Page 26 of Sorry

“I see that the two of you are getting along. How is roommate life treating you?” Jake asked, shivering, as goosebumps covered his arms, when Matt started to scratch his back with both hands.

“Yes actually. I was wondering if it would be awkward because we don’t really know each other for that long but we broke the ice the first night.” I said chuckling, side-eyeing Alex.

Alex started choking on the chocolate chip cookie he was eating, sputtering crumbs all over himself. Reaching out, I tapped his back. “You ok big guy?” I fought back a laugh.

“Yup. Yeah all good. Cookie went down the wrong way.” He was blushing, and it was so cute, you would never expect that from a guy who looked like he could wrestle a bull.

The guys were looking at me expectantly, waiting for me to elaborate. “I came to understand that Alex and I have lots in common last night. And it helped me be less nervous around him, so we skipped the awkward ‘get-to-know-you' stage pretty quickly. Don’t you think Alex?” Alex’s eyes were comically wide, he quickly fixed his expression, grabbed his water and took a sip, nodding, while his hands trembled.

I hoped I wasn’t crossing a line. I threw in those heavy innuendos on purpose and he definitely understood they were just for him, judging by his reaction. I was fighting my embarrassment for being caught masturbating, by making it into an inside joke.

"That's amazing guys.” Matt said, pausing the scratches so he could pick a movie.

I guess we were watching ‘Pennywise’. I was not a fan of horror movies. I watched this one when Kyle had it on the TV, I pretended that I needed the bathroom on the few scary scenes I hated. The movie started playing and we got comfortable.

“Are you cold?” Alex whispered to me. I was feeling a little bit cold actually. Evenings can be chilly in spring.

“Um. Yeah a little.” I whispered back.

He grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and wrapped it around me. “Better?”

“Yes thank you”

Then he winked at me. God, I was so confused. I didn’t know if he was flirting or just being nice. Was it too soon to be flirting when we only just met? I might have been reading it all wrong. I didn’t even know If I was ready to try anything for that matter.

A scary scene was about to come on if I remembered correctly. I excused myself and headed to the bathroom. I could wait a couple of minutes and then return. In the bathroom I turned on my phone for just a second, to see if any of my friends texted so I can let them know I'm still ok.

Messages started pinging loudly and I scrambled to mute my phone. Gosh that was stupid. I hoped they hadn’t heard all the notifications. There were a few messages from my friends like @Ember, asking if I'm good and when would we buddy read the book I promised we would read together.

But there were also dozens of messages from Kyle. I could imagine what they were saying and it would be nothing good. I was sure of it. I read some of them and I regretted it instantly.

KYLE: YOU LITTLE SHIT!

KYLE: WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, YOU WILL FUCKING REGRET IT FOR HUMILIATING ME!

KYLE: Sorry love, I got mad. I know I get mad fast. How can you blame me?

KYLE: You disappeared, not only were people asking to meet you here, but I am so worried. Babe please. I am sorry for sending you those messages. I drank a few.

KYLE: Please love.

My heart was hammering in my chest. I didn’t want to read anymore, I shouldn’t have read any of it at all. I knew exactly how this would go. He gets mad when he is drunk, then sobers up and apologizes while still making me feel I deserved it all.

I needed to go back to The Crew. They will wonder where I was. Turning my phone off and shoving it in my pocket I left the bathroom and tried to look like nothing was wrong. Jake was now sitting shirtless beside Matt while Matt scratched his arm. Alex laser focused his eyes on me. I felt like he was seeing that I was ready to run like a spooked animal.

He mouthed, “You ok?” at me as I approached. I quietly said yes and went to sit a little bit further than I was sitting before, but he opened the arm in invitation for me to sit right beside him. So I scooted closer to him. He set his arm around me pulling me even closer and draped the blanket over both of our laps. I noticed Matt looking away from us with a smirk.

“Are you feeling ok? You were in there for a while?” Jutting his chin in the direction of the bathroom.

“Yeah. I am just tired from everything that happened today.” Making my voice as steady as I could.

“We should leave soon then. Maybe a good night's sleep will do you some good?”

“Yeah. You might be right.”

“If you are in the mood tomorrow, we could go eat dinner at Nico’s to give you a break from cooking for us? Some fresh air and a walk maybe? I haven’t gone to the gym since everything happened with Tess. You will fatten me up if I keep this up.”

“Sounds like a plan.” I agreed. Anything to keep my mind off Kyle's threats. We finished the movie and said goodnight to the guys.