Page 34 of Oblivious Roommate

“Time is of the essence here,” I say with my elbows on the table. “We need to stop that fake troll bastard whatever it takes.”

Aaron’s eyes focus, and he shuts his laptop, staring at me across the table. “Right. Sorry, we should have started with this! When are they meeting up?”

I scowl. “At six.”

Aaron’s gaze darts to the clock, and he frowns at me. “Then they’re already together!”

“Exactly. That’s why we need to take drastic measures.” I lower my voice. “Come with me.”

His eyes glow as he shoves his things into his backpack and rises to his feet. He puts on his hip-length sheepskin coat and is ready to go. “Whatever you need.”

He doesn’t need the jacket where we’re going, but there’s no time to discuss that. I lead him to the disabled restroom under Levi’s watchful eye. I can only hope he doesn’t think we’re about to fuck there. I’ve heard he had problems with customers doing that before, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and it’s not like the execution of my plan’s gonna take long.

Aaron is confused when I urge him inside and sit on the closed toilet.

I take a deep breath. “Lock the door.”

His face twists, and he raises his index finger, pointing at me. “Excuse me… exactly what is it that we’re doing here?”

I rub my face and straighten my legs in front of me. “I need you to break my leg. Then I’ll call Cass and he’ll end his date to come help me.”

The backpack drops from Aaron’s hand, and he saves his computer from sudden destruction by grabbing it just before it hits the floor. “W-what? What did I just hear?” he asks in a shrill voice and stares at me as if my face was melting.

“You can do this. Just put force into it.” I can hardly believe what I’m saying myself, but there is no other way.

“Do I look like I have force?” Aaron whispers, pressing his slim hands to his chest. As I scan his elongated body, I have to admit that he does not.

“Maybe you need to jump on it?” That should do the trick. Aaron might not be strong, but he surely weighs enough to cause damage. I feel nauseous just thinking about it.

“No,” Aaron says, raising his voice enough for me to shush him. He is pale and leans against the door as if his legs can’t support him anymore. “What the hell? Why would you want that?”

“I don’t want it! It’s a necessity.”

“Just call him and tell him!”

“He’ll think I’m a psycho. This is the way, Aaron. Jump on my leg.”

He’s on the verge of tears, but we have no time for that.

Aaron takes a deep breath and presses his foot against my shin as if he needs a dry run. “But you can’t sue me.”

“I won’t.”

Aaron struggles to take a deep breath and attempts to psych himself up by patting his chest as he makes little jumps right in front of me. He might leap higher at any second, and I consider closing my eyes so I don’t instinctively shift position when the time comes.

Finally, Aaron nods, squeezes his hands into fists, and bends his knees in preparation, but as blood drains from my brain, leaving me feeling numb, he turns on his heel and faces the wall. “I can’t do it!”

A knock on the door paralyzes me.

“What’s going on there?” Levi asks in his steady baritone.

Aaron slides down the wall and hugs his knees. “I need to break Matt’s leg so Cassian comes back from his date with a troll. There’s no other way, but I can’t do it!” he whines in a high pitch, no longer looking my way.

Good, because he’d see how angry I am at him for revealing our secret. “Levi, this doesn’t concern you.”

There’s a deep sigh on the other side and a moment of silence. “Okay, but if Aaron can’t do it, and someone needs to, then maybe I can help.”

Aaron stares up at me in panic. “He is stronger. He should do it,” he whispers, but before I get to answer, Levi speaks.