Page 26 of Devoted

like university accommodation?

Zeke

yeah

so you’re all professors?

yep

I frowned at his short responses. Was I asking questions I shouldn’t? They didn’t seem inappropriate, but that didn’t always mean anything.

Sam

do you want to talk about something else?

Zeke

no, it’s fine

sorry, was distracted by one of said housemates

thought he needed something, but he was just being a dick as usual

are they often dicks?

only when they’re awake

could you not live somewhere else?

nah. They drive me up the fucking wall, but they’re like family to me

Family.I mouthed the word. I had family, of course, but I’d never felt that bond to them that others spoke of.

Imagining someone not related to me by blood as my family was too foreign a concept for me to wrap my head around.

Zeke

do you have any housemates?

Sam

no. I’ve tried it a few times, but it never ends well

why’s that?

I fidgeted, trying to decide how honest to be. Fuck it, it wasn’t like we’d ever meet in real life. I was going to be myself. Exactly myself, and no one else.

Sam

I’m difficult to live with

Zeke

I find that hard to believe

My smile was grim.

Sam

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