I hit the button to unlock the door, then raced to put clean sheets on Rhys’s old bed. That was the fastest I’ve ever put on sheets in my entire life.
I’m not usually a forgetful person and I wasn’t lying when I said I was looking forward to living with someone again. The apartment is too big and empty just by myself. Most of the time, I end up holed up in my room so I’m not constantly reminded I’m all alone.
It’s not like I was super busy with other stuff either. I did a couple social media promo things, tried to read some of the library books I need to return soon, and lay around in bed a lot. I think I went for a run at some point. But other than that, I’ve mostly been doing nothing.
And I still forgot. Forgot to put clean sheets on the bed. Forgot to do the dishes. Forgot to take out the recycling. Forgot to shower. I don’t think there’s much food in the fridge and I almost went to answer the door wearing nothing but my boxers.
I’m such a mess. Rambling on about allergies and shampoo? Then I basically accuse Santino of being gross when he makes the comment about take-out containers and greasy pizza boxes. Way to make a guy feel welcome, dude.
“Do you want something to drink?—”
“I guess I’ll go get settled?—”
Laughing, I meet his gaze and for the first time since he walked into the apartment, I take a really good look at Santino.
He’s not as tall as me, but he’s still pretty tall with a slim build. Dark hair, dark eyes, deep olive complexion. He’s the definition of tall, dark, and handsome, but not the edgy, mysterious kind. He looks playful, mischievous, fun.
“You go first,” I say after a moment of us staring into each other’s eyes.
“I’ll take some of that water.” He gives me a lopsided smile.
“Uh… water. Yes! I also have, um…” I rush to the kitchen and pull open the fridge to see what other options I have. I usually keep it stocked with at least some LaCroix, but there’s only the half-empty Brita filter. Oops. “Sorry, I just have water.”
“Water’s great. Just something cold would be awesome. It’s a fucking sauna out there.”
I chuckle as I pour out a cool glass and hand it over.
Santino brings it to his lips and downs the whole thing in one go. His throat works as he swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. I catch myself staring at him, mesmerized by the length of his neck as he tilts his head back. I drag my gaze away. Watching him drink is weirdly intimate and I don’t want to be the creepy new roommate who doesn’t understand boundaries.
I can still see him out of the corner of my eye, though. He finishes the glass with a sigh of satisfaction and presses the back of his hand against his mouth to wipe away the few drops of water that escaped.
“Thanks.” He holds out the empty glass and our fingers brush when I take it from him. He notices, I think, since his lips quirk into that lopsided smile again, a knowing look in his eye. “I’m going to go unpack a bit.”
“Oh yeah! Sure! Let me know if you need anything. I’ll be…” I wave my hands around. “You know, here.”
His smile widens. “I know where to find you.”
I jump into the shower and change while Santino unpacks, then start tidying up the apartment. I’m drying the dishes when Santino comes back out. He picks up a book sitting on top of the pile by the couch.
“Are these all yours?” he asks, flipping through the book in his hands. “You do a lot of reading?”
“Uh… they’re not mine. I borrow them from the library.” I busy myself with putting the dishes away, trying to avoid his second question.
Iused todo a lot of reading. I haven’t actually been able to finish a book in… a while.
“What’s this one about?” Santino holds up a paperback with a cube floating in midair on the cover.
I wrack my brain, trying to remember. That’s one of the books I tried to read yesterday, but I couldn’t get into it. I don’t know why. I was really excited about it when I saw it at the library. But when I cracked it open, the words lay flat and boring on the page.
That almost never happens. Not until recently, at least. I love reading. It’s my guilty pleasure. I’ll read anything. Non-fiction books about random topics: deep sea creatures, the Mongol Empire, how ceramics are made, the human digestive system.Biographies, memoirs, and self-help books. Horror, science fiction, fantasy, even romance. There’s just something so cool about words on a page coming alive as I read them.
But I can’t for the life of me remember what this book is about. The only thing I can think of is science because that’s what the cover looks like and that’s what the author is famous for. “It’s about the history of physics, I think. I haven’t read it yet.”
Santino carries the book with him into the kitchen, reading the back. I catch a whiff of warm cinnamon when he leans on the counter beside me. “Other dimensions. Parallel universes. Shit. I don’t think I know half the words in this paragraph.”
He holds it up for me to see, but I’m not looking at the book. I’m caught by his big brown eyes ringed by thick lashes. There are tiny golden specks in his irises that make them sparkle. I wonder if anyone’s ever tried to count the specks before. I bet there are at least a couple dozen in each eye.
“Um… yeah… uh…” Suddenly, my mouth is dry.
