The Roommate Agreement(26)

I couldn’t even tell anyone. Sean would take the piss out of me, and Brie was far more loyal to Shelby than she was me.

I didn’t begrudge her that, for what it’s worth. Girls would be girls. Their loyalties would always lie with one another, and that was fine. It was just a shame my best friend was such a fucking little shit.

I leaned forward and buried my head in my hands, slowly dragging my fingers through my hair.

Three months ago, moving in with Shelby had been the easy option. My building was being sold, and I was about to be homeless. She needed a roommate to help her pay rent, and I was right there. I didn’t need a roommate since I earned good money thanks to my dad, but she’d needed someone.

I hadn’t been perfect. I owned that. That was why we had this stupid roommate agreement. It was to draw lines and create boundaries and make sure we both knew where we stood.

I guess there was no such thing as an agreement that kept the heart in check.

Fuck.

Why’d she have to walk around in little bright pink shorts and no bra, huh? Why’d she have to make me want her?

Wait—no. It wasn’t on her. She had the right to wear whatever the hell she wanted and using that as an excuse for my want to kiss her wasn’t okay. I was attracted to her because she was fucking attractive, and that was all there was to it.

It wasn’t her fault that I saw her in a different light now.

It was mine. It was on me, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t delighted that the roommate agreement stated that, like I had to wear pants, she had to wear a bra.

Equality and all that.

Fuck. I needed to do something to get her off my mind. Usually, working out was my escape from it all. It was the way I removed stress from my life, but that hadn’t been working.

All it’d done was get me eyed up by women in the gym.

Not that it was a bad thing. I was a human after all, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t like the attention. The problem was that none of them were an option for me—staff and clients were off-limits to me.

I ran the gym and I was the one who’d set those rules.

That didn’t mean I didn’t need a distraction.

And I did. One of the female kind. I needed someone who’d take my mind off Shelby for one night so I could reset and go back to normal. Back to seeing her as my best friend and nothing more.

Yes. That was it. I needed a reset.

I needed a date.

Pronto.

? ? ?

Sean: I think u lost ur mind, bro.

Me: I think I’m doing the right thing. I need a distraction & Shelby isn’t it.

Sean: I told u that u were in love with her.

Me: Not in love with her. Just feeling shit I shouldn’t.

Sean: So ur gonna go on a date, fuck this girl, and go back to the apartment u share with ur best friend and pretend like u didn’t just screw someone to get over her?

Me: No, I’m gonna have dinner with her & go home.

Sean: Ur plan for getting over ur best friend is buying someone else dinner and not even getting so much as a handjob for ur troubles?

Sean: Don’t u kno the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else?

Me: When have you ever had a one-night stand where you’ve been on the bottom?

Sean: Point.

Sean: But still, u should have sex with her.

Me: Shouldn’t you be more concerned about fixing shit with Brie?

Sean: She’s staying with her mom. Georgia texted me this morning and she lost it. But it’s that time of the month so I let her go.

Me: You have the finesse of an elephant & you’re giving me relationship advice? Fuck off, man. Fight for your girl before you judge me.

Sean: Hey, u texted me first. I was being a good friend. U wanna text Brie instead?

Me: At this point, I’m gonna take your girl for dinner instead.

Sean: Great. Her fave choc is Hersheys Cookies and Cream and don’t mention sharks. They make her angry.

I put my phone face down on the coffee table and pinched my nose. He was hard work, but for all his nonchalant bullshit, I knew he was hurting that his relationship with Brie was on the rocks.

All because of the new girl I’d hired.

Fucking hell, I was making a hash of just about everything right now, wasn’t I?

Now, I was sitting here in my living room, counting down the minutes until I had to have dinner with the cute girl I’d met in the gym earlier today. All I really wanted to do was cancel and call Brie and drag her out for my reservation instead.

I hadn’t seen Shelby all day. I was scheduled for the later shift today, starting at eleven, and she’d left for the library before I’d even woken up. She’d come back before I had and locked herself in her room. I knew better than to disturb her when she was working, so I’d cooked her dinner and left it covered in the oven for her with a note.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t eat.

I might not pick up my socks, but I could cook a chicken like a boss. Despite my efforts at cooking bacon that almost always turned out badly, I was good at just about everything else. Shelby didn’t always like to admit it, but my omelets were better than hers, and I could cook meat better than her.

I knew she was avoiding me, and a part of me was okay with that. I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to see her right now either. Last night was still too fresh. Every time I thought about it, I was reminded about how close I’d come to kissing her when she’d been wiping my face.