of sorts. Getting to hang with Rhett feels good for me.

“I’m shocked as shit your parents haven’t begged you to come back home,” he says as he fiddles with the air vent. “You’re a momma’s boy.”

Maybe when I was younger. But, as I got older and let my freak flag fly, my mom wasn’t exactly supportive. I’ve been on my own for years.

“Even if they wanted me back, I wouldn’t go,” I say with a one-shouldered shrug. “I like living on my own.”

“Not technically on your own,” Rhett retorts. “I still don’t know why you got a roommate. We both know you have money and could’ve gotten an apartment by yourself.”

“I’ve spent my whole life by myself. Wasn’t looking to keep on doing that.”

“You were supposed to wait until we graduated college,” he grumbles. “Then we could have gotten a place together.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I say even though I don’t believe that.

Rhett will find some hot rich girl to marry by then and I’d have stayed in hell for nothing. I’m meant to be out of my parents’ house.

I drive us to our favorite coffee shop. It’s near where we went to school, which is also by Rhett’s house.

No one from the side of town I live at now ever comes here.

Java Jinx is bougie as fuck. No extra pumps of anything without adding on an extra buck or two.

But, they have cool seating and chill vibes.

We’ve been coming here since we’re able to drive ourselves. It’s our place.

One of the usual workers, Natalie, sees us and waves.

We never change what we order. She’ll have it on the screen and already started before we make it to the cash register which is nice.

Once we have our iced coffees, we sit on a sofa near the window.

A man in a business suit taps away on a laptop, completely focused on his work, and will no doubt be able to tune out our yapping.

After we shoot the shit for a few minutes, I let out a ragged sigh and pin my friend with an intense stare. “I’m having boy problems.”

Rhett’s been there for me since kindergarten.

He was there when I started figuring out I was gay.

In fact, it was because of him I got my first boner in front of other people.

I’d slept over with a few of our friends in the seventh grade.

Rhett, at the time, clueless to my strange feelings, had mooned us to be funny.

I caught sight of his dick and just…yeah.

It was awful and humiliating. Luckily, he was the only one who noticed.

Later, he confronted me about it, and then helped me realize I liked guys.

He never judged me or was weird about it. I was accepted from the start.

“Don’t tell me you’re fucking your roommate.”

I groan and rub my palm over my face. The guy on the computer nearby doesn’t even flinch.

“We’re not fucking,” I grumble. “That’s the problem.”

It’s annoying how he knows me so well. If there’s someone I shouldn’t be attracted to or date, I am attracted to them and do want to date them. It’s amazing I never wanted to sleep with my best friend, but thankfully, I never have.

“Is he straight?” He sips on his drink and cocks his head to the side to study me. “Oh no. This isn’t one of those situations where you think you can turn him bisexual is it?”

Unfortunately, I’ve tried and failed on many occasions.

“I think he’s at least bi-curious,” I say with a crooked grin. “But for real, the guy gets hard as fuck around me.”

The businessman cuts his icy blue eyes over to me, sweeps his gaze over my body and then back to my lips, and winks before going back to his work. Typically, that would send a thrill shooting through me and I’d hit on the guy. Not today. Right now, I want to sort out my feelings for Derek.

“So you want him and that’s obvious by the way you’re whining,” Rhett says unhelpfully. “He wants you because he physically reacts around you. What’s the issue?”

Rhett is always straightforward and never has time for mind games. He’ll be a great attorney one day.

“It’s me, I think,” I confess. “Or, maybe it’s him. Ugh, I don’t know.”

Frowning, I chug down my drink as I try to make sense of my thoughts.

“Oh,” Rhett says, grinning and eyes flashing with mischief. “You actually like him and not for a quick fuck like your usual.”

The businessman is watching us again, but I ignore him. “I do. He’s just, uh, different than my usual type.”

“This isn’t a bad thing,” Rhett says to me and then addresses the man.

“You heard my buddy, he’s into someone different than his usual.

” He flicks his wrist toward the man as if to indicate he’s the norm for me, because he is.

“You’re not bagging my boy here. Stop salivating all over your tie, fuckface. ”

The man sneers at him and then snatches his stuff up before storming off. It was rude as hell, but Rhett is territorial over the people he cares about. I’m actually glad the guy is now gone and no longer staring at me.

“I want to know more about him than just his dick,” I blurt out. “I mean, I want to see his dick too, trust me. I want to get really, really familiar with it. But I also want to straddle his lap and kiss his handsome mouth for hours. I’m broken. Why am I broken?”

Rhett chuckles. “I’m pretty sure this is a healthier route for you. Maybe you’re not broken but something inside of you is fixing itself.”

I know I have daddy issues. Been having them since Dad started riding my ass about soccer and college and my future at the end of fifth grade.

“What do I do?”

He shrugs. “What do you want to do?”

“I want to kiss him, dammit.”

“So kiss him.”

“But what if I scare him away?” I say with a groan. “I don’t want to mess shit up with us.”

“There’s only one way to find out.” He playfully punches my arm. “Since when are you afraid of anything?”

I never cared until now.

There’s something about Derek that gets under my skin.

“He called me hubby and brought me cookies.” A stupid grin stretches over my face.

Rhett snorts out a laugh. “Is he hot?”

“So fucking hot,” I rush out. “The man has the finest ass in the world. I want to lick it.”

“What does he do? Do our dads know him?”

I grimace at the idea of dating anyone my dad knows ever again. Once was enough of a disaster. Not looking to repeat that drama again.

“Nah,” I say with a shrug. “He delivers packages. Comes home sweaty with his brown uniform clinging to him in all the right places.”

Rhett frowns. “For real? Wait, so he’s poor?”

My best friend is obsessed with money and power and success. He can be a dick about it sometimes.

“He’s not poor,” I grumble.

“But he’s obviously not making enough to live on his own without your assistance. Where did you move to anyway?”

“You wouldn’t know the area,” I deflect, not meeting his stare.

He pulls out his phone. “Tell me the address.”

After rattling off the address, I scowl at him, waiting for his judgment. His eyebrows lift and he sneers at me.

“What?” I demand, irritation clawing at me.

“You moved into that same shit hole Savvy went to?”

“Wait, Savvy lives there?” I ask in astonishment. Savvy was his foster sister he’d been head over heels in love with until she moved out the day she turned eighteen. He’d tried to win her heart, but she ended up moving in with her dad’s best friends. I had no idea it was in the same complex.

He zooms in on his phone and shows me which unit is hers. “See. Right there.”

I feel bad for him. The one girl he secretly loved never gave him the time of day. Savvy was cool as hell. I really liked her, but out of respect for Rhett, I won’t seek out a friendship with her just because we live close. Bros before hoes.

“She’s pregnant now,” he tells me, bitterness dripping from his words. “And she still works at Smoke & Sugar. Some life for that kid, huh?”

I know Rhett is still angry about not getting the girl, but damn, sometimes he can be a prick.

“Smoke & Sugar is dope,” I say with a smirk, hoping to change the subject.

“I could totally eat some smoked bacon maple bites right about now.” A smile teases his lips, chasing away his previous irritation. “When do I get to meet this guy?”

“Depends,” I say with an arched brow. “Is it because you want to sneak a peek at Savvy or do you really want to meet him?”

“Fuck Savvy,” he growls. “I want to meet the guy who has my best friend’s balls all twisted up.”

“Soon,” I assure him. “Let me at least kiss the guy before I start introducing him to my friends.”

We move on to other topics like college classes and sports and the upcoming holidays, but my mind never strays from Derek. Can I really muster up the courage to kiss him? What if he hates being kissed by a guy? Will things get weird?

I guess there’s only one way to find out.