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“So, first Lo, then Kendall, now you. Does that mean I’m next?” she asks with a laugh. “Because there are only three Graham brothers and I’m not sure I want anything to do with the rest of that crowd.”
“Piper—”
“Just let me get this off my chest, okay?” she asks, taking a seat on the edge of her freshly made bed and patting the spot beside her. Once I’m seated, hands clenched in my lap, she continues, “He’s not a one-night thing, is he?”
“No,” I confess.
“Wanna know how I figured that out so quick?”
“Because you know me.”
“No, because if he had been, he wouldn’t have left, and you wouldn’t have felt the need to come over here and talk to me about it. Because if he were just another guy, you would have brushed it off the way you did the others when I asked about them. Like they didn’t mean anything.”
She has a point. She’s never walked in on me in the act before, but the one time I did bring a guy back to our dorm, he wasn’t exactly quiet like I asked him to be. When she asked about him the next day, I shrugged it off and said I wasn’t going to see him again, then promised to never bring a guy back here if I knew she was going to be home. If the situation were reversed, and she’d been the one with company, I would have expected the same respect going forward from her.
Which is why we make great roommates.
Because we care about each other. Respect each other. Talk things through without fighting.
Most importantly, we don’t keep secrets.
“So, when did this start?” she asks after a long stretch of uncomfortable silence.
“Last weekend. We ended up sharing a tent, not by choice. Max wanted to share with Evie to ‘keep the guys away’,” I say, using unnecessary air quotes. We’re all very well aware of Max’s overprotective tendencies.
“And what? Sparks flew?”
“You could say that. At first, I thought he hated me. He was being an ass. Then he started making snide, sexual remarks and flirting with me which was confusing as hell. It didn’t dawn on me that he was attracted to me until the first morning we woke up and we were spooning. Not on purpose. From there, things just kind of happened. I always thought he was hot as hell, and after waking up with his cock poking me in the back, I kind of decided he’d be the one this summer. He had other ideas. Longer term ideas. It wasn’t supposed to turn into more than one night, but here we are, five days later, and I can’t seem to stop thinking about him.”
“Is the sex that good?” Piper laughs but I know her question is sincere.
“Yes. Yes, it is. He’s an addiction I don’t want to kick.”
My honesty surprises me a little. Yes, I like Micah. Yes, I enjoy spending time with him, with and without our clothing on. Yes, I made the rules to protect myself from losing the only thing I have worth anything, my scholarship.
Still, I’m starting to wonder if I’ve gotten in over my head.
Because at some point in time, I am going to have to give him up. Before I fall in love with him. Before I get in so deep, I won’t be able to crawl out of the hole I’ve dug. Before he decides he’s done with me and wants to move on.
Which was the reason for rule number seven to begin with.
If one person wants out, there’s no argument.
I can walk away whenever I want, without having to explain myself. Without him fighting me on my decision.
But isn’t that what he did tonight?
I didn’t answer his text, so he took it upon himself to show up here. To bring me dinner. To invade my life when I basically asked him for space.
And I let him.
Begged him to come inside with me.
Shit. I’m already screwed. Tonight, literally but not figuratively.
I’d rather it be the other way around.
“Why do you sound sad about it?” Piper asks, nudging me with her elbow.
