My snore wakes me up and I jump, my hands flying out and one grabs the mattress I felt like I was falling off of. The other grabs a handful of ass. A very nice ass.
Whose ass is that?
I lift my head and see long brown hair all over my pillow, covering her face. Shit, I hope she was worth it. I don’t even remember if I used a condom. In a panic, I fling up and throw my legs over the bed, searching the floor for a condom. There’s a wrapper, that’s a good sign. But that head of hair is really familiar. I can’t place who it is right now. My head’s pounding. A random thought hits and my heart plunges right before I jump from my bed, pulling on my boxers. I think that’s my friend Trevor’s girl!
“Margaret?” I shout while backing away from the bed like she’s a corpse.
She flings up to sitting, the blanket falling and her tits on full display as she slowly pushes her wild hair back and out of her face.
“Oh my god, did I die?” she moans.
“Annie?” I shriek.
It’s not Margaret, so that’s good. Even trashed I’m not that much of an asshole. But holy fuck. I fucked my roommate. I fucked Annie Kenshaw. The one girl I swore I wouldn’t because one, she’s my damn roommate, and a really good friend. And two, she’s got a couple of jacked cowboy uncles that’ll hogtie me. Annie’s words. I met her cowboy ass dad once, nice guy, until some kid waved to her. He wasn’t happy about it, but her mom was the one to threaten the kid’s life. Anytime Annie mentions her family’s coming to town, I steer clear of our place.
I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m dead fucking meat if they find out I fucked her. They live on a farm or somethin’. Plenty of land to bury a body.
“Fuck,” I groan and rub my face before looking at her again, studying her tits before she realizes they’re out.
“Holy shit,” she mumbles, pulling the blanket up and moving to plant her feet on the ground. Pausing she groans again, pressing her hand to her head. “What the hell happened last night?” I don’t think she realizes it’s me standing here. Not until she slowly looks back at me, her eyes flit down to my torso before looking into my face. We hold each other’s gaze for a moment. “Oh shit.” Her eyes go wide. “Did we?” She looks at the bed then at me with a pale face. “Able, did we...have sex?” she whispers like it’s a taboo word or something.
“Uh...I think...maybe...” I glance around. “Maybe we just spooned?” I offer, but I woke butt naked. She’s naked. I’d honestly like to keep her naked. Platonically. Can nakedness be platonic? What the fuck am I doing? “It’s cool. We were trashed. No telling what we did. We probably just spooned, Annie,” I mutter the last of my words.
She lets out a shriek for a laugh and stands abruptly from the bed, yanking the sheet with her and wrapping it tight around her body. Storming over to me, her finger jabs into my chest. Hard.
“You’re telling me we ripped our clothes off and threw them around the room just to spoon?” She steps back, laughing. “Oh my god, how can I not remember last night?” She starts pacing. “I might vomit.” Holding her stomach she leans her head on the wall.
“Maybe they were on fire?” I’m hoping one of my stupid suggestions offers her comfort because the look on her face is like she’s about to go call her mom and cry. Last thing I need is that lady showing up here with Annie’s dad and four crazy uncles. When she looks at me like I’m insane I can’t help but chuckle. “Look, it’s cool. We drank a lot. Probably no sex.” I kick the condom wrapper under my bed. “No big deal. We’ll go back to being Able and Annie. Awesome roommates extraordinaire!” I lift my hand for a high five, part of me hoping she falls for it and the sheet falls.
She doesn’t high five me. She scowls at me and turns on her heel, heading towards my bathroom.
Moments later the door flies open and her eyes are wild. “Able Porter, there are hickies on my tits!” I can’t tell if she’s angry or amused. But standing there in my bathroom door, glaring at me like she is, she’s damn cute. “You don’t give your friends tit hickies if you’re just snuggling!”
“Where? Let me see.” I move toward her, and I didn’t expect her to, but she yanks the sheet down to show me, keeping her nipples covered. “Those,” I point, “aren’t from me. Not my mouth shape.” I look into her eyes, fighting like hell not to stare at her tits she’s got bubbled and pushed toward me.
“So you're saying last night I managed to fuck someone else, let him give me hickies, then ended up naked in bed with you as well? Was there another guy in bed with us last night?” She cocks her head at me, her tits still pushed up.
“I think I figured it out.” I shamelessly drop my eyes to her tits. “You were naked with some guy.” I nod and look at her. “About to do something I knew you’d regret. He already did that.” I point to her boobs again and smirk. “And I came in and saved the day. We cuddled the rest of the night. Only thing that makes sense, Annie.” I shift around her because my dick is starting to thicken while I try and remember what it was like to fuck her. Sadly I can’t remember much from last night.
Grabbing my toothbrush, I paste it then look at her reflection in the mirror, wrapped in my sheet. I could have this every day...except not, because she’d never be down for that.
“You...” She chuckles. “Do you hear yourself?” Reaching from behind me, she snags the tube of toothpaste and pushes some out onto her finger then proceeds to scrub her teeth. With her finger. When her toothbrush is just down the hall. “You’re insane,” she says with a mouth full of toothpaste.
I cock my eyebrow and watch her slide her finger back and forth a few times. Pulling my brush from my mouth, I offer it to her with a tilt of my head. “Do you need a toothbrush?”
She actually has a fancy electric toothbrush and spends like three to five minutes flossing, brushing, mouth-washing. Some mornings I’m lucky if I remember to put toothpaste on my brush before classes.
She narrows her eyes at me and leans down, pushing me aside to spit and rinse her mouth. “I’m good, thanks.” She grins at me and nods towards the sink. “It’s all yours.”
When she tries to storm out of my room, I grab her arm. “Hey.” I chuckle because she’s pissed.
I don’t know why. I mean, so what if we fucked. We were drunk. That’s the only reason it happened because a girl like Annie Kenshaw wouldn’t give me the time of day like that if she were sober. I’m a metal head with a short temper. I like everything opposite she does. She’s a cowgirl and likes romantic movies and dates and things I don’t do. We’re opposites.
“We probably didn’t fuck. We were both trashed. I can’t imagine we would be able to...ya know.” I know we fucked. Or, I’m pretty sure. I saw the condom wrapper, but she didn’t and I’d rather her not be upset about it and make our friendship and roommate-ship awkward from here on out.
“We probably didn’t?” She pulls her skirt on and slides her bra up her arms before resting her hands on her hips and looking at me. “It’s fine. I mean...whatever. Right?” She huffs and pulls her tank top over her head. “Totally okay. Whatever happened. We didn’t, like you said, do...anything. Snuggled.” Her eyes hit mine and I can see she’s mentally losing her cool. “How much did I have to drink last night? Or what did I drink, may need to be the question. I’ve never gotten black out drunk. Ever.”
My mouth opens but I stop. “I don’t know. I don’t remember much either,” I admit with a wince. “We must have drank quite a bit.” I go to push my hands into my pockets and realize I’m still only in boxer briefs. Turning quickly, I grab my jeans and when I lift them, there’s the condom...full of proof we fucked. Really full...huh. At least it was probably good. I ball it in my fist and it squishes making me cringe. “Shit,” I whisper and awkwardly move to pull up my jeans with one hand. “How bad would it be if we did fuck though, am I right?” I chuckle and look at her, shoving my come-covered hand into my pocket.
She looks at me and blinks a few times. “Are you okay? Your face just scrunched when you asked me that. Does the thought of sleeping with me gross you out?” Her eyebrows are pushed together making that cute as hell line she gets when she’s confused or thinking really hard.
“What?” I laugh with a shake of my head and grab my shirt, discreetly trying to use it to clean my hand. “No. Stop being weird. Just, like, you know... You made rules when you moved in. Remember? If me or Jimmy even thought about getting with you, you’d put scorpions in our beds and shit.”
She nods slowly, walking over to my dresser where her clutch from last night is tossed on top of my shit.
“Yeah. I said that.” She laughs. “It was a self-preservation move. Before I really knew you two. I’d never actually hurt you. But I’d definitely have to move out.” And there it is. The reason I’m trying to keep her calm during this. “Why? I mean, does it matter to you? Wouldn’t I just be another name to add to Able Porter’s list?” She smirks at me like she thinks she knows my sex life better than I do.
“Ha.” I turn my back to roll my eyes. “Yeah, something like that. Why? You looking to get on my list? You want to go on a date?” I look back at her while I grab a clean t-shirt.
Her brows furrow as she stares at the bed. “I’m not supposed to hook up with my roommates,” she finally says then looks at me. “We’ve got to live together. We can’t be fuck buddies.”
“No. Right. You’re right. No fuck buddies. Or...” I pull my shirt on, noticing her eyes drop to my stomach before I pull it down. “Well, not fuck buddies, you know? I said you want to go on a date. We don’t have to be fuck buddies. Know what I mean?”
She lets out this airy laugh and shakes her head. “That’s cute, Able.” She pushes the palm of her hand to the side of her head. “My head is killing me.”
I scowl at her. “What’s cute? Are you thinkin’ you’re too good for me or something?” I try to laugh but I’m kind of pissed she’s going to just let it all out there that I’m beneath her. Even if I am.
“No,” she snaps. “Of course not.” Her head shakes in annoyance “Able, you’re terrible at relationships. Over the last couple years I’ve seen you go on dozens of dates with girls. They either end with her storming out the next morning or threats of burning our house down three months later.” She’s laughing now. “I mean, honestly, I’ve never met anyone worse at dating and relationships.”
She has a point. But it’s not the same. They weren’t her. Yeah, I’m a dumb fuck who’s fallen in love with his roommate but will never tell her because she’s way too good for me. Because I do suck at relationships. I’d somehow fuck it up and then ruin our friendship and that would suck even more.
“I could romance the shit out of you, Annie. You’d get clingy. It’d get weird. That’s why we can’t date.” I give her a smirk while she glares at me. “And that’s also probably why we didn’t fuck. Even drunk as hell I knew not to give you hope.” I grin wide and walk to my bedroom door.
She’s staring at me, not moving for the longest time. Who knows what’s going through that head of hers, but whatever it is it’s probably not pretty.
“You think I’d get clingy?” she finally says, walking towards me. Getting close enough that I can smell the perfume she wore last night. I remember that much. I remember how hot she looked when the party started. “I don’t get clingy,” she whispers, slowly reaching around me for the door handle.
“Hey.” I stop her from opening the door. “I didn’t mean that. It was a joke. You’re not clingy. At all. You’re a cool chic. And you’re right. I suck at dating and shit. Let’s just forget about the whole thing.” I smile. “Cool?”
“Yes, cool. We’re so cool.” She pulls the door open and Jimmy’s standing in the hallway, texting someone. “Jimmy,” she barks. He pauses and looks up at her then back at me, smirking. “What the hell happened last night?”
I groan and slide my hand through my hair. So much for forgetting about it. If Jimmy heard anything, he’s gonna tell her and she’s going to lose it and probably fucking hate me for this somehow. I just got her calm, but now he’s going to confirm what we both already know and she’s going to flip because not a secret.
“You two fucked.” He shrugs and heads down the hallway. “Loud. All fucking night.” He grumbles something about it being about time as he moves into the kitchen.
“We...” she lets out a laugh and turns towards me. “We fucked.” Her cheeks are pink and she’s searching my eyes for something. I don’t think she’s mad but she’s definitely disappointed. “I’m moving out.”
“Moving out?” I blurt and run after her when she practically sprints down the hall. “Annie! Moving out?” I shout, following her into her bedroom. “You’re making a big deal out of nothing. Jimmy’s an idiot. Clearly. He was probably watching porn.” I chuckle but she’s not laughing.
“Able!” she snaps, throwing her purse on her bed. A bed that’s still neatly made because she slept in mine last night... “I still have a year left of school. I’m in line to be valedictorian. I can’t be distracted by...” She waves her hand towards me and I smirk.
“You’re distracted by me?” I lean against the doorframe.
She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes briefly and trying to force herself to relax. I’ve seen this look on her before. The look that tells me she’s either going to be able to calm herself down or completely lose her shit. I’ve only seen her lose her shit once. And I’d rather not have that happen today over this. When her eyes open, I fear the worst until her tone comes out cool, calm, and collected. Just like Annie.
"Not by you,” she finally says. “I can’t get distracted by sex and relationships. I’m the first to go to college in my family. This is a huge thing and with all of my younger brothers and sisters doing shit with their lives back at home, I want to show that this wasn’t a stupid move. Spending college fucking random people isn’t a way to show that I know how to be a functioning adult.” She’s just rambling at this point but I watch as she paces her room. “There’s no way I would have let this happen,” she says, waving her arm between us. “I know better. And you're right, Jimmy’s a stoner who may or may not have actually heard us last night.” She stops pacing and throws her hands to her hips. “So what the hell actually happened last night?”
“Party. Alcohol. Regrets.” I shrug. “Simple as that. Case closed. You want breakfast? Wait, what time is it?” I look around for a clock.
She needs to let this go. She always has to get to the bottom of something to figure out why the human brain reacts the way it does. She doesn’t need to figure out why my brain reacted the way it did. Because if she figures out I’m in love with her, she’s neurotic enough about school she will actually move out and then I’ll never see her again.
“I’ve drank my fair share to know that last night wasn’t just the alcohol.” She scoffs and heads to her dresser, pulling out a clean t-shirt. Without pausing, she pulls her tank top over her head and even with her back turned to me I stare. “Who else was at the party? Maybe we start with Jimmy. He was there, right?” She pulls the shirt over her head and tosses her hair into a messy bun. “Was Kate there?”
“Hey, better idea. Let’s just do what we do every morning. We act like you woke up in your room alone. I woke up in my room alone. I make us something gross to eat like usual, you pretend you like it. Give me a hug, kiss on the cheek, then scoot out the door for classes. Or in this case, because it’s Sunday, to your room to study. Good plan?” I raise my hand for a high five.
“No.” she pulls out a pair of black yoga pants before shimmying them up her legs and under her skirt, then pushing her skirt off. “I can study later. I will study later.” She shakes her head. “But I want to talk to people who were there last night. I don’t get it. Maybe you're right. Maybe you did save me from some asshole...”
Yes, that you were fucking in my bed. Whatever she has to tell herself.
“Just so we’re clear, I don’t remember anything from last night either. You’re not wanting to interrogate people because you think it wasn’t consensual, right?”
She’s not really like that, but you never know. And if she thinks for a second I pushed her to have sex with me, I’ll be moving out of here. Last night I may have laid on the charm, but in the end she fell for it and willingly got into my bed with me. I’m not that type of guy.
She walks over to me, her hands coming to rest on the sides of my face. “I know. I’m sorry, Able. I just...” Her eyebrows push together. “Don’t you want to know the details, too? I mean, I know you didn’t force me to do anything I didn’t want to do. But having all these grey areas are going to give me an anxiety attack. Is it not bothering you?”
Not one bit, because there are a few obvious reasons we ended up in my bed. She’s hot. Sexy as fuck. Smokin’ body. And I like her. A lot. That last part isn’t so obvious to her thankfully. But of course, she’s confused why she’d sleep with me. Because she doesn’t like me. She’s not attracted to me. And Annie Kenshaw has her shit together. She doesn’t do one-night stands. She doesn’t sleep with guys she hasn’t been dating for four weeks or more. She isn’t jumping relationship to relationship trying to figure out her life.
“I mean yeah. It’s weird ‘cause we don’t like each other like that. But my anxiety is okay. Come on, I’ll give you a massage. You know I’m the best with tension massages.” I offer.
She rolls her eyes and steps back, cocking her head at me. “Let’s go talk to Jimmy.”
Jimmy’s a stoner so his high ass will hopefully offer her a pipe and she’ll take him up on it and calm the hell down. Let this go. And we can go back to ourselves. I can’t help but notice she’s kept five or more feet away from me since this all went down. Normally she’s right at my side, smiling, touching me, being my friend. Being Annie. I want that Annie back. Not this paranoid Annie that's determined to convince me, her, or someone else she doesn’t like me like that.
She takes a deep breath and opens her door. “Jimmy!” she yells, stepping out into the hallway.
I follow behind her with my hands in my pockets. Here’s how this set up would go if she weren’t in determined Annie mode. I’d sit on the couch. She’d sit next to me, maybe drape her legs over my lap, possibly even cuddle next to me. But she just plopped her ass into the La-Z-Boy that she refuses to sit in because she caught Jimmy having sex in it. She’s pulling away from me and our friendship is almost completely over. Next I’ll be carrying boxes full of her crap to her car ‘cause she’s moving out. I sit down and rub my eyes as my hangover gets worse by the second.