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“One of the roommates. Galen.”
“Where?” I showed him with a discreet flick of my finger. “Oh. Babe, he’s hot. And his drink’s empty. Go fill it.”
“No, thank you.”
“I’m busy.” Jake started processing a receipt on the register. “You need to help me. Go.”
He gave me a little nudge and reluctantly I made my way to Galen. Stopping in front of him, I tipped my chin up. It was the friendliest greeting I could produce. “What are you doing here?”
He leaned back on his barstool. “Is that any way to talk to a customer?”
“What are you drinking, Galen?” I sighed, resigning myself to serving him. He wasn’t worth losing my job over, and it would be my luck he would cause a stink just because he could.
“Nice outfit,” he said, instead.
I rolled my eyes and put a hand on my hip, conscious of his eyes roaming greedily over my exposed skin. What was his deal? He’d seen me in it a dozen times, at least. “Yeah? Take a picture; it’ll last longer.”
He watched me a moment longer, unsmiling. “Bring me a beer.”
I brought my middle finger to my forehead in the guise of scratching it, made sure he got a good look, and then walked away. Jake followed a few minutes later, after setting a beer down in front of Galen. “What are these guys doing that you walk off like that? He’s a tall drink of hubba hubba, babe—”
“You’re mixing your metaphors, Jake.”
He swatted me lightly on the ass. “You know what I mean.” His face sobered. “Talk to me.”
“That one… Galen… is the chief jackass. He’s rude. He’s mean. And the others… they’re just… plucking my last nerve, you know? Ezra looks like I’m the butt of some joke I know nothing about. I told you Baron is constantly watching me. He doesn’t really say much, just watches. I don’t know what to do with that.”
“Okay. You probably intimidate the hell out of him.”
“Me?” I laughed. “Maybe a year ago, when I was trying to impress, sure. I’m done with that, though.”
“We’ll come back to this. What else?”
“They’re always eating the food I buy. I’ll go for my bagel in the morning and it’s gone. The juice I bought the day before has exactly one sip in the bottom of the carton. Who does that? Who puts a single sip back in the fridge? Someone who wants to fuck with you, that’s who.” I turned to glare at Galen.
“Babe, they’re boys. If you leave food lying around, they will eat it.”
“Snap bangs under the toilet seat,” I added, implacable.It took him a second to visualize, and when he did, his mouth rounded into an amused O.
“I’d have paid money to see that, Jude.”
“You’re not helping.”
“I’m here to tell you how silly you’re being so you can climb on that magic rod and—”
“Oh, my God! Jake. I went into the bathroom the other day and there was fudge cake frosting smeared all over the place.” I waited for it to hit him.
“You’re shitting me.” Jake laughed, then sobered abruptly when he saw I wasn’t kidding and rubbed the side of his nose, not looking at me. “You’re not shitting me. You gotta admit, though, that’s some funny shit.”
“Say shit one more time.”
He snickered. “I can’t help it.”
“They snuck in my room and tied the sleeves and legs of all my clothes together. I’m dying here.”
Jake was still laughing. I blinked, unamused. “Well, get them back, then.”
“Excuse me. Can I get some service over here?”We both looked over at Galen’s imperious tone, and Jake gave me a little push.
