Kelsie is helping a lot. When I told her what happened, she insisted I come crash with her. The first night, we stayed up till four a.m., drinking and catching up. I’ve been sleeping on her couch ever since. Her roommate, Amelia, absolutely hates me, but Kelsie doesn’t care.
“Maybe it’ll convince her to move out,” she says, stabbing her fork into a piece of curry chicken. It’s eight p.m. on a Tuesday, andwe’re sitting in a booth at her favorite Indian restaurant. That’s another thing about London. Amazing restaurants, everywhere.
“She’s not... that bad,” I say. Kelsie snorts. “Okay, she sucks,” I admit. “How did you get stuck with her?”
Kelsie shrugs. “She paid six months’ rent up front.”
“Fair enough.”
“I’d kick her out in a heartbeat, if I had a new roommate.”
“Your apartment’s amazing,” I say, ripping apart a piece of naan. “You could find a new roommate in, like, five minutes.”
She chews thoughtfully. “I don’t know. I’m very particular.”
“Mm?”
“Yeah. I thought about posting an ad, actually. Wanted: twenty-three-year-old racing driver, recently heartbroken over sexy F1 champion, great at making coffee, terrible at doing dishes...”
“Come on.” I put my fork down. “Are you kidding?”
“No.”
I really can’t tell if she’s joking. I force a laugh. “You don’t want to live with me.”
“Hell yeah, I do!”
I lick my lips. She doesn’t look like she’s joking. “I mean—you’d have to give Amelia some warning...”
“Please. She’s already going on about moving in with her awful boyfriend, and the end of the month is coming up. It’s perfect. You can keep crashing on our couch until she leaves.”
My heart is fluttering anxiously in my chest. It’s kind of insane, but at the same time...
It feels right.
Like, a hundred and fifty percent right.
“You’re smiling,” Kelsie says.
I grin wider. “Hell yeah, I am.”
Kelsie slaps the table in excitement, loud enough that people at the other tables frown at her. “Fuck, yes!” The people frown harder, and I cover my head.
“Can you lower your voice, please?”
“Fuck, no!” Kelsie says, even louder.
I snort. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Duh.” She takes a sip of her soda. “So, you’ll move in? For real?”
“For real.” I’m smiling so hard, my cheeks hurt.
“I’ll kick Amelia out tomorrow.”
We grin at each other for a minute, then my smile fades a bit.
“I don’t know what I’ll do here, though.”
