Page 29 of Catching Feeling

“Fuck yeah,” he says with a wide smile. “Your secrets are safe with me. But I think you should tell the world, Viv. You shouldn’t hide your talent from anyone. It deserves to be seen.”

It shouldn’t feel so good to hear him say things like this, but it does. I can’t even believe I told him all that, something that I’ve been keeping quiet for so long. It’s just kind of… easy to talk to him? Surprisingly.

“Thank you. Maybe one day.”

Before he can respond, his phone begins to ring in his pocket, the sound cutting through the silence between us. He reaches in and pulls it out, glancing down at the screen and then dragging his deep brown eyes back to me. “It’s my sister, and she’ll call back ten times if I don’t answer. I guess I’ll let you get back to plotting murders?”

I nod and offer him a small smile. “It’s a tough job.”

He laughs, then slides his fingers across the screen and brings the phone to his ear. “Jellybean, what’s up?”

I watch as he disappears through my bedroom door, and then glance back at the board and try to push away how easy it feels to open up to him.

6

reese

Fine = Not Fine

The scent of fresh garlic hits me the second I walk through the door and set my bat bag on the floor after practice. I toe off my cleats and hang up my keys, then make a beeline for the kitchen.

The first thing I notice is the giant pot on the stove and fresh garlic bread on a baking sheet next to it, still steaming from the oven.

Fuuuuuuck yes. I’m hoping that Viv likes me enough today to let me have some of it.

I can’t remember the last time I had something home-cooked except maybe whenever I went back home to visit my parents, and we honestly eat out a lot with how everyone’s schedules are.

“Oh, hey,” Vivienne says, looking up from the textbook she has on the counter next to the stove. The black, ripped jean shorts she's wearing hug her thighs and ass in a way that has my mouth watering for an entirely different reason. The food’s completely forgotten, seeing her bent over the counter. Her dark hair falls almost to her waist, and it makes me remember the night that I had those silky locks wrapped around my fist as I pounded into her from behind.

I’ll never forget it as long as I fucking live.

“Hey. Smells fucking delicious,” I say before dragging my eyes off her and walking to the fridge. I open it and grab a sports drink for the electrolytes, twist the top off, and then down almost all of it. If I don’t, I’ll cramp up, and that shit is miserable. Not something I feel like dealing with tonight. “Please tell me I can have a bowl? I’m so hungry I could eat the house right now.”

“Yeah. It should be done soon. I’m just letting it cook down for a bit,” she says, and I notice she looks off. Not her normal, sassy, give-me-shit-for-existing self. Her lips are pulled in a frown, and there’s a wrinkle between her brow from furrowing them. Her eyes look tired.

I walk over to where she’s standing and pick the spoon up, dipping it into the pot of spaghetti and casually asking, “Everything good?”

When I glance over, her gaze is on me. “Yep. Why?”

I shrug as I bring my index finger to the sauce and dip it, then bring it to my mouth.

Goddamnit, that’s incredible.

“You just seem a little off. Wanted to make sure you were okay. You know, what any good roommate would do.”

She rolls her eyes, looks back down at her textbook, and mutters, “Yep. Just trying to study for Chem.”

She’s staring at the textbook like it’s the most interesting thing she’s ever laid eyes on, and even though she’s saying “yep” every five seconds and that she’s fine… I can tell that something is off. Plus, growing up with Rosie I know firsthand that when a girl says everything is fine, it is in fact… not fine.

“Ooookay.” I set the spoon back down on the counter, walk to the kitchen table, and sit. If she wants to pretend nothing’s wrong, then fine. I pull my phone from my pocket and scroll socials, then respond in the family group chat to all of the messages I missed while I was at practice and class today.

There are ten messages from my sister demanding to know more about my roommate.

Even though she knows the basics at this point, I’ve been holding out on her, and if I don’t give her something juicier soon, she’s liable to show up at the front door.

Jellybean: I’m starting to rethink the whole “best brother in the world thing.” ??

Jellybean: Only someone who didn’t actually love his baby sister would be keeping their new roommate from a meet the sister Facetime.

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