Page 35 of The Temporary Roomie: Extended Edition

I nod again. Drew is clever and observant, so I knew he’d spot the bucket-of-water-above-the-cracked-door trick a mile away if he wasn’t distracted. I needed to get him high enough on his own success to dull the rest of his senses, disarm him before the main event. I’m brilliant, and I tell him so in his own words.

Pointing a theatrical finger in his direction, I declare, as if I’m in a Machiavellian play, “Never try to prank the master!”

And then, to my complete dismay, Drew smiles a megawatt smile that stuns me for the rest of eternity. His teeth sparkle and his eyes crinkle in the corners with pure, unadulterated happiness. His soaked shoulders shake and water drips from locks of his wavy hair down his square jaw, and I want to weep at how handsome he is. Drew is looking at me, and he looks completely happy. He does not overreact; he does not say mean things—he laughs. Unfortunately, he doesnotfall back into the obnoxious category.

“Well done, Oscar. But you better watch your back now, because I’m coming for you.”

CHAPTER 16

Drew

“I need a good prank idea,” I tell Cooper and Lucy the minute the music dies down enough to talk.

They dragged me out with them for drinks, and there just so happens to be karaoke at this bar (Cooper loves karaoke but is trying to play it off so cool like he had no idea it was karaoke night). Jessie was invited too, but she couldn’t make it because apparently her client was taking longer than expected. She told Lucy to go on without her, but I’m not disappointed she’s not here. I haven’t been sitting here all night obsessively worrying about her and whether she’s overworking herself. Not a bit. I’m so chill.Vanilla Ice, baby.

“A prank?” Lucy asks, looking awfully judgmental for a woman who just participated in one for the opposite team.

“Don’t make that face. Jessie started this prank war. I’m just trying to keep up.”

“Mm-hmm,” Cooper mumbles against his beer with a knowing look that I want to punch off his face. “Why don’t you just pull her pigtails? Or write her a check-yes-or-no note?”

“Shut up.”

Lucy sits forward, face forming an uncomfortable expression. “What sort of prank? Nothing too mean, right? I just don’t like the idea of you picking on Jessie.”

“Believe me, she can handle it.”

Lucy takes a sip of her watermelon margarita. “I don’t know. Just be careful, Drew. She’s been through a lot, and not in the way that most people have ‘been through a lot’ but then you learn really someone just ran over their dog when they were a kid and that’s the only tragic thing that’s ever happened to them. Jessie has already been through more heartache than most people experience in a lifetime.”

My mind races back to the night she blew up at me over mentioning her mom. “What sort of heartache?” Am I even allowed to ask that? Jessie would probably murder me if she knew I was prying into her life without permission.

Cooper gives Lucy a private look. It’s annoying.

“I know, but I have to tell him!” she says with wide eyes. “Jessieneverwill, and I’m afraid if he doesn’t know, he’ll go too far.” She turns back toward me just as someone hops up to the mic and blows into it. Music starts up, forcing her to practically yell over “Baby One More Time.” “Jessie’s mom died in a car crash when she was little.”

In no way do those words match the pop song being screeched over the speaker. It almost feels irreverent.

“But that’s not all,” Lucy continues. “Her dad was a deadbeat and split while Jessie was just a baby. Even after her mom died, he never came back.” No wonder Jessie doesn’t want to talk about her family.

“So her grandparents raised her?”

Lucy nods. “Until her grandma died while Jessie was still really little. Her grandpa raised her alone after that. He’s amazing. She’s literally lost everyone in her family besides her grandaddy. And though most of it happened when she was too young to remember, I know it hurts her still, especially now that she’s pregnant and having to answer so many questions about her medical history.”

I sink five inches down in my seat, wishing I could slide all the way to the floor. I’m an idiot, the biggest idiot to ever walk the face of the earth.

The woman’s pitchy voice bellowing through the speakers drowns out our chances at conversation for the next two minutes, and I’m left alone with my thoughts. Once she trips off the stage, I lean forward and ask the question I’ve been dying to get an answer to. The last piece of the Jessie puzzle.

“What about her child’s father? Is he in her life at all?” I haven’t noticed any dudes hanging around or her talking on her phone too much, so I doubt it. But still, I need to know for sure. Not sure exactly why I feel the need to know, but I do.

Lucy shakes her head. “That’s the one thing I still don’t know about. I’m sure you’ve noticed, but Jessie is extremely closed off to any kind of personal talk.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“Yeah, so all I know is that he left. Not sure why, but it’s definitely been hard on her.”

This news is pulling some very strong and unexpected feelings from me. Because I’m her friend? Because I’m a doctor and hate having to see women birth their babies alone? Because no one deserves the sort of life she’s had so far? I think it’s a mix of those reasons and also another one that I’m not willing to admit yet.

My sister sighs. “It breaks my heart that she’s been so mistreated . . . especially when she’s literally the sweetest.”

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