Page 54 of Blue Collar Hotties

“I was drunk,” she says, clear as day. Her nails tap on the counter, and she’s done reading, but her eyes are still fixed on the screen. “My last roommate robbed me, so I got drunk on three bowls of ice cream and bourbon then posted that ad. I wasso embarrassed the next day, and I was going to take it down but then I saw your message.”

I roll my neck, pulse racing. I want to enjoy the image of tipsy Jenny three bowls deep in boozy ice cream, but I can’t. She got robbed? Someone stole from my girl? How much?

“You got contact details for that fucker? You know where they went?”

Jenny rolls her eyes. “Obviously not.”

“Did you file a report?”

“Lincoln. No.”

I’m pissing her off, I can tell, being all overbearing and nosy, but I can’t help it. Pretty soon I’ll be gone, wiped clean from her life, but until that day she’s stillmyroommate. Mine to protect.

I check my watch, balancing the laptop on one palm. “The nearest station should be open. If we go down there now—”

“I’m not going to file a police report over a TV and a microwave.” Jenny lifts her coffee off the counter, taking a sip. So serene.

“Oh yeah?” I dump my laptop on the kitchen table, getting mad. “What else did they take?”

“Not much. An old eReader that didn’t work. A pair of my earrings.”

For fuck’s sake. “And?”

Jenny shrugs. “And she owed me three months’ rent. It sucks, but it was over a month ago, Lincoln. I have no idea where she went. I’m not even one hundred percent sure I remember her last name. We barely spoke, and I actively avoided getting to know her, and this is the downside. That stuff is gone.”

How can she be so calm about this?

Look, I’ve been robbed plenty of times. That’s a given when you travel a lot. A few times when I was in my mid twenties, I was left with nothing but the shirt on my back. And sure, I waspretty zen about those experiences too, I chalked it up to bad luck and a life lesson, but when it’sJennygetting screwed over…

No. I can’t handle it.

“Write down everything you remember.” I jab a finger at my laptop. “Make a list of what she took. We’re going down to the station right now.”

“No, we’re not!” Blue eyes flash at me, and Jenny thumps her mug down so hard on the counter that coffee sloshes over the rim. “You don’t get to boss me around, Lincoln. It’smydecision. And why do you care what I do, anyway? You’re leaving!”

She shouts that last part, the words echoing around the tiny kitchen. Somewhere above us, someone’s watching today’s game in Spanish, the faint sounds seeping through the floor.

Two spots of color glow high on Jenny’s cheeks. She’s wearing leggings today and a slouchy blue sweater, her small feet bundled in fuzzy red socks. It’s a cold morning, a chill seeping through the kitchen window despite the sun.

“You think I don’t care?”

There’s a high pitched whistling sound in my head. Tension coils through my body, and fuck, I’veneverfelt something like this. The urge to crush her to my chest; to make her whimper. Make hermoan.

To make my sweet, grouchy roommate as desperate for my touch as I am for hers. All day, every day. Every minute I breathe.

I push it all down, mastering myself with effort, because Jenny doesn’t want that. She’s too busy huffing and puffing at me, and by the looks of things, she’s a heartbeat away from throwing that wet coffee spoon at my head.

“You’releaving, Lincoln. That’s what you just said.”

“Because you treat me like a fucking leper, Jenny! When I walk into a room, you walk out.”

She splutters but her eyes drop, the wind disappearing from her sails, and Ihaveher, the little hypocrite. She thinks I don’t care? That’s rich as hell.

Jenny mumbles something, but it’s so quiet, I can’t make out the words. I grind my teeth.

“Louder, please.”

“Isaid,that doesn’t mean I want you gone. I’ve needed some space. Sure. I had some… mixed feelings after that kiss. But that doesn’t mean that I want you to go.”

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