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Jasmine stares at Blake, her eyes almost glazing over. Great – now I'm going to have to worry aboutherhormones.
"Well, it's nice of you to visit her," Carmen says warmly. She's always the gatekeeper, trying to keep the peace. I'm sure my roommates can sense my awkwardness, and the not so subtle death glares I send Blake's way aren't helping.
"Absolutely. We didn't get a chance to catch up the few times she's been home. So, I figured why not?" Blake responds, shooting a smirk in my direction.
I pick up a discarded butter knife on the table and grip it in my hand while I glare at him. His lips tug as he holds my stare, not backing down.
Jeremy eyes the knife cautiously, between darting back and forth between us. "So, Rylee… pancakes later?"
I hold in a groan of frustration as I break our stare to look at Jeremy. I don't want to appear rude, so I swallow my pride and let Blake win this round.
"Sure. I'll cook pancakes for the four of us," I say, clearly insinuating that Blake gets none.
Carmen's phone breaks out in the tune of "How you like that" by Blackpink, and she excuses herself from the table to head into the living room. The tense ramps up as the peacekeeper leaves, and Jeremy mutters something about needing to check his pet fish. Jasmine catches on, also pushing her chair back.
The two of them slip out of the kitchen and I let out a groan. "You're already scaring away my people."
"Let me guess… no Nemo?"
I glare at Blake, still not ruling out the possibility I might stab him with the blunt metal weapon. He leans forward on his arms, holding my gaze.
"Give it your best try, Rylee," he says smirking as he reads my thoughts.
"I could take you," I snap back, pointing the knife in his direction casually. "I'm small, but powerful."
Blake's hand suddenly swipes out, grabbing the knife from my grip.
I gasp at him. "Asshole."
"Powerful, my ass. You probably couldn't even fight your way out of a wet paper bag," he says, tossing the knife around.
I make a swipe for it, but he moves his hand easily.
"You're so temperamental. I'm starting to see why Asher likes you. You are both exactly the same."
"I'm nothing like him," I snap back.
Blake raises an eyebrow. "If you say so."
Carmen walks back into the kitchen, looking at us in confusion. Her eyes shift to the now empty seats of Jeremy and Jasmine, before landing back on me.
"I have some bad news, I'm afraid," she says sadly.
I straighten up, looking at her in concern. "What's wrong?"
She sighs, slipping back into her seat. "That was the landlord. He wants to swing by tomorrow to have a look at the house. He's going bankrupt and needs to sell the house to pay back some debts."
"What?" I yell. "So where does that leave us?"
Carmen smiles sadly. "We're going to have to move. I'll start contacting real estate agents tomorrow, but I know it's tough with the lack of housing in the area. But hey, don't stress. We might get lucky."
I stare at her in shock, lost for words. She reaches over to squeeze my hand.
"Don't worry. I'm sure it will be okay, Ry. I'll go tell Jer and Jaz."
We watch her leave the kitchen, and I put my head in my hands, forgetting about Blake for a moment.
"This is fucked up," I mutter.
