Page 72 of Necessary Roughness
“You sticking around?” I finally asked.
He stretched his long, lean body like a cat. I didn’t bother hiding the way I admired him. “Just for a bit. I’m too comfy to move.”
I rolled my leg across his and rested my head in the crook of his arm. “I agree. You’re too comfy.”
“Mmm,” he rumbled, his hand coming up and gently caressing my back.
I fell asleep within seconds.
When I woke up, my bedside alarm said it was five-thirty. I rolled over and draped an arm across the bed. But instead of a muscular football player, my skin only touched bedsheets.
He’d left already.
Me:Snuck out without saying goodbye? Wow. I thought we were fuck-BUDDIES, not fuck-ACQUAINTANCES.
Logan:Sorry. I had to get home before the others woke up. In my defense, it was four in the morning, and I gave you a goodbye kiss on the forehead. It was extremely cute. You looked too peaceful to wake up.
Me:New rule: always say goodbye. Even if it’s the ass-crack of dawn.
Logan:You got it, gorgeous.
Me:Go kick ass today, handsome.
Logan:That’s the plan, sexy.
Me:I’ll be watching from the student section, beautiful.
Logan:…
Logan:Beautiful?
Me:I stand by my choice of adjective. You have a beautiful body.
Logan:Fuck yeah. This is all really good for my ego.
I drifted back to sleep, later waking up with my alarm, feeling happier than I had in a long time. Last night didn’t feel like two people honoring a physical agreement. It felt like it was more than that.
Rather than worrying me, it made me feel lighter than air as I went through my morning routine. I even hummed to myself while cooking an omelet for breakfast.
Morgan emerged from her bedroom as I was moving my omelet to a plate. “Morning. You want one? The pan is still hot, and I shredded too much cheese.”
My roommate walked to the kitchen slowly, like she was apprehensive about the omelet. “What happened last night?”
“What do you mean?”
“You had a visitor.”
“Yes, I did.” I aimed my spatula at her. “Logan Hunter. Who you’ll notice is on my list of approved guests.”
Morgan’s face was unreadable. “He came over late.”
“It wasn’t that late. So is that a no on the omelet?”
“You were loud.” She glanced down, as if embarrassed to look me in the eye. “I wasn’t able to sleep.”
I rolled my eyes and moved the pan to the sink, turning my back on her. “We were most certainlynotloud. And the walls in this place are thick. It shouldn’t have disturbed you.”
The pause of silence was so long while I washed my pan that I started to wonder if she had slunk back into her room.
