Page 14 of Dear Roomie
“Morgan, this lovely creature is Karis.” Nathan’s voice drips with sarcasm.
“Nice to meet you,” I mumble, but the truth of that statement is still to be determined. “So you guys do MMA?”
“Recreationally,” Nathan says.
“Except for Gage. He went pro there for a while,” Karis adds. Her words make sense; Gage has the look of a professional fighter. He has the flattened nose of a man who’s had it broken one too many times, and his ears are swollen with the same pockets of blood I always got during wrestling season.
“That’s cool. I actually trained some when I was younger.” I twist my fingers in my hair and fidget with the strands. “I prefer grappling to sparring, though.”
“No shit? You need to come to Double Teep with us, then,” he says, clapping me on the back.
“Maybe once I get settled into classes.” And even then, I probably can’t afford it, but I’m not going to get into that with strangers.
“What other secrets are you hiding?” the woman asks, giving me a toothy smile. I think it’s supposed to be friendly, but her too-wide grin comes across as feral.
“Morgan Hall, twenty-four, Scorpio, about to start law school, scared of frogs, and I’m pretty sure my roommate is the devil’s daughter,” I rattle off.
“I wanna hear more about this roommate,” Karis says at the same time Nathan asks, “Frogs?”
They turn and face each other and have a silent argument with their eyes. “Fine,” he says with an exasperated sigh. “I’ve already heard the story about the bit—witch, though.” He pouts a little, putting on a show of it.
“What witch?” Gage asks as he joins us, and he hands both Karis and me a beer.
“Morgan’s new roommate. From what he’s told me, she’s absolutely crazy.”
Nathan’s friends look at me with expectant expressions. I take a sip of the beer and tell them about the roller coaster the past day and a half has been.
“Yup, she sounds like a certified psycho,” Karis concludes when I finish the story.
“Are you sure you’ve never met her before yesterday?” Gage asks. “This feels like grudge shit. Maybe you killed her cat in a past life or something.”
“No, I’m sure I’ve never met her. But get this: when I stopped by the apartment on the way here, I found a note that she left for me.”
“What type of note?” Nathan asks, instantly refocusing on the drama and the part of the story he hasn’t heard yet.
“A passive-aggressive Post-it Note reminding me to lock the door and criticizing where I keep my toothbrush.”
The three of them stay silent for a moment before Karis and Nathan burst out in laughter.
Gage places a hand on my shoulder. “You are a stronger man than me. I would have lost my shit within the first few hours.”
“I would have been throwing punches in the first five minutes,” Karis agrees. “Bring him something stronger, he deserves it after what he’s been through.”
The mountainous man grumbles at her order, but only affection shines through in his eyes as he pours four shots out on the bar. “To Morgan’s endless patience,” he says, holding up a shot glass for a toast. I throw mine back with the rest of the group, wincing as the alcohol burns its way down my throat.
“Do you know how to play pool?” Nathan asks, guiding us to an empty table and leaving Gage behind the bar.
As it turns out, I don’t.
After two hours and a few too many drinks, I’m still barely able to hit the cue ball. That doesn’t mean I’m not having fun. I realized pretty quickly that I hadmisjudged the prickly woman. She’s good people—they all are. Never in my life have I meshed so easily with a group.
“Holy shit, man, do you see her?” Nathan says as he slings an arm over my shoulder and turns me toward the tiny dance floor.
The world spins for a moment as I regain my bearings. Three women writhe together on a dance floor of their own making, drawing the eyes of every man in the room: a willowy redhead with wildfire hair, a curvy brunette who moves her body with practiced grace, and a blond angel who is blessing the bar with her carefree jubilation. I can’t get a good look at her face, but she glows against the grungy atmosphere.
“We gotta go talk to them,” he insists and drags me, stumbling, toward them.
I don’t put up a fight, because he might have the right idea. As we approach, the angel twirls, laughing as she dances with her hands in the air, and my stomach turns to ice.
