Page 56 of Tapped By My Roommate
Rhett snorted. “They’rewild, Audrey. They don’t play.”
“Well, it depends on the animal,” I clarified. “Many of them have toys in their enclosures. We build ramps and ropes for some of the animals to climb and hang on. Some of them have a ball or a wheel. It all depends on what they need.”
We chatted about my work at the rescue center until the waitress returned with two slices of pie and two cups of coffee. Audrey got her lemon meringue pie, and Rhett got a slice of apple. The server, a later middle-aged woman with a faded red dye job and a tired smile, asked for my order.
I’d surveyed the menu only briefly. “Chocolate milk and the chocolate chip pancakes.”
As she walked away, both Audrey and Rhett were staring at me. “What? I like chocolate more than pie.”
“That’s fair,” Audrey said, nodding. “I never question a need for chocolate.”
“Even though your order looks like something an eight-year-old would choose,” Rhett added with a smirk.
His sister laughed. “Don’t listen to him. Rhett looks twenty-two but acts like he’s ancient. You clearly are the sort of guy who goes after what he wants.”
“When it’s chocolate, maybe,” I said dubiously.
“And your future career,” Rhett added. “Don’t forget that. Audrey is right. You’re good at pursuing the things you enjoy.”
I’d never thought of myself that way. I’d always thrown myself into my interests whole-heartedly—from my lifelong love of Godzilla to my wildlife biology major to my wacky dinosaur phase at age twelve—but I’d never been great at going after more personal things, like friendships or romance. I generally took what came to me, or I went without, too shy to pursue someone without a certainty they were interested and too timid to stand up for what I really wanted when faced with conflict.
Otherwise, I’d never have ended up with Tess, and I’d definitely never have stayed with her as long as I had.
I never could have predicted that I’d get the guts to go on that hookup app, though. That I’d end up making a deal to have sex with my roommate. This was uncharted territory. Maybe if I could get a guy like Rhett, even for a few hookups, then I was doing better than I thought.
Maybe I really could get all the things I wanted in life—if I could find the courage to go after them.
* * *
RHETT
I wanted to take a photo and save it forever when Ethan got his chocolate chip pancakes. They came with a strip of bacon for a smile, two grapes for eyes, and whipped cream hair. He turned red—which was practically a state of existence for him lately—as he stuttered out that he hadn’t needed the child’s “happy face” version.
“It’s the only way they make ’em, honey,” the server said before whirling away to check on another table.
“I think they’re cute,” Audrey said.
Ethan flicked the grapes to the side and picked up the bacon, taking a big bite. I watched him eat for a minute, lost in my amusement. There was something so sweet about him. Most of us stopped liking things when we grew up because we thought we were supposed to. We stopped watching cartoons and playing with toys. We stopped ordering chocolate chip pancakes.
But not Ethan. I admired that about him.
He knew what he liked, and he hadn’t let other people tell him otherwise. Even Tess’s best efforts hadn’t squashed his love of Godzilla and Bakugan—which were some sort of alien battle warriors; Ethan had explained it at length one day, but I was still confused—and lizards. She’d made him insecure about his looks and his style, which was bad enough, but thankfully, she hadn’t really changedhim.
“Can I have a bite, Ethan?” Audrey asked. “It looks really good.”
There was an odd note to her voice. I glanced up suspiciously. If she were planning to tease him… But no. That wasn’t it. She was smiling, and her eyes were batting as if she had something stuck in one of them.
“Sure.” Ethan pushed the plate toward her.
Audrey cut a bite and raised it to her mouth, and—oh fuck no, my sister was trying to flirt with Ethan!
I shot a look his way. Ethan was just exploring his bisexuality, and my sister was quite pretty. If he showed any interest in return, I was likely to lose my goddamn mind. She was only sixteen, and Ethan was…he was…not for her.
Ethan was making eyes—at his pancakes. I exhaled with relief. He remained oblivious to my sister’s attempt to flirt with him. That fit the Ethan I knew. I didn’t doubt that he drew attention he was unaware of, not being the most socially skilled guy. Still, her interest in him made me look at him from a different perspective.
I knew Ethan was incredibly sexy from my own intimate experiences with him. But objectively, I hadn’t seen it when we first met. He’d been my straight roommate for so long that I hadn’t wanted to find him appealing. I’d already put him in the no-go zone. Then, the night we’d kissed, I’d been caught up in feeling protective of him. I’d thought he was adorable in that bowtie, yes. I’d been attracted to him, obviously, or I wouldn’t have kissed him. But I’d been into Ethan more for who he was and how he responded to me than his looks alone.
Now, though? As I looked at the guy my sister was eyeing up, yeah, I could see that hewashot.
