CHAPTER TWO
“Honey, I’m home.” The front door of our large blue Victorian house closes with a loud bang.
My job as the youth center’s director may not pay much money, but my ability to live in this house makes it worth it. Sure, we don’t own the place, but with three other roommates the rent is totally affordable. Living in a San Francisco Victorian period home is a dream come true. All those nights spent watchingFull Housein Mrs. Haverbush’s living room where I dreamt about having Danny Tanner for a dad and their awesome house. My foster mom is a wonderful woman, but her house in Oakland felt worlds away from the life Stephanie Tanner was living. I never got the dad, but the house makes up for it.
“So did you sleep with him?” Drew steps out of the kitchen, a small container of Ben and Jerry’s in his hand.
“No. Of course not. It’s 5 p.m. on Saturday night. Who do you think I am?” I yank the delicious frozen pint from his hand. “For that I’m stealing your ice cream.”
“Grant is a good-looking guy.” Drew rubs a hand through his dark brown hair and goes back to unloading the groceries in the kitchen.
I pull a chair out from our small dining room table and talk to him through the opening to the kitchen. “Number one, that’s weird.”
He shrugs sliding a gallon of milk into the refrigerator. “I’m comfortable in my masculinity. I’d tell you if he was a horse face.”
How the male species has survived this long I’ll never understand. “Number two, I’m in control of my vagina. She doesn’t get to sleep with random people without my permission.” I take a deep breath and carry on so I can get my third point out before he makes a comment about the word vagina. “And number three, Grant is like a hemorrhoid. You think you’ve taken care of the problem, but then it flares up again. The last thing I’m going to do is sleep with him. That would aggravate the situation.”
“But he’s a hot and rich hemorrhoid. And what do you know about hemorrhoids, anyway?” Drew leans on his elbows over the wall divide between us. With his light blue eyes and long thick dark eyelashes, he should’ve been born a girl. I told him that once…it didn’t go over well. He must not have been comfortable in his masculinity at age sixteen.
“I readthingson the Internet.” I shrug and open the carton of ice cream. “Pass me a spoon, would ya?”
He rolls his eyes before I lose sight of him in the kitchen. “You don’t even like Chunky Monkey.”
Hmm. He’s right. I’m not a fan of the banana flavor. “It’s more about punishing you for thinking badly of my vagina.”
He groans from the other room and then tosses a spoon at my head. “Can we not discuss your girly bits, please?”
I catch it just in time. “Dork.”
“Seriously, in my mind you have a penis. Best brother I’ve ever had. Don’t ruin it for me.”
“You brought it up first.”
Drew walks around the kitchen wall and stops next to me at the table. “Grow up, Clare,” he says snatching the carton of ice cream away.
I give up on the ice cream — Yup, still hate this banana crap — and follow him to the living room. “What’s on the agenda for tonight?”
“Murder, mayhem, all the usual.” He props up one of the couch pillows and then sits down leaning against it.
“So basically what you’re saying is there’s a game on and you plan to spend tonight on the couch watching?”
He nods his head. His lips pucker like there’s nothing wrong. “Yeah. Want to join me?”
“Sure.” I sit on the opposite side of the couch. It’s not like I have anything else going on for me tonight.
Believe it or not we were a much more adventurous crew at one point in our lives. But I’ve spent the last two months in hiding from Grant, and Drew was dumped by his long-term girlfriend, Cassie, two weeks ago. Well long-term for him being shy of six months. He’ll never admit it bothers him more than he lets on. Life for him has been nothing but sweat pants and ESPN since she packed her bags and moved out.
“Isn’t it early for football?” A replay of a jersey-clad player kicking a football through the goal posts lights up our television. “I thought we were in baseball season?”
Drew gives me the side-eye. “Itisbaseball season. That’s a replay of the big game-winning play from this year’s Super Bowl.”
“Oh. Can I use your laptop while we watch since we know the score of this exciting match?”
He smirks, kicking his feet up on our rectangular coffee table. “Sure, if you tell me why you need it.”
“I have importantthingsto do.” Heavy emphasis on things.
“I’m sure you do. Lots of crap to move around in your inventory in Dragons Reborn?”
