Page 70 of Tapped By My Roommate
I pulled back, trying to smile. “You have to work soon. Maybe I could make you dinner. As a thank you?”
His smile froze. “I think I’m going to shower and then grab something on the way to work tonight. I’ve got errands to run.”
Errands. That used to be his code for hookups.
My stomach knotted. Was he already on to new men? It’d only been three days since we ended our arrangement.
I couldn’t manage any words. I nodded and turned away quickly, refocusing on Linh, who was watching us with narrowed eyes. I returned to my place at the coffee table, picking up a marker.
“You’re right,” I said thickly. “That lizard isn’t my best work. I’ll draw another.”
“Okay,” Linh said softly. “Draw as many as you want.”
So I did. I drew a whole framework of lizards around the central poster where Linh had stenciled the wordsWildlife Scavenger Hunt and Trivia.She’d made a few of the letters patterned after animal pelts and also drawn in little cameras and maps.
When Rhett left, I was too busy drawing to notice. At least, that’s what I pretended.
I pretended it didn’t matter that Rhett left without kissing me the way I wished he would. That he probably was headed to a hookup with a man who wasn’t me. That he probably didn’t miss me the way I missed him.
I pretended, but I’d never been a good actor.
Linh put her arm around me. “Let’s eat ice cream.”
I sighed. “Yeah, okay.”
19
RHETT
Iwoke to the sound of quiet voices in the kitchen. Linh was back. Again. She seemed to be spending more and more time with Ethan. My head ached and my eyes felt gritty after too little sleep. And my mood was about as lively as my body.
Between my barely passing grade on my quiz and starting up official tutoring at Professor Crawford’s suggestion, I wasn’t in the highest of spirits. My professor had been gentle, but his message had been pretty clear. I wasn’t thinking like a programmer, and if I intended to make it through the most advanced courses to earn my degree, I needed help.
Ethan was hunched over his laptop—a familiar sight—when I ventured to the kitchen for coffee. Linh hovered at his shoulder, peering at the screen with a frown.
“What are you two doing?” I asked as I poured myself a mug of coffee. Bless Ethan for rising early and always making a fresh pot.
“Working on some posters for the wildlife fundraiser,” Ethan said. “Carla loved the ideas I presented, but now she wants me to take the lead organizing and promoting it since it involves the college crowd.” He frowned. “I keep telling her this isn’t really my forte, but…the other volunteer helping with it doesn’t have any graphic skills.”
Linh wrinkled her nose. “Are you sureyouhave graphic skills?”
Ethan groaned and let his head thunk on the table beside his laptop. “No.”
I frowned at Linh’s discouraging remarks, moving to take a look at the screen. “I’m sure it’s fine. It’s just a—” I stopped short, wincing at the mess on the screen. Too much text in a hard-to-read font, not enough art, and the art that was there was just…bad. “Well, it’s only your first draft, right?”
Ethan straightened, his shoulder bumping against my chest. The accidental contact sent a shock through me. Such a small, unintentional touch—yet my body remembered all the other touches we’d shared.
“It’s not my first attempt,” he said, sounding embarrassed. “I just… I’m not sure what to do…”
“Well.” I casually rested my hand on his shoulder, unable to resist making more contact, especially with Linh hovering so close. “I took a graphics class. I know a few programs. There’s some easy, web-based ones that do a lot of the work for you. Whole libraries of art that might work better than…what you’ve got.”
“Really?” Ethan shifted to look up at me, eyes hopeful. “Could you…help me?”
“Sure, I’d help you with anything.”
Linh snorted. “Facts.”
I glanced her way, raising an eyebrow. I got the impression there was subtext to her comment—perhaps because she knew about the hookup arrangement we’d had—but she didn’t elaborate.
