Room Mated: Standalone Reverse Harem Romance

Jude groaned. “We thought you’d stay away because it might be too painful to go back there.”

“It was.”

“I’m sorry, Kylie,” Parker said with concern in his eyes. “We wanted to tell you, but first, we had to make sure there was something to tell you.”

Well that was about as clear as mud.

And speaking of mud, a server brought out a tray of mostly broken tortilla chips and a bowl of something that looked very much like mud. But upon closer inspection, I determined that it was a black bean dip. Maybe.

“Try it,” Parker urged.

“Thanks, but I’m not hungry.”

“I’d really like your opinion on it,” he insisted.

Sarcasm got the better of me. “Why, did you make it?”

“No, but one of the people I manage did.”

“Maybe someone else can try it,” I said absently. Then I looked up. “What did you just say?”

“I’m the new manager. I keep the books and order the supplies,” Parker said.

“You work here?”

He smiled. “Yeah, I do.”

I blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of this development. Maybe there was no sense to it. Maybe I was actually back on Alyssa’s couch dreaming a really weird dream.

“I work here too,” Jude said. “I’m in charge of the music and the sound system, obviously.”

“What about you?” I turned to Jude, still not sure what was actually happening. “Are you the stripper?”

Mason grinned and flexed his muscles. “I could be. But no, I’m the bouncer. And also, so far, the guy who fixes the ice machine and the lock on the bathroom stalls. Oh, and also the guy who helps unload the delivery trucks.”

“This makes no sense.”

Jude smiled gently. “Remember Delores? The eighty-year-old who owns this place?”

“Yeah.”

“She hired us. Said she needed some fresh blood.”

“But—but what about your classes?”

“We only work in the evenings, and not every evening at that. There are other employees here, of course. They fill in the gaps,” Parker said.

“I still don’t understand. Why would you want to work here?”

“For the room and board, of course,” Jude said with a twinkle in his eye. “We’ve moved into the apartment upstairs.”

“But, but… you had room and board at Henderson.”

“Yes, but we didn’t have you,” Parker said.

I bit my lower lip to keep it from trembling.

“That’s why you gave all that up?”

“Yes,” Jude said.

I turned to Mason. “That suite was your dream.”

His blue eyes were steady on mine. “I have different dreams now.”

I gripped the table as if to steady myself. “So… is there room upstairs for me?”

Jude grinned. “Not really. There are only three bedrooms. Still, we were thinking you might be interested in spending a third of the week in my room with me, another third in Parker’s room, and the last third in Mason’s.”

“Why am I last?” he grumbled, and of its own accord, my hand shot out and patted his muscular thigh.

“So… if I’m going to stay here, I guess I know what my role is here. The bartender.”

“The hot bartender,” Jude emphasized. “You’re going to clean up with tips.”

“And assistant manager. The record-keeping in this place was shoddy for decades. It’s going to take two of us MBA nerds to straighten it out,” Parker said.

“But won’t this interfere with our coursework?”

Jude shrugged. “Maybe. But in all honesty, it’s not much more extra work than running the conversation club. And we don’t all have to be on every night. There are other employees.”

“I figure if we each put in three or four nights a week until we get this place back on track and then we can cut back,” Parker said. “What do you think?”

“You gave up the suite,” I said weakly. “I still can’t get past that.”

Mason swung his arms around my shoulders. “There’s only one person in the world we would’ve done that for.”

That did it—the tears started to fall. The moisture made my vision blurry, but I could still see Jude and Parker across the table, smiling at me. Then Parker spoke up. “If you’re not going to try that disgusting bean dip, then maybe you’d like a tour of the apartment upstairs?”

“I sure would.”

“This is my room,” Mason said. The room itself was musty with dark fake wood paneling on the walls. However, the bed looked top-of-the-line and brand new. “That was delivered yesterday,” he said when he saw me staring at it. “It’s a California King.”

“It’s huge,” I said.

Mason grinned. “That’s the point.”

“Come see my room, Kylie.” That request made Parker sound like a little boy, but it made me smile.

Jude smiled as he watched me. “I thought you wanted a tour?”

“Um… maybe I could get a tour of that bed.”

Mason chuckled. “That might be possible.” He held out a hand, gesturing for me to go explore.

Tentatively, I moved toward the bed. A large, silver comforter covered a row of four pillows. I kicked off my boots and climbed onto the bed, settling myself in the middle. Then I looked at my guys and patted the bed on either side of me.