Page 14 of A Roommate for Christmas
Paige had to push the image out of her mind before it distracted her.
“Nadia!I’m hanging up the phone immediately.”
“No, don't!”Nadia begged.“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.He’s just so hot.And you could really use a good roll around in the bedroom after your nearly year-long dry spell.”
“Oh my god, now I’m really hanging up,” Paige said as she hit the red button to end the call.
Nadia wasn’t wrong.Paige had avoided dating and hookups ever since the breakup.As much as she wanted to get revenge on Chance after he cheated, she was too sad after it all happened.And by the time the sadness faded away, she was scared any rejection would reopen the wound.
She immediately had a text from Nadia:
I’m sorry!I support you with whoever you choose ;)
Paige sighed and wrote back:
Well, you’ll be happy to know I’m sending him the lease as soon as I get home.
She looked down at Nadia’s filthy emoji-filled reply and couldn’t help but blush.
Carter was hot, yes.But there was no redeeming his personality.They would just be roommates, nothing more.
It took the rest of her walk home to finally stop blushing.
An hour later, after careful deliberation, she caved and sent a message to Carter confirming the room was his and that he could move in over the weekend.She attached a lease she had made using an online template that included general rules for the apartment, their agreed-upon price, and her Venmo information.
After just a few minutes, a notification popped up on her phone.It was a single thumbs-up emoji from Carter.
Really?She thought.How cocky and arrogant do you need to be to include zero words of thanks or excitement to your new roommate?
But Paige barely had time to scoff at his response, because shortly after the thumbs-up message, she had another notification from Venmo with Carter’s first month of rent.She transferred the money to her bank account and couldn’t stop smiling as she cracked open her laptop and started working on her business plan.
Chapter 5
Carterhadmovedinhis things by Saturday afternoon—speaking as few words to Paige as he could.
Aside from a gruff “hello” and “is it okay to leave the car parked there?”he silently brought in his few boxes with AirPods in his ears and what looked to be a slight scowl.
It was a true shame Paige couldn’t ignore his sour attitude and poor manners, because damn was Carter nice to look at.
Even though they were halfway through November, his skin was still tanned—an olive complexion worthy of the red carpet.His jawline was strong and accentuated by a neatly trimmed stubble, something Chance was never able to grow.On Thursday his dark hair had been slicked back for a more professional look, but today he had some curled strands falling down around his eyes, giving him an added boyish charm.His look was more casual than at their meeting on Thursday, and Paige hated how well he pulled off both looks.
He wore a Lululemon shirt that hugged his biceps, and as he reached for a box at the top of the stack near the doorway, she couldn’t help but see a six-pack hiding underneath.
Because why wouldn’t he have washboard abs?
Paige immediately turned on her heel and went for a glass of water.
She hated that a man this annoying could be so hot.Maybe that’s why she tried starting another conversation with him.
“So,” Paige said at a volume loud enough to penetrate the AirPods, “not that many boxes I see.You ditch all your belongings to run from the mob or something?”
She gestured her elbow into the air next to her as if she were knocking it into someone’s shoulder.
Carter must have barely heard her because he glanced in her direction with a confused and annoyed look on his face as he took out his right earbud.
“What?”
“Oh, um, I just said it doesn’t look like you brought much with you and asked if you were hiding from the mob,” she said, noting it was definitely less funny the second time around.
