Page 87 of Tapped By My Roommate
Lizard-napping under Tess’s nose might still be a gray area—but Zilla did belong to me. She wasmypet, even if Tess did buy her for my birthday.
“You’re right,” Rhett said. “I was just surprised. I hope he’s trustworthy.”
“Me too,” I said grimly before jogging around the house. Behind me, Linh started the engine and pulled around the block to the alley.
* * *
RHETT
I leaned forward and craned my neck to keep Ethan in sight as he went up to the back door. My hackles were up. Dan hadn’t been a particularly nice guy when we’d visited to get Ethan’s belongings. He’d stopped us when we wanted to take Zilla before, and I wasn’t sure I trusted him to help Ethan now.
“Settle down, hero.” Linh glanced back at me. “No playing the white knight.”
I scowled. “Why does everyone keep saying that? I just look out for my friends and family. That’s not a bad thing.”
She shrugged and turned to look out the windshield. “Not bad for them, no. Unless they’re trying to take care of themselves.” She nodded toward the backyard. “Ethan needs to do this.”
Ethan stepped inside, and I blew out a breath. Whether I agreed with Linh was moot. Ethan was inside—without me. I hated that I couldn’t be in there to make sure everything was okay, but I did understand I couldn’t protect him from everything.
“Am I really that bad?”
I didn’t realize I’d spoken aloud until Linh answered me.
“You’re a caring person,” she said. “That’s not a bad thing.”
I nodded, feeling relief.
She added, “But you do prefer rescuing other people to actually letting someone care for you. I suspect that’s where the hero complex comes in.”
“That’s not true.”
“Isn’t it?” Her eyebrow arched. “Why did you walk to work all week? Ethan and I both have cars.”
“It wasn’t all week,” I grumbled.
“Close enough.”
I sighed. “Things were…a little awkward with Ethan and me,” I said, and she nodded sympathetically. “And things are always awkward with you.”
Linh grinned. “That’s because you’re jealous of me.”
“Excuse me? Jealous of what?”
“My friendship with Ethan. You’ve liked him for a long time.”
I sputtered. “What? No. Not…”
Even as I denied it, a flutter in my stomach gave away the truth. Seeing him whispering with Linh over breakfast in the mornings had always gotten on my nerves.
To be fair, Linh was quirky verging on rude. She never knocked, just barged right in. She ate our food. Sometimes she borrowed things from our fridge or pantry without even asking.
But she was always there to listen when Ethan was frustrated with his douchey class project partner. She always had a smile and a joke—even if her humor did tend to slide toward the morbid or weird. She was a good friend to Ethan.
“Sorry,” I said. “Maybe you’re right.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “It takes a lot to offend me.”
“No kidding.”
