“Zoe?” I call out again.
“What?!”
I feel so relieved to hear her annoyed response. “Are you okay? Where are you?”
“Fine. Bedroom.”
I glance at Brady and he nods again. I hurry back to her room, knocking once before entering.
Zoe is lying on her bed on her back, shoulders dangling over the edge, a book in her hands. It looks like she’s reading upside down.
“Hey,” I say to her. “Are you okay?”
She drops the book and sighs. “No, I’m not okay. I’ve been studying all day again and I swear to god I don’t know a thing at all, and—” She stops and rolls over onto her stomach, her eyes a little wide. “Who’s this?”
I glance back at Brady. “This is a friend.”
“Uh huh.” Zoe’s smile is knowing. “What’s his name?”
“Brady,” he says. “And you’re Zoe.”
“Nice to meet you.” She stands up and walks over to shake his hand. He grins at her. “How do you know Aria here?”
“Well—” Brady begins, but I jump in immediately.
“He’s just a friend.” I glare at Zoe. I know she knows about him already, she’s just doing this to torture me.
“You have friends I don’t know about?”
“Of course I do.”
She looks skeptical. “Doubtful.”
“Well, I do.”
“You don’t do anything.”
“I do plenty of stuff.”
“You basically just work,” she says.
“And you basically just study.”
“I’m not the one with the surprise guy friend.”
I roll my eyes at her. “I’m glad you’re all right.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” She grins a little. “Worried I was going to…. Catch you?”
I snort and leave the room, brushing past Brady. “You’re the worst.”
“Nice to meet you,” Brady says to her.
I hear him shut her door and follow me back into the living room.
“She seems nice,” he says.
“She’s an asshole.”
“But not in danger,” he points out.
I hesitate and sigh, feeling a bit of tension leave my body. “Yeah. You’re right.”
“What do you think?” he asks softly. “Should we hang around?”
I hesitate. I’m not sure how I feel staying here with Brady, even for a little while. But he’s right, we should probably stay and make sure that Zoe is okay.
He walks over and sits on the couch with a grin. I hesitate but join him.
“This is weird,” I admit.
“Why?”
“I don’t bring clients here.”
He winces at that word client.
“Well, I guess things change.”
“They sure do.” I chew my lip and he watches me. I want to get up and pace again, get some of this energy out, but I feel trapped.
“Show me your room,” he says suddenly.
“My room?”
“Yeah. You’ve seen mine. Show me yours.”
I sigh. “It’s boring.”
“Come on. Show me anyway. I bet you at least have a yearbook in there somewhere.”
“Looking for embarrassing pictures?” I ask, standing up.
“Ideally.”
“Hate to break it to you, but I’ve always been this perfect and cool.”
He chuckles at that, following me. “I bet that’s true.”
I toss him a grin over my shoulder and lead him back to my bedroom. We step inside and he shuts the door behind him before he starts to look around.
I feel a little self-conscious and I don’t know why. I guess it’s because he’s inspecting the place like he’s looking for some kind of flaw.
My room isn’t all that interesting though. I have some paintings on the wall, just cheesy thrift store things I’ve liked. I have a few plants, some pictures from college, but that’s mostly it.
“Very nice,” he says finally. “Bedrooms are strange. When you’re young and you have a roommate, they’re the most private and personal space you have.”
“What about when you’re older?” I ask him.
He grins and shrugs. “You just spread out more, I guess.”
“Yeah, well. I’m used to living like this.”
“I’m surprised you have a roommate,” he says absently. “I mean, your job is so odd.”
“She’s cool about it. Kind of jealous, actually.”
“What’s she studying for?”
“Law school.”
“Ah,” he says, nodding. “That’s what you want to do.”
“Right. I’m just running a little behind.”
“Maybe,” he says, picking up a book from my desk. “Or maybe you’re just working on your own schedule.”
I bite my lip as he puts the book down and turns to me. I feel my heart leap into my throat suddenly as he steps closer to me.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
He smirks. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“Brady, no way.”
“No way, what?”
“No way… we can’t… you know.”
He stops right in front of me, hands on my hips. “Have you ever kissed someone in here, little Aria?”
“No,” I admit. “So what?”
“So, I think it’s time you kissed a boy in your bedroom.”
“You don’t want to just kiss.”
He laughs gently, tilts my chin up toward him. “You sure about that?”
I glare into his eyes. “I’m pretty sure.”
“You don’t know me as well as you think you do, little Aria.”
He kisses me then, deep and slow. I can’t help but kiss him back.
It’s such a strange moment for me, standing in this room, my two worlds colliding. I’ve tried so hard to keep my personal and my professional lives completely separate, but here we are, mixing the two of them so irrevocably. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to peel them apart again.