AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, god, it is so hot out today,” Amber says as she walks through the front door. “So glad to be home. I’m sure all this sweating is ruining my hair.”
I quickly buckle my belt and stare down at the sink. Empty. Not one damn dish so I can pretend to be cleaning. Why is this the one day the fucking sink is empty?
“What have you two been up to?” Amber says. I hear her purse drop by the door. “Why are there all these bags?”
Paige unwraps another Popsicle and sits at the kitchen table.
I hold my breath. She wouldn’t.
“What do you mean?” Amber says. “Brody, why are you at the sink?”
I pull my voice out of my scrotum because that’s where it dropped to. “Cleaning.”
“I did that yesterday.”
“You missed a spot.” I grab a sponge and start scrubbing the faucet.
Amber tsks. “Jerk. Like you care. You live in filth.”
When I don’t respond with a snappy comeback, she joins Paige at the table. “Check out these nails,” she says to Paige.
I exhale. That was close. And stupid. I was letting my sex-brain think for me, and that’s never smart. I need a beer. Oh right, I don’t have any. I turn to face the table and lean back against the counter again, arms crossed.
“Geez, Brody, you look like the world is against you,” Amber comments. “And you have red juice on your chin.”
I quickly wipe it off before she can think too much about it and connect the red on my chin with Paige’s very red lips and tongue. I change the subject to something I’ve been avoiding. Time to be a man and get it over with. “Since you’re both here, I have to tell you something.”
“You’re annoying, we know,” Amber remarks.
“Funny.” I pause as Paige makes eye contact and slides a yellow Popsicle in and out of her mouth. I angle myself away from her direction. “We’ll have a new roommate soon. Troy. He won’t be here long.”
“What?” Amber huffs. “No. You can’t ju—”
“Please, I don’t want to fight.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Can we discuss this like the two rational people we’re not?”
She relaxes. “Fine. I don’t know who Troy is, but there’s no room.”
“He’s a coworker. I promised him a month ago that he could stay here. It’s only for two weeks. He’ll be in and out, and he’s paying a month of the mortgage.”
“But only staying two weeks?”
“Yeah.”
“When is he moving in?”
I shift uncomfortably. “By the end of the week.”
“Thanks for the short notice.” Despite her frown, I can tell Amber is close to agreeing. I knew the money would convince her. We’ve been tight lately. She turns to Paige. “How do you feel about this?”
Paige hesitates, holding the Popsicle over a magazine and staring at the juice trailing down her thumb. Her brows crease as if she’s lost in thought.
Fuck Troy. If this situation will make Paige uncomfortable, then he can—
“Yeah,” I say. “He’s friendly. But if you don’t—”
