He set his beer on the counter and met my gaze with his rich brown eyes. “It’s just that we hardly ever see you. You’re rarely up here, and if we want to talk to you, we have to go downstairs.”
I stared at him for a second, mouth agape. “I… there’s not a lot of reason for me to come up. I eat most of my meals at work and have a microwave and a mini-fridge downstairs to handle my leftovers. I can watch television or read down there, so…”
He stepped forward, narrowing the space between us. “Let me try another way. We’d like to see more of you. You’re kind and gentle, but you seem so lonely. You said the reason you don’t rent a one-bedroom is because you need to be near people. Come up, be social. The four of us end up hanging out a lot in the evening, and it feels weird for you to not be there.”
“I… I’ll think about it.” I downed the last of my beer and threw the bottle into the recycling. Then I headed toward the back door.
“We-we’re doing a Friendsmas on Thursday,” Terry announced, making me pause. “Before Micah flies back to Chicago to visit family. Come up for that at least?”
“I don’t know what to get everyone.”
He sighed. “It’s not about the gifts, it’s about the people. We’re going to have some good food and just hang out.”
“I’ll try.”
“Ok…”
There was a sad note in his voice, and something about it hurt to hear.
“I’m tired,” I said softly, not turning back. “I just worked a double shift and I’m about to pass out on my feet.”
“Good night then.”
“Good night.”
I couldn’t explain why my heart felt heavy as I stepped outside and hurried down the stairs to my room.
∞∞∞
I stared at my door and took a deep breath.
“I don’t know why I’m nervous,” I scolded myself. “They’re my roommates. They’re all nice guys.”
Hot guys,something inside me clarified.
“I bought gifts yesterday,” I continued, silencing that inner voice. “And Terry said he wanted me there.”
I swallowed, grabbed my bag of presents, and hurried up my steps. My fingers tingled from the cold as I entered my code for the door, but warmth enveloped me as I slipped inside again—and not just the physical kind.
Somebody had turned on Christmas music, which played softly in the background, and the kitchen was filled with the heavenly aroma of food.
I walked past the kitchen to the living room.
“You’re here,” Terry said with a smile. “Come in, have a seat. We were trying to decide if we wanted to watch a movie or play games.”
I glanced around. The couch seated three—currently Terry, Xavier, and Crow—and there was only one chair in the living room—which Micah was sitting in. Meaning all available seats were taken.
I set my bag on the floor and turned to grab a chair from the dining table.
A huff caught my attention. I turned and saw Micah striding toward me. He grabbed my arm and dragged me over to the chair.
“Sit,” he commanded.
I blinked and decided better than to argue with him.
He smiled in satisfaction as I got comfortable, then promptly dropped onto my lap, giving me an extra wriggle just to make my cock wake up. He smirked at me as he moved in such a way that I knew he had to have felt it.
“There,” he declared, “now everyone’s comfortable.”
