Page 36 of Courting Clemson

“Some are too busy for all the trappings of a relationship. Some are shy. Some are?—”

“Some are married. What are you going to do then? Are you okay being a homewrecker?”

Shit. Putting it that way, it sounded really bad.

“Hmm… I hadn’t thought of it in those terms exactly. But it’s definitely something to consider. Again, I’m in complete control of who I date. If I find out a guy is married and I’m not comfortable with what he wants, then I say no.” I shrugged. That seemed to be the easiest way for me to digest all of this. I didn’t have to do anything I wasn’t comfortable doing.

But my roommate looked doubtful.

“So, that’s kind of what I was hoping by telling you,” I said. “Can you help me keep my head on straight throughout this experience? I really think I’m going to need someone to talk to. But if you’re not okay with it or are uncomfortable, it doesn’t have to be you,” I explained, sure to provide an out if she couldn’t be a part of this.

“No, I’m totally here for you, girl. Trust me. There are parts of this that sound exciting. I agree with you there. Just promise me you’re going to be careful. Like, overly careful. You’ll have to tell me where you are and who you’re with all the time just in case anything goes bad, okay?” She sat up tall and bounced a little on the sofa cushion.

“Yes! I like that idea. I can definitely do that. Solei suggested that too and said if I didn’t have a personal friend that could be my safety net, I could use her. So again, only if you’re sure.”

“I’m in,” Grace guaranteed, squeezing my hands in hers. “Now let’s watch the rest of this show while we wait for your profile to go up.”

I sank back into the sofa, and she lay back down where she was. This time, though, she stretched her legs out over my lap and covered us both with the throw she was using.

We watched TV for at least an hour, and once I relaxed, my body took over and demanded some rest after the long few weeks I’d had.

Chapter Nine

Clemson

We both must have been wiped out, because we slept the entire night there on the sofa.

I woke up with a very stiff neck but otherwise felt pretty energized. Of course, the first thing on my mind was checking my inbox to see if I had any messages overnight.

Grace sat up and stretched too.

“I can’t believe we slept here all night. My God, do I have to pee,” she said and hustled off to the bathroom.

I had the same situation going on, so I used the bathroom in my bedroom and washed my face too while I was in there. I grabbed my laptop off my desk and headed out to the kitchen.

My roomie was making a cup of coffee and asked if I wanted one. I wasn’t a big fan and shook my head. A glass of orange juice sounded perfect, though.

“Have you checked?” she asked, motioning to my laptop.

“Not yet. I think I’m still waking up,” I explained while pouring the juice.

“Oh my God, the suspense is killing me. Look!” she insisted while elbowing past me at the refrigerator for some creamer. She gave the container a little shake and frowned. “Almost out,” she mumbled and poured what was left in her cup.

After she tossed the plastic bottle into the recycling trash bin, she sat on the stool next to me at our breakfast bar.

Before logging into my account, I saw a message from Luke had come in sometime last night. I definitely needed to respond to him too, but after I checked.

As the app loaded, Grace and I stared at my computer screen with our mouths hanging open. There were no fewer than thirty messages in the inbox queue, and another popped in while we sat there in shock.

I gasped.

“Oh, Jesus,” she muttered.

“You can say that again.”

I remembered that Solei advised that the first few days after a new profile went up were very busy. But I thought she might have meant five messages, ten at the most. I guess I should’ve asked exact numbers so I wouldn’t be as unnerved as I was. I just stared at the monitor, nearly afraid to click on the first one.

“What are you waiting for? Do you want me to screen these for you?” she asked, trying to nudge me out of the way. She reached across my body to pull the laptop closer, and I playfully swatted her hands.

---