Once I swallowed, I held my beer up against my lips and turned my attention to Ty.
“I’m good, this’ll do.” I held up the bottle and gestured to my drink. I then looked at Logan, a small smile on my lips.
The table remained awkwardly…quiet.
“Don’t let me interrupt the party.” I leaned back in my chair, staring boldly at my roommates. It was then I noticed there were only sodas and waters on the table.
Tough shit. I lived here, too.
“Ava,” Macie whispered.
“She’s right,” Logan chimed in. “The more the merrier, and now that Tink has joined us, it’s the whole damn family down here, isn’t it?”
My eyes stayed glued to the table in front of me, refusing to look at him, as I gripped the glass bottle tighter in my hand. I struggled to not lose my shit at the mention of his ridiculous nickname for me. Two could play at that game.
“Well,Tankover here is right,” I said, gesturing toward Logan with the bottle. “We are one big happy family now, aren’t we? Living all together, eating all together. It can’t get any more fucking Norman Rockwell than this, can it?”
Everyone’s reaction at the table was the same. They were silent as their eyes went wide and round. All of them except Logan. His look was indifferent. It wasn’t the smug smile I expected, rather his eyes probed mine as if trying to discern where my remark had come from. And I didn’t like his prying eyes. So I got up from the table, the chair legs screeching along the tiles. It announced my departure a bit louder than I intended.
Becca and Macie shared a look as I walked away from the table and headed toward the stairs. I could hear the whispers between all of them, but I didn’t care.
I agreed to live with the guy, but I never agreed to like him. We could live in the same house and not have to see each other much. Maybe our schedules would conflict enough that we would miss each other. Regardless, no one would force me to like him.
No one.
And no sooner had I planted my ass on my bed, there was a knock on my door.
“Go away,” I said loud enough for whomever it was to hear.
“I’m not going away,” Becca said as she barged in, which didn’t surprise me. “And you would do the same for me, so shut up.”
She sat at the foot of my bed, pulling a leg up, her knee under her chin. She proceeded to stare at me as if I was going to supply her with information about what was going on in my head. Instead, I picked up my phone and started scrolling through my social media. The sigh she let out made me chuckle.
“Ava, you really think this is funny?”
She stood and came around to the other side of my bed, getting in next to me. We were face to face and I was tempted to turn over, but Becca wasn’t who I was mad at. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but I also didn’t want to talk about it. I also knew she wasn’t about to leave without that happening.
“No, there’s nothing funny about any of this, actually.” I maintained eye contact with her to let her know how serious I was. “He’s being a dick to me, Bec. And we have to live together.”
Her striking green eyes stared back at me as she considered my words.
“How exactly is he being a dick to you, Ava?”
“You don’t think calling me ‘Tink’ is cruel?”
She rolled onto her back, looking at the ceiling. She stayed quiet for so long I thought she might just get up and leave, but then she turned toward me.
“Ava, you know I love ya like a sister. I mean, we’re a lot alike, ya know, with our snarky attitude and all that. Some can’t handle chicks like us. So you have to know, that if I’m saying this, well…” She kind of trailed off, unsure of how to go on.
“Say what you have to say, Becca.”
“OK, I’ll say it,” she said as she stood from the bed. “You’ve been a bitch to him today. I mean, when I came downstairs with him before, the very first time you two were meeting, he tried to introduce himself to you, and you completely ignored him. Do you know how hard that was for him to do? I had to almost drag him from his room, he was so nervous, and you acted like that! You wouldn’t even get off the couch or look up from your phone. What the hell was that?”
“I looked at him,” I countered with a meek voice. “And got up.”
Becca’s hands went to her hips, the anger flaring more as she tried to gain some control. I needed to be careful; pushing Becca away was not what I wanted to do. Sitting up, I looked her square in the eyes, hoping she would see something in them.
My distress, without having to vocalize it.
