Page 53 of Endgame

“Decrease the volume, bud. You just about scared me to death.”

“Sorry.” For the record, Knight did not look one bit sorry. “But, you have to admit, this is a fun little plot twist. We’re all going to have so much fun now that you two are friends again.”

She looked at Knight then King. “So you’re seriously the new roommate?”

King nodded.

Lila tried to ignore the way her heart painfully twisted in her chest, because she still wanted him, dammit. And not in a friendly way. She was barely holding it together just being his friend. How would she be able to last the next nine months? How would she be able to handle it when he brought girls home? She pushed the last thought away.

“Earth to Lila,” Knight said, verbally nudging her out of her thoughts. “This is so great, right?”

“So great,” she parroted with enthusiasm she didn’t feel. She gave herself an internal shake and added, “I was so worried about bathroom sharing with a random and feeling mildly guilty about threatening bodily harm if the toilet seat gets left up. And now I am fully absolved of that guilt.” She smirked cheekily.

“I would never, ever do something so terrible,” King deadpanned. He seemed to be analyzing her every word and facial expression, and the scrutiny was almost unbearable. Seemed like she needed to do a better job of hiding her feelings.

“Well, that’s a relief.” Lila looked around the room. “Need help with anything? I just cleaned the bathroom, and there’s plenty of room for your bathroom stuff.”

“Nah, I don’t have a lot to unpack.”

“Except your extensive sneaker collection,” Knight interjected. “Have any size 13s in there by chance?”

“Sorry, they’re all my standard 14s.”

Knight put King in a mock choke hold. “That’s it, I don’t think this whole thing is going to work out after all.”

King stuck out a leg and flipped Knight over so he landed on the bed. “I guess I better pack up all this shit, then.” They both laughed.

“Well, I’ll leave you two to it, then.” Lila headed toward the door that led to the bathroom and started rambling. “King, we’ll have to work out a showering schedule or whatever, though I usually do it at night, so maybe that won’t even be a conflict. Except for when you’re using it for…extracurricular activities when you bring girls over. So maybe we need a system for that…for ear plug purposes. In fact…” She took the thin floral scrunchie off of her wrist and threw it to him; he deftly caught it with one hand. “You can just put this on my bedroom door handle if you’re going to be using the bathroom for sexy times, and I’ll plan accordingly.”

Knight was standing just behind King and was desperately trying to hold in his laughter. Nice, he mouthed to Lila, and she could feel her whole face bursting into an inferno.

King looked pained, and she tried not to think about how awkward she’d just been. His brow furrowed, and he worried his bottom lip with his teeth. “What about when you, ah, need the shower for, what did you call it, extracurricular activities?”

Shit, this is awkward.

“I’ll do the same. I have more than one scrunchie.” She shot the guys an awkward little finger wave and then darted through the bathroom and into her room. After both doors were closed, she flopped down on her bed and put her hands over her face.

“Fuck,” she whispered. Yup, this definitely warranted an F-bomb. She sat up, got out her phone, and started typing.

LILA: 911. King is my new roommate. Repeat, King fucking Spencer is my new fucking roommate. Who I will be sharing a fucking shower with. Who has agreed to put a scrunchie on my doorknob when he’s using said shower for “extracurricular activities.” FML.

WREN: The plot thickens…hopefully in a fun way?

LILA: …

WREN: I’m sorry, babe. It’ll be okay. Maybe this will just help move things in the direction they’re supposed to move in.

LILA: Unfortunately, that direction seems to involve my shower.

WREN: Hang in there, bestest. I’m always here for you, eight-hour time difference notwithstanding.

LILA: *heart*

WREN: *heart*

She lay back down on her bed and grabbed a pillow and put it over her head. She may or may not have shouted an expletive or two into the pillow. Her head was starting to ache.

“Knock, knock,” Knight said as he shuffled into her room.

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