Page 6

Chapter

Six

"What the hell?" It was a croak, raw and ragged.

He scanned my face, and a muscle in his jaw jumped. Then he shrugged and finished zipping his pants. Infuriatingly nonchalant. "Had to piss."

"You’re in my washroom, asshole." Anger surged through me, a welcome distraction from the ache in my chest.

He held up a hand. “Be respectful, remember?”

I wanted to tear his throat out.

"Didn't think you'd be back so soon." He took a step closer, turning on the faucet and grabbing the soap. "Thought you'd be too busy clinging to Kemp's leg, begging him not to leave."

I recoiled as if he'd slapped me. "Screw you."

"You wish." His lip curled.

And that’s when I lost it. I already looked like a mess, and I didn’t give a rat’s ass whether Rob thought I was insane. Or respectful. “Get the hell out of my washroom.” I flung the door wide. I didn’t know what kind of power play he was trying to pull, but I was not having it. I would not allow him to intimidate me and?—

“I couldn’t use mine because there’s a leak.” He dried his hands on my towel.

My mouth was already open to hurl curse words that would’ve made my grandfather proud, when I processed what he’d just said. My jaw snapped shut, and I sucked in a breath.

He turned as if he wasn’t staring at a splotchy, smeared mess of makeup and tears, leaning his hip against the counter. “There was a puddle on my floor. A big one. I couldn’t tell where it was coming from, so I called Logan’s dad. He told me not to use anything in there until they could come check it out.”

My shoulders slumped as the rage fire and adrenaline began to ebb away, leaving behind a throbbing headache and a sadness that seemed to coat my bones. Rob grabbed a box of tissues from the counter and thrust them at me. I snatched them and stepped back into the room, dropping onto my bed. I blew my nose, the reality of the situation sinking in. "So, we're going to have to share a washroom until it's fixed?"

Rob walked out after me, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Looks like it." He glanced back at the washroom. “Do I have to wear a shirt while I shower, too?"

I rolled my eyes, too drained to come up with a witty retort. Of course this would happen. Seconds after dropping Lucas off at the airport, and already the shit was hitting the fan. My body felt like a wrung-out dishrag, and the prospect of navigating a shared washroom with Rob made me want to scream into a pillow.

I jumped when the phone started to ring from the kitchen.

"Bet that's the plumber now.” Rob stalked out of my room, and I sagged, dropping sideways onto the mattress. I groaned involuntarily and allowed myself to wallow for fifteen seconds before forcing myself up and into the washroom.

I replaced the tissues and washed my face, taking in my red-rimmed eyes and puffy cheeks and lips. Fantastic. I looked like I’d run face first into a beehive.

I dried my skin and braved the kitchen. It didn’t really matter. Rob had already seen me. I found him leaning over the counter, the phone cord stretching from the wall as he scribbled on a notepad.

He glanced up as I entered, his dark eyes unreadable. "Uh-huh. Yeah, got it. Thanks." So he could be amiable when he wanted to be. He hung up and tossed the notepad onto the counter. "A guy’s coming tomorrow to assess the damage."

"Okay.”

"And... he's not sure how long it'll take to fix." Rob leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms. "Could be a couple of days, could be a week. Depending on if he has the right parts."

I deflated like a punctured balloon. A week? Sharing a washroom with Rob for a whole week? It may be worth sharing a bed with Maddie. I wasn’t insured on Logan’s truck, and he hadn’t exactly offered it to me for general use. But he wouldn’t mind too much, would he? But if I got in an accident?—

"I leave after you do for class. Shouldn’t be that big of a deal.” Rob knocked his knuckles on the counter.

That was . . . actually a good point. I nodded. “Okay.” I could survive this. I didn’t really have a choice, so I was going to have to suck it up and deal. It wasn’t his fault that his washroom wasn’t working even if it sucked balls.

Rob ran a hand through his hair, then walked the opposite way around the island so we wouldn’t accidentally share the same air. “Okay.” His steps slowed so minutely as he passed me, I wondered if I imagined it.

When the door clicked shut to his room, I finally let myself fall apart.

_____

After two hours and three cycles through the mix tape, I was all cried out. I wanted to commandeer the couch and watch reruns of Degrassi or Maury. Really anything that would remind me that my life was, in fact, not the worst. But the idea of Rob walking past and seeing me being pathetic was enough for me to stay locked in my room until rehearsal.

By then, my face was mostly back to normal. I looked tired, but with concealer and blush, I at least passed as not a corpse.

Caleb and Lily knew what day it was. They brought me a box of Timbits, which brightened my afternoon more than they could’ve imagined, and when I walked out the front doors of the Rosza Arts Centre, Maddie and Crystal were there waiting for me.

My jaw dropped, but before I could say anything, their arms were linked through mine and they were dragging me the opposite direction of home.

“We’re going for burgers,” Maddie informed me. “I parked in the student lot.”

Somehow, new tears pricked my eyes. “You guys?—”

“We know. We’re the best friends in the world.”

I laughed and cried, telling them everything about Logan’s departure, including the leaking washroom and the current hellscape of sharing a toilet with Rob.

“Wait, is he leaving his toothbrush in there? You could dip it in salt or something.” Crystal took a drink of her shake.

My eyes widened. “I’m not going to mess with his toothbrush. He’d know exactly who did it, and who knows what he’d do to mine?”

“Rub it in the toilet.” Maddie grabbed a fry.

I pretended to dry heave. “Exactly. No pranks. I can’t afford that kind of anxiety.”

Crystal leaned over the table. “Plumber comes tomorrow?” I nodded. “I’ll pray he has the right parts.”

“Yes, please.” I crumpled up my trash and piled it on the tray, then let out a slow breath. “Thank you. This was exactly what I needed.”

Maddie grinned. “We know.”

We piled into her car, and she drove me back to my place, her car jumping and jolting with every pebble on the road.

I reached over the seats and squeezed their shoulders. “I’m slammed with rehearsals and recital workshops until Friday, but can we meet up then?”

Crystal nodded. “I have to submit my tracks by the weekend, so as long as I get them finished?—”

“She’ll get them finished.” Maddie grinned. “I’m in labs until four. Free after that.”

I drew a breath and exhaled. “Perfect. Thanks again.” I grabbed my violin and bag, then exited the vehicle and waved as they skidded off down the street.

Inside was blissfully empty. No Rob, which meant I probably wouldn’t see him at all for twenty-four hours. He’d be out doing whatever he did until all hours of the night, and then I’d be gone before he got up in the morning.

Perfect. This could work.

I wrote out more of my composition for my advanced harmonies class, finished a poetry assessment for literature, checked my email to see if I’d missed anything from Logan, then cleaned up and got ready for bed.

I took off Logan’s bracelet and set it on the thin glass shelf below the medicine cabinet in my washroom, then walked into my room and hopped into bed. I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling. And that’s when missing him became a physical ache.

Logan was already off the plane by now, but I didn’t blame him for not calling yet. He was probably overwhelmed. Getting to know his new coaches, checking into his hotel. He might even have practice tonight. Maybe if I stayed up a little later . . .

With a groan, I hauled myself off the bed and padded to the kitchen. I made some herbal tea and headed back to my room, then pulled out the novel I’d barely looked at since reading to page forty-two. It had been so long, I had to go back to the beginning and start again.

Finally, after re-reading the same page three times with zero comprehension, I turned off my lamp and tried to sleep. No call.

Logan was busy. He’d phone when he could.

I tossed and turned, imagining what he was doing at that moment. I ran through scenarios in my head. Mostly ending with him curled up in bed cradling the non-functioning phone to his chest as he longed to hear my voice.

I must have dropped off mid-fantasy because it was pitch black when I woke with a start.

A creak. The scraping of a door.

My heart seized, the sound far too close. In my room. I held my breath, my heart jumping into my throat.

No. Not again.