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“Don’t drop my food,” he warns, but when I regain my composure and look up at him, his jaw is too unhinged to make the command resonate.
Am I mistaken, or did that accidental brush make goose bumps ignite across his flesh, too?
I don’t stay to find out because my tables need me, and I’m too nervous to be in his presence for longer.
The rest of the night is much the same; between chatting with customers and old faces, I speak as little as possible to Evan when I’m forced to run plates back and forth to the kitchen. As it winds down, I find myself talking to the two busboys as we clean tables. They’re both at Hope Crest High School and can actually hold a conversation without saying asshole teenage boy shit, so it’s not a bad way to occupy my time while I’m here.
“August, come chat with Evan and me?” Warren pops his head into the dining room, and my stomach flips at his words.
Damn, he’s going to kick me out, isn’t he? After all, Evan is family. I have a place to stay, and while Warren was always so supportive when my mother was being awful to me, it’s not like she’s alive to torment me in that house any longer. I have to just suck it up and not react when he tells me I can no longer stay in Alana’s house.
Preparing my nerves and my heart, I head into his office. Evan is already here, perched in a chair with his apron on. He’s currently cutting an apple with a knife and eating it rapidly, like he hasn’t had a break for sustenance all day. I can’t say it’s an easy feat to stop staring at him as that jaw flexes while he slices into the fruit like some sexy lumberjack.
“All right, we’ve got to figure out this living situation.” Warren claps his hands together, and I pull my eyes from Evan.
“I understand if?—”
Evan and I say the same thing at the same time and then break off, looking at each other like the other person has grown a second head.
Warren chuckles. “Listen, August isn’t going anywhere. I offered the house to her first, she and I know the reasons she needs to be there, and that’s final. Evan, you’ll just have to find a different place. We all have guest rooms, there are plenty of rentals, and if you really can’t stomach Mom and Dad having sex next door?—”
My mouth drops open. “That’s why you’re staying at Alana’s old place? Oh my God!”
I can’t help the laugh that erupts from me as Evan’s face goes bright red.
“Yep.” Warren pops the last letter as he laughs, too.
“I’d like to see you two greet them with a straight face at the breakfast table the morning after that happens.” Evan harrumphs and crosses his arms over his chest.
Feeling guilty for taking up residence in the place that he was counting on, a little voice in my head tells me there is another solution. Whether it’s the angel on my shoulder telling me to do something nice or the devil reminding me that being in close quarters with Evan Ashton is all I’ve ever wanted, the words tumble out of my mouth before I can stop them.
“I mean, we can both stay there. If that’s all right with you.”
Regret and embarrassment swamp me the moment the offer leaves my lips. I just put myself on the line by suggesting this, and he could reject it. Maybe he doesn’t like the idea of living with me or being close to me. If he says no when I’m aware that he doesn’t want to entertain the possibility of moving back into his childhood home, it’ll be awkward and humiliating.
And who the hell am I to think I can maintain an aloof roommate relationship with him? I’ll be walking on eggshells in Alana’s old home if we live under the same roof.
“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” he hedges, studying me.
I shrug, trying to play it cool now that I’ve already given him the option. “It’s not like we’ll really be there. You’re always here, I have meetings and things to attend to, and in a few weeks, I’ll probably be gone anyway.”
“Auggy, you don’t have to do this. Evan has plenty of places to choose from, and you deserve to have some peace and quiet to go through all you’re going to while you’re back in town. If you want to be alone to do anything, you should have that space,” Warren pipes up, and I know he’s just trying to protect me.
But really, the idea of taking this house from Evan makes me feel icky. There is no other way to put it. Oftentimes, I don’t feel like I deserve a damn thing. That’s what happens when someone tells you that for long enough during your formative years. So, I’ll offer up the second bedroom even if it means I don’t have that space to myself to go through the process of grieving, or lack thereof, over the next few weeks.
“No, it’s really okay. Evan, if you want to be roommates for a short while, I’m completely fine with it.” I nod, acting more confident about the offer than I am on the inside.
My teenage crush regards me almost suspiciously, like he’s trying to search for an ulterior motive. His eyes skewer me, and my skin prickles with awareness as he peruses my expression.
“Yeah, okay. That would be fine,” he says slowly as he nods. “Not like it’ll be for long.”
He tacks on that last part, and I feel a bit of a sting from it. It seems like he doesn’t care if I stay or go as long as he gets the house in the end, like I’m just some minor inconvenience for the time being. Not that I can be annoyed at that since I’m the one who offered.
“So it’s settled then.” Smiling like nothing is penetrating my tough exterior, I reach out to shake his hand.
It’s a test of sorts, to see if that same electric zap jolts me the way it did when our fingers brushed during dinner service. Because a brief contact of skin shouldn’t mean a thing. It shouldn’t have me wanting to pant or see where else this man could touch me and how he’d do it.
Unfortunately, the test fails miserably. Palm to palm, my heart beating wildly, I seal my roommate fate and tread into lust-filled, treacherous waters.
