Page 58 of The Roommate Subtext

And finally, Will you message me again tonight?

You want to play again? he wrote back, the train rattling along toward his stop. Greedy, greedy.

No, she wrote back. I want to talk to you. Like we’ve been doing. I like our nightly chats.

He smiled at the phone. Of course we can talk. How about before bed? Unless you’re lonely and need to talk now.

No, I’m good. I’m good. I just want to … I don’t know.

The message came through like that, hanging, before she followed it up with another. I like talking before bed.

I get it, he replied. I like that too.

Their conversation rolled over in his mind as he brought the groceries home, up the flight of stairs into the condo. Maggie was sitting on the couch when he walked inside. She smiled, looking up from her phone. “Hey.” She got to her feet and tucked her phone in her pocket. “Thanks for getting groceries. I’ll put them away.”

“I can help.” They put the groceries away, side by side, both unusually quiet. Blake’s mind was filled with Rose, not to mention the latent arousal he was keeping at bay, but Maggie’s secrets were her own.

“I’m going to take a shower,” he said, gesturing to the bathroom. “You need anything in there first?”

“Nope, I’m good.” Maggie pulled her phone out again. “Gonna play a game.”

The hot shower relaxed all of Blake’s muscles, and finally, he gave into thoughts of Rose. He jerked off fast and hard, pressing his face to his forearm against the shower wall, giving in to the swift current of desire. When he came, pleasure zipping along his nerves, he let out only a single shuddering breath into the room, the sound muffled by the overhead fan.

When he finally left the bathroom, Maggie had traded her phone for her Kindle. She’d wrapped a fuzzy blanket around herself on the couch, leaving only her head and hands peeking out from the warmth. “Are you cold? I can close the windows.”

“No, I’m cozy.” She took a cup of tea from the coffee table and sipped it. “Water’s still hot if you want some tea.”

Tea on the couch with Maggie sounded perfect, so he made himself a cup and joined her. He brought over his own book, a new one he’d recently picked up on small-space agricultural designs, and turned on the end table light to cast a warm glow across them both. The couch was barely big enough, and her feet kept poking his leg through the blanket.

He finally looked up from his book and tapped her ankle. “You can put them in my lap if you want.”

“Am I poking you? I’m sorry.” She tried to scrunch further into herself.

“I mean it. C’mere.” He patted his lap and put his feet on the coffee table.

Wearing a hesitant expression, Maggie stretched out her legs across his lap. They lay there, a warm weight, and he rested his book on top of her shins.

Gosh, this was nice. Hot tea beside him, a good book, Maggie’s legs across his, her feet doing a little dance as she focused on whatever she was reading.

He chanced a look over at her. She was deeply engrossed in her Kindle, eyes scanning the page, finger tapping the edge every minute. Too engrossed to interrupt. He didn’t know what she liked to read. Was it mystery? Biography? Romance? The more he learned about her, the more he wanted to know.

But he also didn’t want to interrupt. He turned back to his own plant book and flipped to the next page where he’d left off: organic composting in small spaces.

The sound of Maggie setting her Kindle down a while later brought him out of his reading reverie. In the time since they’d sat down, it had gotten dark outside, and the lights in the living room cast a warm glow in the space. “Good book?” he asked.

“Good enough that I forgot about my tea.” She made a face into the mug. “Bummer.”

“You could microwave it.”

Maggie’s mouth fell open. “That’s a cardinal sin of tea drinking. You can’t microwave tea.”

“I know.” He grinned. “I was testing you.” He poked her leg, a gentle prod. “We don’t want to incur the wrath of the tea authorities.”

Maggie shook her head gravely. “You mentioned it, though. There are some Brits on their way over right now. You’re gonna get a lifetime ban.”

Blake laughed. “What were you reading?”

“I got a romance from the library,” she said. “Real page-turner. I love those things, let me shut my mind off for a few hours, live somebody else’s life.”