The Roommate Agreement
“I have a crush on Nick Jonas,” I said quickly. “Uh, what are you doing here?”
He motioned to our drinks. “We’re getting a drink.”
“We?” Brie leaned to the side and raised one eyebrow. “Don’t you know this is girls’ night? What the hell are you doing here with one of your minions?”
“Minions? I take offense at that.”
I groaned at the new voice, slowly turning my head to the side. “What,” I said, “Are you doing here?”
Jay grinned, motioning for me to move over so he could take my seat. “’Sup, bestie?”
I stared at him. “No.”
“Aw, come on, Shelbs. We wanted a beer and some food.”
“No.”
He sighed and walked around to the empty chair on the other side of me. His knee nudged mine beneath the table at the same time his elbow did above it. “I thought we’d come to celebrate the fact I officially live with you.”
“Really? I was here commiserating about it,” I muttered, making Brie snort her drink up her nose.
Our drinks were brought over, and the guys ordered theirs while the server was here.
“One night a week,” Brie said. “That’s all we want. Three measly hours.”
“Two weeks ago, you both rolled in the door at two a.m.”
I held up a finger. “Not our fault. We got wrangled into a bachelor party, and they wouldn’t let us go. We explained this.”
“If your parents didn’t own this place, I’d be terrified of that,” Sean drawled, looking at me.
All right, yes. We came to the bar my parents owned. We did that because, uh, hello? Free cocktails in exchange for covering a few shifts?
No. Freaking. Brainer.
“Excuse me?” Brie leaned back and gave him a look that said he better have a damn good reason for saying that.
She was sass personified. I didn’t know how Sean coped with it, to be honest.
Mind you, I wasn’t exactly Miss Polite.
“Drunk people can be crazy,” Sean started. “And men at a bachelor party? They can get a little out of control because they expect strippers.”
He was reaching now.
“Are you calling me a stripper?” Brie’s tone was quickly getting dark. “It’s that, or you don’t trust me.”
“I’m not—fucking hell, how did this happen?”
I leaned into Jay. “This is why you don’t come to girls’ night. We’re here to complain about you, not to you.”
He turned his head so his lips were close to my ear—a little too close. “I said it was a bad idea. He wouldn’t listen. I think they had a fight.”
My eyebrows shot up as Sean leaned into her and said something into her ear.
Brie looked at me, her nostrils flaring. “I need some air. Can you order my usual for me?”
“You want me to come with you?”
“No.” She shot a look at Sean and slid off her chair, heading for the door. Her flat ankle boots squeaked against the floor, and Sean buried his face in his hands.
I looked at him. “What did you do?”
“Why do you assume it was him?” Jay asked.
Their beers were brought over, and we all ordered our food, including me ordering for Brie.
“Because he’s a man and I’m a woman, so I’ll naturally assume he fucked up,” I explained. “Now, Sean, spill it.”
He blew out a long breath and met my eyes. “We had a fight. Stupid shit. We’re still adjusting to living together. Little things all piled up, and I thought being here would be helpful.”
I pushed my empty drink to the side and finally pulled my full one toward me. “Bad idea,” I said simply. “She needs time. Trust me. I know how hard it is to move in with someone.”
“Don’t look at me like that!” Jay slammed his bottle onto the table. “I’m not that fucking bad!”
“You eat my Oreos and you are the reason we have a roommate agreement!” I slapped his forearm. “You are a terrible roommate.”
Jay looked at Sean with a flat expression. “You see the shit I put up with? Does your roommate hit you? Does she abuse you for accidentally eating her Oreos? Does she make you sign a contract to keep living there?”
“That’s called a rental agreement,” I snapped.
Sean looked between us. “Are you both sure you’re not married?”
“Over my dead body,” I said right as Jay choked on his beer.
“Whatever. What do I do to fix this with Brie?”
“Well, to start,” I said. “I’d apologize for implying she’s either a stripper or that you can’t trust her. That’s the easiest way to find your ass sleeping in your car tonight. Then, I’d start with saying that you’ll leave as soon as you’re done eating. Tomorrow, I’d make her breakfast with her favorites then buy her flowers.”
Jay leaned forward and looked at Sean. “That shit is why I’m single.”
“Yeah, that’s the reason.” I rolled my eyes. “Seriously, Sean, whatever you did, just talk to her. Now, before her food comes out and she’s really hangry.”