Page 76 of The Roommate Game

How was that going? Well, the hockey was uninspired, but everyone was cool. The shelter was great too, and there were a few volunteers my age—including a flirty blond who made it clear she was available. I was flattered for sure, but I wasn’t interested.

And no, I hadn’t adopted a pet yet. A fierce tabby with soulful eyes had been brought in a few days ago, and he needed a home. He was cute and feisty, and Rafe would have liked him and—that thought kept me from completing a form. The last thing I needed was for a cat to remind me of what I’d lost.

That was what it felt like…loss. I was grieving something I hadn’t shared with anyone, and my heart physically ached in my chest.

Once upon a time, the logical thing would have been to get obliterated and dull the pain. But I wasn’t self-destructive anymore. I was doing the right things with worthwhile pursuits, so…why wasn’t this feeling going away? Almost three fucking weeks had passed—nineteen days to be precise—and maybe I appeared okay on the outside, but inside, I was struggling.

I petted the cat’s head through the crate, chuckling as his temperamental meow. “Later, tough guy. Behave.”

Jess, my new admirer, peeked around the corner and waved. I couldn’t tell if it was my imagination, but her top was especiallylow cut today and that smile was extra flirty. “Hey, Gus, someone’s here to see you. Someone kind of exciting too!”

Exciting?

“Who?” My heart went into overdrive and my palms got clammy.

“Ty Czerniak!” she gushed.

Oh.

Okay, so Ty was a popular hockey player with an Internet-famous boyfriend, but he definitely wasn’tmyidea of exciting.

I met Ty in the lobby, exchanging routine fist bumps in greeting and introducing him to a starry-eyed Jess before joining him on the sidewalk.

“She likes you,” he commented, waggling his brows.

I rolled my eyes in response and nudged his elbow. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m leaving tomorrow for camp,” Ty said, moving toward my truck. “Actually, I’m taking Walker to the cabin first, and we’re flying out from Syracuse. You can come, but I’m planning on having a lot of sex with my man, and he’s noisy.”

“That’s a hard pass.”

Ty snickered. “Did you get Brady’s text? He’s in town too. Let’s get a beer. You can catch us up on the new stuff in Gus-land. I still can’t believe you’re teaching English. Coaching…yes. All day long. I swear you’ll have Beekman’s job in a couple of years. Brady wants to go to The Tavern or Vincento’s?—”

“I don’t drink,” I blurted…in a parking lot on a summer day in early July.

And nothing happened.

The sky was still blue, traffic whizzed by as usual, the delivery person balancing two packages didn’t falter, and Ty didn’t bat an eyelash.

“I didn’t think so,” he replied cryptically. “We’ll go to your place, then.”

He walked to his Jeep before I could protest, and I didn’t have the energy to anyway.

I set two water bottles on the island while my friends snooped around my condo.

“This is like…nice,” Brady pronounced, sounding a little confused. “Are you sureyoulive here?”

I flipped him off from my perch on a barstool at the island and uncapped my water. “Are you hungry? I have chips and…that’s probably it.”

Brady flopped onto the stool next to me. “I guess youdolive here.”

“Ha. Ha.”

Ty rolled his eyes. “Well…”

I glanced at my friends, sized up the situation, and came up empty. I had no reason not to be honest.

“I quit drinking and using…everything,” I said. “It was touch and go in the beginning, but I’ve been sober for over three months and it’s tough, but it was a good change for me. A necessary one.”