Page 4 of Up All Night

The front door closing sounded through the apartment, and my roommate’s voice floated into my room. “Halle, you home?”

“Yep,” I called out. “I’m in my room.”

Kate poked her head around the door, taking me in as I sat cross-legged on the floor in silence. “Is everything okay?”

I let out a heavy sigh. “Yeah. I’m struggling to finish the hip-hop dance for the fourteen-to-eighteen-year-old class. I was hoping to finish it tonight, but then I had a visitor.”

One of her eyebrows lifted, clearly intrigued. “What kind of visitor?”

“A visitor of the jerk variety.”

“Ah.” She knew exactly who I was talking about. “And what did Mr. Almighty want?”

“For me to turn off my music so he could get his precious beauty sleep.” I rolled my eyes.

She tapped her finger on her chin. “If sleeping is what he does to look so good, then I might be willing to change my night owl habits.”

“He’s notthatgood looking,” I tried to argue.

She looked at me like she didn’t believe me for a second. Walking more into the room, she crossed her arms and looked down at me. “You’re a terrible liar. Plus, I’ve seen him with my own eyes.”

“We can have a difference of opinion over what we find attractive,” I said, continuing to deny.

“I agree, but he’s the kind of attractive that everyone likes.” Her brown eyes got a faraway, dreamy look in them.

I made my way up to standing. “You can’t possibly know something like that.”

“His roommate is hot, too,” she said, ignoring my last comment.

I’d definitely noticed how both guys were handsome. It was a shame they had to be so unpleasant.

Well, I guess the dark haired one was nice enough. He had helped me bring up my groceries once, but usually he kept to himself most of the time. A big downside to him though was that he was friends with such a jerk. That had to speak to his character as well.

“I don’t care what they look like.” I gave her a look of defiance. “They could be Paul Walker, may he rest in peace, and Henry Cavill, and I still wouldn’t give them the time of day.”

She looked at me as if she was trying to hide a smile. “For someone who doesn’t care what they look like, it’s interesting that you’ve had time to think about who their celebrity doppelgangers are.”

“Whatever,” I said, waving her off. “You only have to see them to recognize the resemblance.” I hoped my nonchalance was coming across as believable.

In truth, the first time I’d seen them, I’d had to do a double take. The reality that two gorgeous men lived beneath us was crazy enough, but the similarity was uncanny.

And if they really were Paul Walker and Henry Cavill, I would have shown up at their door with a plate of warm cookies welcoming them to the building, despite the fact that I had moved in well after them.

But I was sticking with my I-don’t-care-how-handsome-they-are stance, and there was no way Kate was getting me to admit anything different. I was a changed woman after the Jeremy fiasco. A guy would have to have a lot more than good looks to get me interested.

“Uh-huh, sure.” She was obviously not believing a word I said.

I matched her stance, folding my arms. “Fine, let’s just say that I did think they were attractive. What does that have to do with anything?”

She dropped her arms and gave me a sympathetic look. “I know your breakup with Jeremy hurt you, but not every good-looking guy is a jerk.”

I raised one eyebrow. “West is a jerk.”

“Ha,” she yelled, pointing at me with a wicked grin spreading across her face. “So you do think West is good-looking.”

I let out a small chuckle, holding up my hands. “Okay, okay, I give up. I admit that West is extremely attractive and looks like he should be on the latest cover of GQ. Happy now?”

“Yes,” she smiled. “A guy’s looks don’t define their character. I just don’t want you to automatically label a guy as off-limits just because you are attracted to him.”

---