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“Sure, he’s had me first,” she said, with a hint of beguilement. “But let’s say we’re all living together on a regular basis. Where do I sleep? Do I have a room? Do I take turns having sleepovers in your rooms, or—”
“You’ll have a room,” Kyle called from the front seat. “Your own space, of course. And where you sleep is always going to be your call.”
Sammara seemed to consider that for a moment. Especially since Kyle’s answer hinted at the fact we’d discussed all this ahead of time.
“Alright,” she went
on. “What about dates, then.”
Dakota scratched his head. “Hmm?”
“Dates,” she repeated. “Who takes me out? Do you take turns with me on dates, or do we do group dates?” She sighed wistfully. “A girl’s gotta have romance you know, even with four guys.”
Dakota laughed, rubbing at the cleft of his smooth chin. It was a nervous habit of his.
“You don’t think you’ll have romance?” he asked.
Sammara shrugged. “Maybe. Possibly.”
“Trust me,” Kyle said, “you’ll have more than enough romance. And we’ll be dating you so much you might get sick of going out.”
“Oh I don’t know…” said Sammara, looking at her nails. “I really really like going out.”
In a way she was interrogating us, even gaining the upper hand. It wasn’t something I was used to at all.
“You sure ask a lot of questions,” I spat.
It came off a little more harsh than I meant it, but I did mean it. I didn’t want her screwing around. Playing us for fools.
“What?”
“If you didn’t think you’d be happy with us,” I said indifferently, “then why’d you even bother applying?”
Sammara turned to face me, her expression cold. To her credit she didn’t look down at all, she looked right into my eyes.
“I didn’t.”
“Didn’t what?”
“Didn’t apply for this. You know that. Kyle convinced me to come because you all thought I’d be ‘perfect’ for you.” She drew the word out teasingly, then laughed. “Despite never even having met me.”
I looked back at her, sensing her anger, tasting it to see whether it was genuine. Our eyes locked, and I could see the inner fire that burned behind those ice-blue orbs. The truth was, I needed her like this. It’s what I did — my gift, if you would. Cutting through layer upon layer of bullshit to get to the actual core of people.
From the front seat, Kyle flashed me a stern look.
“Still, you didn’t have to come,” I shrugged. “You know full well what we want, what we’re looking for. Even if you didn’t directly answer the ad.”
She saw through my eyes. Saw through me. The anger dissipated, if it was even there at all — the feigned outrage replaced by a much more calculating stare.
I know you. That’s what her look said now. The gaze within her gaze was an assessment. A valuation. I know who you are and I know exactly what you’re doing…
Well shit. Maybe she could handle herself.
“I came for the house,” she said eventually, turning away. Her gaze dropped back out the window. “Not for you.”
Dakota looked back at me like I’d just shot his dog. Kyle looked even angrier.
“So you’re trying to get hired as what… our interior design expert?”
