The Roommate Agreement

Nothing more, nothing less.

If I told myself that, I had to believe it.

The last thing I wanted was for this to get any worse.

Especially since she knew what I looked like naked. Accident or not, the way her gaze had strolled all over my body before she’d screamed blue bloody murder said she’d taken a damn good look.

I didn’t care. Her seeing me naked wasn’t embarrassing for me, but I knew it would be for her. That was why I’d skirted on over it. I knew she’d had a good look; she knew she’d had a good look. Bringing it up would make it awkward.

And, honestly, I’d have a damn good look if I saw me naked for the first time, too.

Hell. I see myself naked every single day and still take a good browse of my abs every now and then.

It’s good for the ego—mostly because I now live with a woman who doesn’t think twice about bringing me down a peg or ten.

I placed my order, paid, and took a seat at the nearest empty table. Sean quickly followed behind me and put his receipt on the table next to mine.

“All right,” he said. “So you’re not in love with her. Fine. That I understand. We’ve all seen Shelby on a deadline.”

My lips twitched. Deadline Shelby in public was a lot different to Deadline Shelby at home.

I still have nightmares from the time I woke up and found her rummaging in the fridge with her hair looking like she’d stuck her pinky finger in a power outlet.

I’d thought we were being robbed.

Nope. Just Shelby having a midnight snack and breaking the diet she swore she’d start on Monday.

Such was my life.

“But,” Sean continued. “You live with her now. Do you really think that whatever this crush is is just going to disappear by itself? If you can make it beyond the Oreo and dry shampoo obsession and get the girl to shower daily during a deadline, she’s a real catch.”

I rubbed my mouth to hide my laughter. He did have a point—her showering habits during a deadline sometimes left some things to be desired, and if it happened with the next one, I already had her favorite deodorant in a box under my bed.

I planned on slipping it through her door with a packet of Oreos on day three.

Friendly reminder, sly dig… You pick.

“I don’t know, man. It’s probably just because we live together now and I’m seeing a different side of her.”

“Even when she makes you do your own laundry?”

“It’s a valuable skill. I even figured the dryer out all by myself.”

“Don’t tell Brie. She already has me vacuuming daily. I don’t need any other chores.”

“Really? You only vacuum? No wonder she gets pissed when you’re on your phone.”

He shook his head. “Don’t fucking judge me. How many chores did you do until Shelby took your lazy ass in?”

We weren’t going to discuss that. “Point is, I’m a changed man.” I nodded at him as our food was brought over. I pulled my lettuce burger toward me, taking a second to look at it. The cheese was melted, the bacon was crispy, and the sweet potato fries on the side looked like I’d inhale them in two handfuls. “She’s even drawing up a chores schedule. Something about making me into a man some poor woman will have to marry one day.”

“That or she’s trying to teach you to look after yourself for when she’s finally able to get you to move out. Like when she gets a boyfriend.” The look on his face was sly.

“Shut the fuck up and eat your lunch, or I’m putting you on bathroom cleaning duty this afternoon.”

That wiped the smile off his face. He knew I wouldn’t, but it drove home the point that I didn’t want to talk about this right now.

I knew he was doing it to wind me up, but I wasn’t going to fall for that shit. I was going to nip it in the bud before he took it too far.

I didn’t care what he thought—I knew this crush was just that.

A fucking crush.

It’d pass, like so many of them had before and so many in the future would.

Screw the fact that if she’d walked into the bathroom five minutes earlier yesterday, she’d have seen me with my hand wrapped around my dick while thinking about her and hating myself.

She was my best friend.

My roommate.

I’d write it in graffiti on his bedroom wall and mine and hire a plane to fucking write it in the sky if that’s what it took to make it clear.

No matter how badly I wanted to see if she tasted like Oreos and milk—I wouldn’t.

Shelby Daniels was the one woman in this world who was off-limits to me.

Nothing could change that.

Nothing would change that.