Page 2 of My Three Roommates

“Hey, Cody.” Brad’s voice booms out from behind us. “What brings you by?”

As I disentangle myself from Cody, he and Brad shake hands. At least they’re friendly. I couldn’t stand it if my bestie didn’t get along with my boyfriend.

“I was just about to tell Kenna. Say hello to your new roommate,” Cody chimes in, interrupting my thoughts.

Brad frowns. “New roommate? You mean Tanner?”

“No. Me. I lost my apartment,” Cody says, still cheerful as he heads straight for the living room, casually flopping down on the couch.

“You’re kidding. What happened?” I ask him.

He laughs. I’ve always liked his smile. His perfect teeth. He could easily have been an actor, he’s just that good looking. His dark, tousled locks cascade over his eyes. The style suits him completely. It’s the total opposite of Brad’s cropped sandy blonde hair.

“One of the dumbasses in my building did something really stupid. He keeps hanging his clothes from the sprinkler head. He’s been warned about it many times. It broke off and flooded the entire floor. My apartment’s right below his, so it got most of the damage. Would you believe he decided to hang a sleeping bag from it? Then he went out and left it, so by the time anyone found out, the damage was done.”

Cody brushes a few rogue strands of hair away from his eyes. “I’ve got to be out of my place for awhile while they’re assessing and repairing the mess. It’s very last minute and there’s no way I can get a hotel in Manhattan now. His ocean-blue eyes dance. “So what do you say? Roomies?”

“What about Airbnb?” Brad’s less than hopeful.

“I checked,” Cody says. “Summer in New York though, right? Everything’s been booked up for months already, just like the hotels. I have no hope unless you help me out.” He flashes his infectious smile again. “What do you say, Kenna? Can I stay with you guys?”

CHAPTER 2 KENNA

I TRAIL BRAD into the bedroom, hoping to reassure him. “It’s just going to be temporary.”

“I realize that,” he murmurs, the uncertainty in his tone betraying his words. “I didn’t say anything.”

“You’re not happy about it,” I continue. “Why not? You and Cody get along well enough.”

“He and Tanner aren’t friendly,” Brad points out.

“True,” I say. “But they’ll manage. They have to. It’s not like there’s another choice for anyone. Including us.”

“Yeah, that’s the problem. None of us are choosing to become roommates because we want to.”

“They’re adults,” I insist. “They’ll manage. We all will. It’s not like we can say no to helping our friends out.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s not that. Of course I want to help them. I don’t care about those guys getting along with each other or not. They’ll work something out. Maybe this will be the push they need to become actual friends.” Brad shakes his head. “Even if they end up hating each other, that’s not what’s on my mind.”

He lies down on the bed and I join him. Stretching out, I drape my body halfway on top of his, leaning my head against his neck and resting my arm across his chest. “So what’s bothering you?”

“It’s what you said earlier. We don’t have a choice. None of us can afford to live on our own anymore. You know our mid-20s weren’t supposed to be like this. We should be buying a place, or at least living without roommates. Moving in together is meant to be a step you take when you’re ready, not because you have to. This isn’t how I envisioned our relationship progressing. I’m happy to be living with you, Kenna, but we’ve hardly had a moment to ourselves since we found this place. Now we’re taking in not just one, but two of our friends? It’s not the right way for us to move forward.”

I kiss his cheek and he hugs me closer. “Believe me, I get it. None of this is what I had in mind either. All we can do is remember that it’s not forever. It’s only temporary.”

“What if nothing changes?” Brad’s voice is laced with worry. “I’m barely making enough money as it is. I can’t save anything. That’s not going to get us any closer to building our own future together.”

I can’t argue. I have no savings myself. I’m terrified every time I try to look at my account balance, so I don’t even do it anymore.

“Things will get better,” I tell him. “With two roommates to help out with on rent, that’ll change things up.”

I’m trying to convince both of us. Brad turns on his side to face me. “You’re right. It will make a difference. I know there’s no reason to be too unhappy. It’s just not how I imagined things going for us.”

“We’ll make it work. It could even be fun, just like back in college. We can hold off on on being just the two of us for awhile. There’ll be so much time for that later.”

“I know you’re right. It’s also the suddenness of having two roommates instead of just one. This house isn’t very big. I spent a full year living with six guys back in college, but it was a massive place and everyone was always out.”

“It’ll be different, that’s for sure.” I pause. “I know we can make the best of it.”

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