Trading with the Boys

“Sure,” the two of them said together. They glanced at each other, then Cole spoke alone. “The question is do you want that?”

Roommates. The thought had never occurred to me. The house had four bedrooms, and I was using one for an office. That left two empty, and here were two perfectly viable tenants.

“What about Tate?”

“Tate’s got his own place,” said Cole, “and he’s locked into a lease for the rest of the year. He’ll obviously be over here, though. He just won’t have a bed.”

“Obviously,” I laughed nervously.

There was an awkward silence, as everything they’d just told me sank in. Logistically it made sense. Emotionally…

“We’d both pay a fair share of the rent, plus we could split the utilities,” Cole went on. “And you could place an ad to rent out the basement. You’d have someone down there in a week.”

“Less than a week,” Jacob countered. “And you’d get a lot for it, too.”

I could’ve been doing the math in my head, or counting dollar signs. Life would be a hell of a lot easier. My money problems would be gone, virtually overnight.

All I could think about however, was this room.

“Of course, if you’d rather live alone we totally get it,” Cole said quickly. “You’re used to having your space. We’d never try to impose, or—”

“No,” I cut him off. “No, it’s not that.”

The two of them glanced back at me together, sizing me up. They couldn’t possibly know. I hadn’t really told them.

My eyes went glassy, and I could feel their hearts breaking.

“Serena,” Cole said, as they both took a quick step in my direction. “Hey, don’t be upset.”

“I’m not upset,” I lied.

“Whatever it is it’s okay,” said Jacob. “Forget the whole idea. We just thought—”

I broke out crying. I just couldn’t help it. One minute I was standing there in the center of the room, the next I was sobbing with both their arms around me. They held me for a while without talking, without saying a word. And then I sensed something else. Someone else.

“Hey!” cried Tate, standing in the doorway with his work clothes on. He rushed over, giving the others an accusatory look. “What the hell did you do to her?”

Forty

SERENA

“I’m sorry,” I said from my end of the kitchen table. “I really am. I’m just being stupid.”

Tate slid something red in front of me — one of the vodka and cranberry drinks they’d been making me lately. In the past they’d gotten me very drunk and very happy. Right now, it was only to take the edge off.

“Sorry for what?” Cole said from the chair to my left. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“I know, I just… well…”

Tate had already interrogated them, demanding to know what they did to upset me. Poor Jacob and Cole had no idea.

“Listen, when I was married that room was supposed to be a nursery,” I began. “I painted and prepped it for a baby, once Eric and I decided we were ready to have children.”

I took a long pull from my drink, both wincing and savoring the tartness at the same time. For once, the guys stayed silent.

“It was about two or three years into our marriage, and David was graduating.” I nodded toward them. “You were all graduating, actually.”

The hand not holding my drink rested on the table. Jacob slid his palm over it and squeezed gently. “Go on.”