Forever Mine (Roommate Duet 0.5)(2)

Though, pursuing theater in New York wasn’t the only reason I’ve stayed away from this town.

“Considering Lena was quite popular and stuck around, I wouldn’t be surprised if most of our graduating class is here,” he tells me, and it’s the first time I’ve really thought about the possibility of seeing him again.

“I haven’t talked to anyone aside from you and Lena since I left. Doubt I’d even recognize them,” I say, licking my lips and suddenly feeling nervous.

“Well if you were active on social media, you’d know these things,” he reminds me once again. I have pages for my theater photos and exploring New York, but they’re public so I don’t post anything too personal or follow anyone from high school. I’ve tried to leave that part of my life behind.

Before I can respond, there’s a knock, and I fly to my feet, then to the door. I’m relieved when I smell my food and tip the room service attendant after he brings it inside.

Donny looks at my plate, and his eyes widen. “Are you eating for two?”

“Screw you, ass. Oh wait, you just did.”

He throws a pillow at me, and I dodge it right before it smacks into the wall.

“Just for that, I’m not sharing.”

Ten minutes later, when my stomach is full and satisfied, I tell Donny I’m getting in the shower, and he better go get dressed if he doesn’t want us to be late for the ceremony.

“I hope Bobby left…” I hear the nerves in his voice and laugh. “You made your bed, now go lie in it.”

“Ugh, you’re one to talk.” He grimaces.

“Whatever. I’m an angel.”

“Riiiight. Tell that to what’s his face from last month.” He points a finger at me, so I twist his hand around to poke him in the chest instead.

“What’s his face became an obsessive stalker.”

Donny rolls his eyes. “What number excuse is that again? Twenty-three?” He coughs, then crosses his arms. “You find something wrong with every guy you date, then run for the hills.”

“Not true,” I say, walking to the shower. Lies.

“It’s because you compare every guy to him.”

“Bye, Donny! Get out!” I groan and shut the bathroom door. I turn on the faucet and strip while I wait for the water to warm.

As I clean my body and hair, I think about him and everything I left behind, including our relationship. Though it sounds corny as hell, he was my high school sweetheart, and before I left for New York, I thought we’d get married and have kids someday. The day I left was the last time I saw him in person, but he was always on my mind even when I tried to forget him.

Ten years later, and I still sometimes think about the what-ifs.

We dated from freshmen year through our senior year and even the first semester of college. Our friends and family always said we were glued to the hip and constantly teased us for never being too far apart. I went to all his football games, and he watched every show I was in. Between practices and schoolwork, we mostly hung out on the weekends. His mom and dad became my second set of parents and vice versa. My family adored him, and I’m pretty sure they were more heartbroken than I was when things didn’t work out between us. I step out of the shower, wrap a towel around my body, and head toward my suitcase.

“I know that look.”

Jumping, I nearly lose my footing when I hear Donny’s voice before seeing him. “Jesus! Why are you still here?”

He stands and shows off his nicely tailored suit. “I went to get dressed and have been waiting twenty minutes for your slow ass. Didn’t know masturbating took that long. You women have too many things going on down there; no wonder it takes a magician to get you off.”

“Funny. You scared the shit out of me, by the way.” I tighten my towel, then shake out my hair. Since it’s long and thick, it takes forever to blow-dry. “And it’s called a G-spot.”

“Sounds way too complicated for my tastes and really grosses me out,” he says matter-of-factly, and it makes me snort at the irony.

“Figured you watched enough porn to read us like a map.” I smirk, knowing way too much about his personal habits.

“Girl, no. I close my eyes during the scary parts.” He makes a face.

I chuckle and dig through my suitcase for a pair of clean panties. My dress hangs in the closet, but now I’m questioning if it’s fancy enough for this occasion.

“You’re wondering if he’s going to be here, aren’t you?” Donny asks, taking me by surprise.

“Huh? Who?”

Donny tilts his head at me and rolls his eyes. “You’re a great performer but a bad liar, sweetie. You know exactly who I’m talking about.”

I lift my upper lip in a mock face and ignore him.

I’ve only been thinking about it for the past half hour while naked in the shower. That doesn’t mean anything, though.

“I’ve wondered about him some through the years, yes. Wondered if he’s married, has kids, became a football star. Not sure how it’d be seeing him again after all this time,” I say to the closet as I take out my dress.

“Not married, no kids, and he played football through college and now works as a college football recruiter,” Donny casually says as if he’s reading it off a notecard.