Page 26 of Tapped By My Roommate
I pulled my hand close, inspecting it. For such a tiny cut, it stung like hell.
“Where’s the other outline?” Brian asked.
“Um…” My stomach clenched. Brian was in a mood today already. No doubt he was going tolovewhat I was about to say. We’d been headed toward a confrontation for a while. That didn’t stop me from wishing we could avoid it.
“Come on, Ethan. You were late, and I’ve got shit to do. Give me the outline, so I can get out of here.”
I spread my empty hands before me. “I don’t have it.”
Brian blinked at me. “You didn’t do it?”
I shook my head, mute. I wanted to tell him it was his task to do, but I couldn’t find my voice. It was always like this when I was confronted with hostility. I froze up and turned into a turtle, wanting to tuck my head away and hide under my shell.
“What the fuck, Ethan?” he exploded. “We’re gonna get behind schedule!”
“It’s your chapter,” I forced out.
He rolled his eyes. “Why should I do it when youalwaysdo it, man? It’s not my fault you don’t trust my work.”
“We’re both supposed to do our share…” I said tentatively.
“I get here, and I have to wait on you, and nowthis?” He pushed back from the table, standing. Looming over me. “What the fuck, Ethan?”
I hadn’t really intended to take a stand. I’d gotten caught up in my extracurricular research and my love-hate obsession with the Thrust app. Rhett’s advice to stand up for myself echoed in my mind. Brian was taking advantage of my weakness. I knew he was.
I pushed away from the table, standing on trembling legs. I fixed my gaze on his shoulder. But no, that wasn’t good enough. I forced my gaze to his eyes.
He glowered at me, hostility emanating from him. I felt the urge to give in, like I always did, but I fought the instinct.
“It was your chapter. Your responsibility.”
He huffed. “Yeah, but if you’re gonna change our routine, you gotta warn me. You can’t blame me for expecting you to do what youalwaysdo, man.”
I nodded. “Okay. So, uh, consider this fair warning then?”
At Brian’s incredulous look, I added before I could stop myself, “I’ll do it this time. I can email it to you.”
“Finally,” he grumbled as he picked up his backpack and slung it over one shoulder.
“But uh, just this time, okay? You need to do work too.”
“Whatever, man. I’ve got somewhere to be.”
He walked away without agreeing to terms.Damn it.
Would he pretend this conversation had never happened next week? Probably. Would I be able to stand up to him again and again, or would I fold like a house of cards?
I watched him walk away, irritated I’d agreed to do the chapter, even though it wasn’t mine. Annoyed I hadn’t pushed him harder to acknowledge my point. If I hadn’t gotten so tongue-tied and nervous…
But I did. I always did. A memory from childhood—me hiding in my bedroom, hands over my ears as my parents’ raised voices echoed through the house—flashed through my mind. But I wasn’t that child anymore. I had to get past it and start confronting my problems.
I stayed at the library long after Brian left—the better to avoid awkward run-ins with Rhett—and did the reading. By the time I got home, the apartment was empty once more.
Frustrated with Brian, the situation with Rhett—but most of all, my own inability to confront difficult situations without turning into a nervous wreck—I threw down my bag, snatched up my phone, and opened the app.
Enough was enough.
If the app worked for Rhett, I could find a way to make it work for me. I was done sitting around, obsessing over a kiss with a guy who didn’t want me. I was done reading articles and thinking about theoretical possibilities. I’d been using the research as a crutch to avoid taking action.
