I couldn’t say who was more surprised, Zach or Albert. Albert’s eyes widened and he kicked me under the table. Zach just stared at me in shock. Before he could say anything, our server came by with our food order. Zach got a bacon cheeseburger, and Albert and I got fries and onion rings to split.
Zach barely acknowledged the arrival of his meal but waited until the server left before speaking. “You have a roommate.”
“He’s moving out, remember?” I responded. I transferred half my fries onto an extra plate. Albert put half his onion rings on my plate and took the other plate with half the fries.
“No, I completely forgot about that.” He ran his fingers through his short, dark hair. “Are you sure that’s something you want? I babysit Cody about once a week, and he sometimes stays overnight.”
I stayed silent for a moment, waiting to see if he would add something else to the list. When he didn’t, I asked, “Is that it?”
“Well, yeah,” he replied.
“Do you throw wild parties and wreck your apartment?”
He looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “Of course not.”
“So, what’s the problem?” I asked.
He shook his head. “There’s no problem other than you might not like living with me. I’m…” He stopped and looked down at his still-uneaten food.
I had a feeling I knew where this was going. “You’re…?”
“I get…really dirty at work. It’s a lot to keep everything clean, you know?” He looked up at me and his expression was bleak. I swear, I wanted just five minutes alone with the person or people who made him feel this way about himself.
Before I could say anything, Albert spoke up. “Honey, youworkfor a living. You get dirty. So what? It’s not like you roll around in grease for fun.” He paused and eyed Zach. “You don’t, do you?”
Zach snort-laughed. “No.”
Albert crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Then there shouldn’t be any problem.”
I watched Zach carefully. The last thing I wanted was to try to force something on him that he didn’t want. “Zach, it’s okay to tell me you don’t want to live with me. I won’t be offended.”
Zach shook his head vehemently. “It’s not that at all. I think living with you would be awesome. You’re a lot of fun to hang out with.”
Not gonna lie. I felt the warmth of that statement to my toes. I heard Albert snicker quietly, so I knew I must have been blushing. I nudged my bestie’s foot with mine and gave him the side eye. “Then what’s the hesitation about?”
His eyes flicked down again before he looked over at me. “I guess I don’t want you to get tired of being around me.”
I may have growled a little. “Listen here, Zachary Kelley,” I began.
Albert chimed in, “Oooh, he full-named you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Zach, I like you. You’re one of the nicest people I know. You’re interesting, knowledgeable, patient. I could go on and on. What I mean is I’m really glad I’ve gotten to know you better. I’m sure you’ll make an excellent roommate. So, what do you say?”
Zach’s cheeks were pink. I guessed he wasn’t used to hearing compliments. He smiled shyly. “Okay. But I do need to know what the rent is.”
I smacked my forehead. “Duh. I imagine that would be helpful. It would be half of eighteen hundred plus half of the utilities and internet.”
He blinked. “Wow. That will actually be less than I’m paying right now.”
“How much are you paying right now?” I asked.
“Twelve hundred plus utilities.” He shrugged. “Which isn’t bad considering what rents are nowadays.”
“No kidding. A friend of mine just had their rent jump to twenty-five hundred from twenty-two hundred,” Albert said.
“Whoa,” Zach whispered.
“Okay,” I said. “My lease is up at the end of June, but I’d bet money Dwayne wouldn’t mind moving out early if you take over his rent payments.”
