“It was quick. I think it’ll be okay,” she said, and I pulled her hand from the water. Looking at it, I wanted to make her feel better. It was a strong feeling in me, one that wanted to keep her safe, even from herself.
“I should have some burn cream in the first aid kit.” I didn’t wait for her to say anything before I turned to grab the cream.
“Thank you,” she said after I came back and applied the cream. But I didn’t let go of her hand once it was all said and done. “Thank you,” she whispered this time, but I sensed this heat coming from her, this emotion that I wanted so badly to claim as mine.
But I forced myself to let go.
Just tell her how you feel. Tell her how much you love her. But as I opened my mouth, feeling like I could finally do this right here and now, her cell went off.
Fuck, I swore it was either the phones or someone coming to my house that broke up whatever moment we were having.
At least, I thought it was a moment. Hell, maybe all of this was in my head? Maybe she was thinking I was crossing a line, but didn’t know how to tell me?
And maybe you’ll never find out unless you grow a set and just come clean.
4
Meghan
“You’re good?”
I looked at Brendan. “Sure. I can handle cleanup,” I said and chuckled.
He gave me this half smile that set my blood on fire.
His cell went off, and he pulled it out of his pocket to look at it. A sigh left him second later.
“Everything okay?”
He nodded and pocketed his phone. “Yeah. It’s just Hunter wanting to go out and drink. I’m not down with that.” He grinned again as he looked at me, and I felt this electricity slam into me. “I was thinking you and I could raid Netflix and find something to watch.”
My heart did this little flutter at the suggestion. “Yeah, okay.” I hated that I sounded so breathy.
“I’m just going to go take a quick shower. I smell like work.”
I laughed and nodded.
I shouldn’t have let my thoughts control me, but trying not to think about Brendan while living under the same roof with him was impossible. And, honestly? A part of me didn’t want to push those thoughts aside.
Being his roommate wasn’t like I’d thought it would be. During the short time I’d been here, he was respectful, sweet, and although I knew he’d always been like that, I thought maybe he would be different because I was intruding on his space and time.
I put the last plate in the dishwasher, popped in one of those cleaning packs, and closed the door. True to my word, and because this was the least I could do, I’d just cooked us a meal and was cleaning up. I tried to be as domestic as I could between work and going to school, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I liked doing this. It seemed weirdly intimate, like we were a team, a partnership.
It just felt right, and I hated that I had these delusions that there was something more than there was.
But do you really think there isn’t anything there?
I thought about the way I saw him look at me, at the fact I swore he felt the connection between us too. Hell, just a few minutes ago, I felt his stare on me as I cleaned up. And when I looked at him, I could see this intensity, this heat spear right through me.
God, just thinking about it now had me getting all hot and bothered.
It was another ten minutes before I was done in the kitchen. I heard the shower cut off down the hall, and I couldn’t help the pervy thoughts that slammed into my head.
Naked.
Water droplets on his body.
His flesh slightly red from the shower.
Lord. I could have had a heart attack.
I went into the living room, feeling pretty giddy at the prospect of watching a movie with Brendan.
I am some kind of pathetic, that’s for sure.
I heard a few knocks on the front door and contemplated ignoring it. I might live here temporarily, but I felt slightly weird answering his door. But then I thought not seeing who it was would be rude as hell, and I found myself walking toward it, gripping the handle, and pulling the door open.
I saw one of Brendan’s friends on the other side, his focus on his phone for a second before he looked up at me. The grin he gave me was slow, and I felt like he was trying to picture me naked by the way he was eyeing me up and down.
I thought his name was Hunter.
I’d met him one other time since being here, and although he was nice enough, I’d felt him checking me out. It was uncomfortable, not because it was him, but because I’d never been one to feel especially good when a guy eye-fucked me.
“Hey. Brendan around?”
I nodded and moved back to let him in. Before I could call out to Brendan, Hunter was doing that.
“Yo, bitch tits. Get your ass out here.”