“Of course not. I just like to give you a hard time.”
Thea’s head is in the doorway. She’s leaning around the corner like a gopher poking its head out of a hole. Pretty soon, the rest of her body follows, and she sits down in a chair next to Kingston.
“Did you say you have a roommate?” she asks eagerly.
“Is this a board meeting about my housemate?” I open my email.
“It could be,” Kingston says. “What should we ask him first?” he whispers loudly to Thea.
“I’m going to need a name and a Social Security number from him so I can do a background check,” Thea whispers just as loudly.
Just then, Willa walks up to the doorway of my office, glares at me, points two fingers at her eyes and then back at me, then marches away. No words are spoken.
“Ha-ha. So, I’m in the doghouse.”
Kingston shrugs. “Willa saw Margaret at the coffee shop this morning. She said that Lucy was living with you.”
“Wait, Lucy is your roommate?” Thea interjects as she leans forward.
“I’m not quite sure why Lucy decided not to say anything. It’s her business,” I explain to Kingston.
“Yes, but my question is, why is she living with you?” Thea asks, her eyes glinting like she’s sniffing out a story.
I’ve always thought she’d be an excellent journalist. Ruthless.
“Margaret told me she was looking for a place to live and basically cornered me into asking her to be my roommate. I was honestly not that excited about it at first, but Lucy’s been great. We hardly ever see each other, but when we do, she’s good company.”
I don’t need to tell them about the TV shows or bowling. I don’t know why, but it feels like a special kind of friendship I want to hoard for myself.
And apparently, I’m on my way to becoming a dragon.
Thea’s eyes narrow as she looks at me. “Well, I happen to really like Lucy,” she starts.
“You’ve been around her for about five minutes,” I mutter.
Thea waves her hand through the air. “It doesn’t matter. I like her. So, just make sure you’re a good landlord to her. Or else.”
“Or else what?”
“I’ll invite her to come live with me at cheaper rent,” Thea threatens.
I’m not surprised Thea wants to steal Lucy from me, but it kind of bothers me—and I don’t know why—that she would want to poach my new favorite roommate.
“What’s not to like about Lucy? Literally the most likable person in the world,” I tell her. “Of course I’m going to be nice to her.”
Kingston waggles his eyebrows. “And what do you mean bynice?”
“Get out of here. I’ve got things to do.”
“You mean you have work you need to pretend to do?”
I pick up a pen and launch it at him. It makes me feel better when it hits his shoulder.
He stands up and chuckles.
“Good luck with Willa,” he says with a laugh. “She’ll be glaring at you for the next month.”
Can’t you run interference for me? Pretty please?”
