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“Not that I blame you in the least, but eye-fucking or any other kind of fucking your landlord is a terrible idea,” Cora said wisely as she scurried into the bathroom.
Rolling her eyes, Taryn grabbed two bottles of water for them. Twisting off the top of hers, she drank deeply and waited for Cora to finish in the bathroom.
When Cora returned to the room, Taryn passed her the bottle of water and then said, “Thanks, oh wise one. I hadn’t put that together until you said something. I’m not going to bang my landlord. Jesus. Give me some credit.”
“Hey,” Cora said, raising her hands in mock surrender, “I know you’ve been on a sexual hiatus for a while now. I wouldn’t blame you.”
“I will admit, he’s hot. Really, really hot. That would complicate things big time. I’m not into complications. That’s why I stopped dating in the first place.”
“You can’t keep up this ‘born again virgin’ stuff forever. Not every guy is like Jeremy. Some of them aren’t complete shitheads,” Cora said, referring to Taryn’s ex-boyfriend.
“It’s not even about Jeremy now. I just don’t want to deal with the hassle. I’m just finishing school now, getting settled into a career, and I want to focus on that for a while.”
Cora nodded, though she looked somewhat skeptical.
Taryn held up a hand and said, “It’s fine, Cora. I’m perfectly content. Can we move on from my sex life and focus on something else?”
“Like Hottie McSexyPants? This is a new development. When did he move in?”
Taryn laughed and said, “Today, I guess. I met him when I got home. He was moving in. Almost knocked me down the stairs.”
Cora raised an eyebrow and gestured for her to continue, so Taryn recounted the story of this afternoon’s encounter.
Cora confidently said, “I give you a month, tops, before pants come off.”
On a sigh, Taryn said, “No. There will be no taking off pants. I can practice self-control.”
“But do you really want to?”
“I just told you I wanted to,” Taryn said, exasperation clear in her voice.
“You’re gonna be living across the hallway from a whole lot of sexy. If the conversation on the stairs tonight is any indication…” Cora trailed off, taking another swig of water.
“He might have a wife or a girlfriend. Hell, maybe he has a boyfriend. I don’t know, Cora,” she said, rubbing her eyes. Realizing she had just smeared makeup on her hand, she added, “I’m gonna go wash off my makeup. I bet I look like a raccoon right now.”
Cora continued to talk as she headed into the bathroom, saying, “No way on earth that man has a boyfriend, the way he was staring at your tits.”
Taryn scrubbed a hand over her face and laughed.
When she came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, she was in a pair of Hello Kitty boxers and a tank top. Her face had been scrubbed clean.
Cora immediately shoved a drink in her hand.
She looked at it, then sniffed it suspiciously. Blanching, she said, “Gee. Is there liquor in this, Cora? I can’t quite tell.”
Uncharacteristically serious, Cora said, “I drink once every three or four months. You drink less than I do. You’re not like him. Neither of us are. You just finished eight years of schooling and an internship in seven and a half years. Celebrate with me. This is huge.”
Cora was right. Taryn said, “What the hell. Can I add some more juice to this though? This kind of smells like lighter fluid.”
Three hours later, Cora snored lightly on the couch next to her. She’d brought over a stack of zoo-themed movies and then passed out during the first one. Taryn didn’t blame her. It was an awful movie, complete with talking animals. She grabbed the throw from the back of the sofa and covered Cora.
Turning off the television, Taryn poured out the remainder of her drink. A little woozy now, she realized she was officially drunk. Grabbing another bottle of water, she headed into her bedroom. Flopping down on the bed, she wrapped the covers around her like a cocoon and passed out.
* * *
*
The loud thumps and shouting from the hallway woke Taryn. She turned her head, wincing at the sharp stab of pain behind her eyes. Looking at the clock, she willed her eyes to focus. 6:17 a.m. What in the hell was all the noise in the hallway? The grunting and shouting continued for another two minutes before Taryn forced herself out of bed.
