“I didn’t mean—”
“Relax,” she purrs, placing a hand on my forearm, “I’m good with that, we can make a plan. I know you love things being a certain way with all your labels and shit, so it makes sense you need to know what food we buy. I just didn’t want you to think I’d move in and not contribute at all.”
“I never thought that. Besides, we can save money doing it together,” I suggest.
“Next, you’ll be telling me we can save water by showering together.”
My mouth opens, then closes, and my brain attempts to reboot completely before I can even utter a single sound. Except, all I can envision is Olivia naked in my shower, using my body washbecause yeah, that’s also been on repeat since this morning. On. Repeat. N’aww fuck.
When she chuckles, the sound washes over me like a balm. “Easy there, honey, if I wanted to seduce you, I’d at least wait until you’d done the dishes.”
I force a laugh that sounds awkward and stilted and immediately regret it because Liv has this glimmer in her eye that promises mischief just like earlier.
“Besides,” she adds, snagging a grape from her haul, “we’d need a much bigger shower if you were joining me.”
I choke. Not metaphorically. I actually splutter on air, hand slapping the counter as I try to regain composure and dignity, both of which have left the building.
She watches me, all sweet and doe-eyed, pretending like she didn’t just implode my nervous system with ten words.
“I—uh—right. Space. Showers. Big ones. I mean, notbig ones—just—normal-sized—I don’t even—” I stop myself, force my lips together, my fingers pressing against my eyes, and try to remember how sentences work.
Liv cackles. Her head tips back with laughter that makes my ears burn and my pulse race.
“God, you’re cute when you malfunction,” she says, still grinning as she starts unpacking cereal. “Living with you is going to be so much fun.”
I try not to look like I’m dying. I fail.
I have no idea how I’m meant to casually live with her when she’s so brazen and bold and unapologetically flirty. She doesn’t even wear it like armor; it’s just who she is. She’s the siren, and all the sailors answer her call. She’s chaos. Magnetic, sunlit, maddening chaos.
I mean, I was her fake husband this morning; she is the epitome of a wildcard.
And I truly think I might be in over my head here.
She starts asking me where she can put her groceries, and I appreciate that she wants to at least try to keep things organized with me, but it takes me a full five minutes not to feel like I’m being electrified again.
When she’s done, she just stands there longingly staring at the pot.
“It won’t be ready for a while.”
“I’m being impatient,” she says, fidgeting and finally leaning over the counter, resting her face on her chin. “So, I was thinking, there are some things I should probably know about my roommate. Like, you mentioned this is your mom’s recipe. Do your parents live here in Oregon?”
“They do, over in Aurora Valley. My siblings live all over, though.”
“Isn’t that where Hudson’s family lives?”
I nod. “Our houses aren’t far apart. My family moved there halfway through high school, and that’s when I met Hudson.”
“I’ll bet he was always at your house for dinner if your mom cooks as well as you.”
“Yeah,” I agree, “Hudson has always been the one puppy that everyone loves on and adopts, my parents included.”
“That tracks h—” Her phone buzzes on the counter. I hadn’t even seen her put it there, but when her eyes catch whoever is lighting up her screen, she immediately changes. Her eyes turn stormy, her shoulders slump, and she looks exhausted. “I’m sorry, what were we saying?” She tries to regain control of the moment for herself, but I can see she’s not as bright as she was a second ago.
Now, I don’t know who that is, but no one should have the power to dim her light like that.
Keeping my eyes on her… “You okay? Was that your date?”
She hesitates, but doesn’t give me another look. “No, it wasn’t. I’m good.”
