Page 89 of Enchanted

“What?” Rami’s head whipped around in alarm, like he was expecting an axe murderer to have appeared. “What’s wrong?”

“Fuck,” I repeated, sinking down in my seat. “Sorry. I just realised I don’t have anywhere to go. I can’t go back to Dave’s.”

It had never felt like my home. And now, knowing my replacement was probably there?

Yeah, that was a hard pass.

Rami was quiet for several seconds. “Well⁠—”

“Nope.” I shot a finger up over his grinning lips. “You’re absolutely not going to suggest I move in with you, Rami. I’ve made several leaps the last few days, but that would take the biscuit.”

He nipped lightly at the end of my finger. “Actually, I was going to say that some friends of mine are looking for a housemate.”

“Oh.” I turned my head towards the window, praying Rami hadn’t spotted my now-flaming cheeks. Of course he hadn’t been about to suggest I move in with him. We were friends, for fuck’s sake. I was reading into things. Again.

“Ethan.”

“Yeah?” I kept my gaze fixed out the window.

He palmed the back of my neck, squeezing lightly. “Eth, look at me.”

Reluctantly, I turned my head to face him. He wasn’t watching the road; his warm brown eyes fixed on me. “Trust me, if I got to choose, my place would be the one I was suggesting. But you are just out of a long-term relationship. Not only that, but you’ve been given this brand-new future you weren’t expecting. I won’t lie to you—I want you, Ethan. What I don’t want is to rush you into anything. I want you to be with me because you’re choosing to be, not because you feel like you don’t have another option.”

I blinked away the heat gathering behind my eyes and tried to remind myself that we hadn’t known each other that long. Which seemed ridiculous, given how comfortable I already felt with him. “You’re too perfect. You know that, right?”

He smiled, squeezing my neck once more before letting go. “Keep believing that and everything will be grand.”

“So, tell me about these friends of yours,” I said, getting the conversation back on course. “Are they actually looking for a housemate, or are you just determined to make it happen?”

Rami grinned and didn’t deny it. “There’s three of them and they live right around the corner. Nox and Jeremiah used to live there, but since they moved into our place, they’ve got two rooms empty.”

I winced. “If they’re that close to you, I doubt it’s in my price range.”

“It’s definitely in your price range,” Rami said as he pulled off into the services. “They don’t need the money, so the rooms are priced cheap.”

“Then why are they still empty?”

Rami parked and turned the engine off. “They’re…picky about who they let in.”

The little hope I had left me. “That’s me fucked, then.”

“Why?”

I gestured at myself. “I’ve only been back in the country just over a year. I have nobody to provide me with a reference.”

“On the contrary,” Rami said, opening his door. “You’ve got me. Trust me, my recommendation is all you’ll need.”

Aquick phone call from Rami while we were stopped at the services cemented it. I had an interview with his friends for a room in a house.

Rami was keen to insist it wasn’t an interview, but really, what else could it be? They were going to be sizing me up, deciding whether my personality was one they could stand to be around twenty-four seven, trying to figure out whether I had any heinous bad habits, like helping myself to other people’s food or staying up until 2 a.m. playing garage music.

To be clear, I didn’t do either of those things. I liked to think I was pretty easy to live with.

Then again, Dave had decided to cheat on me, so maybe I wasn’t.

“Don’t worry about them,” Rami said as we were on the outskirts of London. I hadn’t told him about my building anxiety, but he read me too well. It should have scared me given the short time I’ve known him, but it didn’t. “If anything, this is about them winning you over, not the other way around.”

My nose wrinkled. “I thought they weren’t desperate for tenants?”