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At that question, Luke looked up, though he glanced anywhere but at me as he chewed his lips raw.
“No, not really.”
“Okay, then,” Angie declared, pushing her empty plate away and turning to look at Luke. “I think it’s a good place. You have my approval.”
Luke rolled his eyes, but I knew her approval meant something to him. Then Angie turned to give me another look, and I easily translated it tohurt him and I’ll nail your balls to the wall. And I didn’t doubt she’d do exactly that. I nodded in understanding before standing up and clearing away the plates.
“Let me help,” Luke offered, standing up too.
“Nah, it’s okay. Tomorrow, we’ll divide the chores. Enjoy the last day as a guest in this house,” I told him with a wink before carrying the plates into the kitchen.
“Ice cream for dessert?” I called out as I put the dishes in the sink and washed my hands.
“I almost forgot,” I heard Luke say from behind me and turned to find him standing with a Tupperware box in his hand. He extended the box toward me. “I made cookies. I hope you like chocolate chips.”
I smiled widely as I took the box from him. I opened the lid, and my mouth watered when I saw the delicious-looking cookies and inhaled the chocolate-filled fragrance of it. I broke off a small piece and put it in my mouth, almost moaning at how quickly it melted on my tongue.
“Could you maybe pay rent in the form of cookies instead?” I asked him, completely serious, as I savored the bite.
Luke’s face lit up with a smile, and I almost gasped again at how beautiful he looked with a smile on his face. I mean, he was gorgeous without it too, but the smile made him look almost angelic. “I’m glad you like them.”
“I do. Which is why I’ll still be serving ice cream for dessert and eating all of these later by myself.”
Luke chuckled as I put the box away and grabbed the ice cream. There were no more questions after that, and they left soon after dessert. Once they were gone, I did the dishes and then grabbed a few cookies, got myself a glass of milk, and headed into the living room.
With the thriller I’d been reading, I lounged on the couch and devoured the cookies, enjoying my last day alone in my apartment. I had to admit I couldn’t wait for Luke to move in, and it had nothing to do with how good of a baker he was.Nothing at all.
4
Scott
Ithadbeenaweek since Luke moved into my apartment, and I’d barely seen him. I was a morning person, and he definitely wasn’t, so I always ended up making breakfast and leaving his in the oven with a post-it reminder on the door. In return, he did the same with dinner, even though I knew he wasn’t sleeping when I came home from work since the lights in his room were always on.
I couldn’t help but feel he was avoiding me. I’d known he was wary of strangers from the times I’d interacted with him, but the whole point of getting a roommate had been to have someone to hang out with, to not feel so lonely anymore. I didn’t need the money, but I did want the company. And yet there I was, alone again.
Being by myself for most of my life, you’d think I’d be used to it. But I wasn’t. I was tired of it, though. Tired of always being lonely, of never having anyone to connect with or even simply having someone to talk to. And now Luke was evading me, and I was starting to regret giving him the room. I couldn’t give up so easily. I had to make him see that hanging out together once in a while wouldn’t be so bad and that he could trust me.
Which was why I was on my way home early today. It was Saturday, so I hadn’t exactly needed to be at work, but I’d had some backlog issues that had needed sorting. The firm I worked at was owned by my best friend, and though we’d originally planned to be partners, I hadn’t wanted all the hassle and all the added stress that came with the position. And a part of me had been afraid to make that commitment, to start something sopermanentwith him. So, I’d given up on the partnership and decided to work as the head project manager for the advertising firm instead.
When I reached my apartment, I unlocked the door as softly and quietly as I could. I tried to be sneaky as I opened the door, not because I wanted to scare Luke, but because I wanted to know whether he holed up in his room even when I wasn’t around or if he made use of the rest of the house. My question was answered when I spotted Luke lounging on the couch, a book in one hand and a cookie in the other. He’d baked a new batch. Perfect.
I squinted at the book as I started closing the door behind me and realized it was the first book of the urban fantasy series a coworker had insisted I needed to read. I also saw that he wasn’t many pages into it yet. Well, wasn’t that just lucky?
I softly knocked on the door once I’d closed it behind me so I didn’t startle him. He craned his neck to look over, and his eyes widened when he spotted me.
“Hey, Luke! I got off work early. Just gonna grab a shower. Please don’t disappear again.” I gave him a teasing smile before disappearing into my room. If I had to guilt him into staying, then I would. Enough was enough. If he really didn't want to hang out, then the least he could do was tell me to my face instead of avoiding me.
Though I hoped he’d stay, I still rushed through the shower and dressed up in an old t-shirt and sweatpants in record time. I grabbed my copy of the book thatI’d bought a few days ago—along with the rest of the series—and headed into the living room. I smiled when I spotted Luke on the couch. He was sitting now, the book in his lap and the cookie gone.
His eyes fell on me as I took a seat on the armchair and then the book in my hand. He looked up at me with a raised brow, and I leaned back in my chair as I spoke. “A colleague recommended me the series, and when I made the mistake of asking why she’d want me to read a young adult book, she made me buy the whole set and promise her I’d read it.”
Luke’s lips tilted into a small smile, and I marveled again at how much it brightened his face. “Well, if you said that, then she definitely did the right thing.”
I made a face that made him chuckle and smiled before replying, “So anyway, I noticed you were reading the same book, and I wondered if we could read together. You know, narrating alternate chapters. It would give us a chance to hang out since we didn’t have an opportunity to do it all week.” I didn’t point out that it was because he’d taken every chance to avoid me. “I thought it would be a good idea to get to know each other a bit. Or at the very least be comfortable in each other’s presence so we don’t tiptoe around each other whenever we’re both home.” Whoops, did I say too much?
Luke chewed his lower lip for a second before nodding hesitantly. “Would you like some cookies?”
“Of course!” I said excitedly, making him smile. Those cookies were going to be the death of me.Or that smile.
