Jesus Christ. What the fuck did I just do?

One second, I'd been giving her shit about her little playmate. The next, my tongue was in her mouth, and she tasted so fucking good I could've come just from that. Another thirty seconds, and I might have had the chance. And I knew she'd been close, too. So close. I was so tempted to go back out there. I wanted to watch her as she came, working her hips over me. God, I wanted her so bad. Shit was way out of hand. At this point, I couldn’t tell the difference between my constant fantasies and the reality.

What the hell is wrong with you? I knew what the hell was wrong with me. I had the hots for my sexy roommate.

But fuck, I knew better. She was Professor Washington’s niece. There was no way I could do that. The whole thing was a recipe for disaster. My advisor had the kind of tech contacts that could set me up for life. Jesus, with her contacts, I could get a job at SpaceX if I wanted. And she liked me. She'd already written a couple of great recommendations for internships, but for the jobs I really wanted, those were still pending.

I'd always made it a rule not to shit where I ate. So what was the problem now?

Oh, I knew what the problem was. The little librarian out there was fucking with me. Running around in her cardigans. Every time I saw one, I wanted to rip it off, and use it to tie her to the bedpost. Lots of girls wear them, asshole. Well, other girls didn't wear them like Natalie. On her, cardigans were lingerie.

My hands twitched. I'd been so close to cupping her full tits. If I had, I'd have fucked her right there. End of story. Done deal. Because she had the most gorgeous, God-given set of perfect tits I'd ever seen in my life. Or at least it looked that way from a distance. From a distance being the key word. That was the only way I should ever look at her from now on. A distance that had obstacles in between.

I ran my hands through my hair as I paced the length of my bedroom. I had so fucked that up. How did I come back from that?

Or maybe you don't. Since you've already fucked it up, why not march on back out there, kiss her again, and see where it takes you? The killer of it was, I didn't think about where it would take us. I already knew.

My bed, her bed, the couch. That fucking countertop. Basically any flat surface. Also, the shower. No. No. No. Things were still salvageable. They had to be. We could talk about it: how things had gone too far, and it wouldn't happen again.

Is that really what you want to do? The devil on my shoulder wouldn’t shut up.

Shit, I needed advice. Maybe Cage could help. Besides, I could call and check in on my sister at the same time. I dragged my phone out of my pocket and dialed my best friend.

Cage answered on the first ring. "Yo." His voice was low, almost cautious.

"Everything okay?" I asked.

There was a beat of silence. "Yeah, great. Perfect."

"Okay? You sure? You sound funny."

"Nope. I'm good. So what's up?"

"Just figured I'd check in on Talia."

"I, uh, saw her this morning. For, uh, coffee. At a cafe."

What the hell was with Cage, anyway? "Well, okay. Things are cool, right?"

There was another pause on the line. "Absolutely. I'd tell you if they weren't."

"Yeah. Actually, I have another reason for calling."

"Yeah?"

I cleared my throat. "I have a situation."

My friend chuckled. "Oh boy, who'd you fuck that you shouldn't have?"

"Shit. Nobody. Yet..." With a deep breath, I told Cage what happened. When I was done, my friend was silent for a moment.

"Let me get this straight. Your advisor, who you're counting on to get you the dream gig of a lifetime, sends her niece to live with you."

"Yeah."

"She must not know my boy." Cage laughed. "Seriously though, is she hot?"

"Yeah. Really hot."

Case chuckled. "And you kissed her?"

"Yeah. I kissed her." I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to exorcise the memory of how soft her lips were from my memory.

"Any chance it was just one of those ‘I-meant-to-kiss-your-cheek-but-oops-there's-my-tongue’ kind of kisses?"

I had to laugh. "No, man. It just sort of happened. You know, I barely even like her."

Cage sighed. "Look. That's good that you don't like her. That means that you won't let it happen again."

What? "I was pretty sure you would tell me to go out there and bang her senseless."

"Well, if she were any other chick, then yeah. One that wasn't related to your advisor; the one that holds your future by the balls. If that wasn't the case, man, I'd say you go out there and make that chick yours. Maybe that would make you less uptight."

I frowned. "I'm not uptight."

Cage laughed. "Man, when was the last time you relaxed, or let yourself lose control of anything?"

"That is not the point." Cage may or may not have a point there. Growing up, I'd been the one who always had shit together. I always volunteered to take care of everyone else. Who knew where I got that from. My parents never put any extra pressure or me or anything, but still, I always felt like I had to push himself.

"Yeah, whatever. My advice?"

"Yeah, that's why I called your stupid ass."

"Look, I suggest you get laid. You find someone else. Someone very, very hot. Use that pretty face of yours. Chicks have never been a problem for you. You just have all these things called standards. But now, no more standards. You will bang the hottest girl you can find. Because you cannot fuck the woman who is living in your apartment. You hear me?"

I frowned. "Yeah, I feel you. I'm not fucking her." And I wasn't. But that didn't mean I wasn't going to think about it. It looked like I was going to be spending a lot of time in the shower.

"And while we're having this conversation, you may not want to think about her, you know, when you're letting off some steam."

Fuck. "What do you mean?” I swallowed hard.

"I mean, it's going to be a lot harder to get her out of your head if you keep thinking about her naked. So, whatever extracurriculars you’ve got going on, which I don't want to know about, thank you very much, I would stop them. Right the fuck now."

"I don't know what you're talking about. The thought never crossed my mind," I lied.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say."

I was eager to change the direction of the conversation. "So, what's going on with you? Anything new?"

For a moment it sounded like Cage was choking. "Actually man, I gotta go. I have class in ten minutes, so I'll call you later and we'll catch up?"

"Yeah, sure. Just call me later." I hung up with my friend and dropped back on my bed. This was going to be next to impossible. But I could do it. I had to.

I stared at the piece of paper on the front of the refrigerator and seriously contemplated burning it. A chore list? Trevor had kissed me and practically incinerated my panties. Then he had the nerve to avoid me and post a chore list?

I grabbed the paper and scowled as I read it again. Not only had he listed all the cleaning tasks that needed to be done, as if I wasn’t capable of cleaning up after myself without his help, but he’d actually drawn up a schedule of when we could each use the living room! What the hell? Now I wasn’t even allowed to use the living room when he was in there?

I threw the list on the counter and pulled a mug down from the cabinet.

I wonder if Trevor will fine me for using his favorite coffee mug, I thought bitterly. Seriously, what the hell was his problem? I was a good roommate. I even cooked and shared food with him.

The kiss had been a mistake, obviously. But it didn’t mean he needed to treat me like I had some contagious disease. If he didn’t want to be around me, that was fine with me. But he didn’t need to treat me like some prisoner or an unwanted houseguest. I was paying rent, damn it. Apparently, he thought he was so irresistible that I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off him if we were in the same space.

I looked down at the mug in my hands, and then quickly put it back. No, I wasn’t going to take this sitting down. If this was going to work, Trevor needed to learn that I wasn’t some pushover he could dictate to.

And I knew just how to make him pay. I was heading to the bar. And he wouldn’t know what hit him. So what if I changed into skintight jeans and a low cut top before going out? If Trevor drooled over what he could never touch again, even better. The jerk deserved to have blue balls after treating me like I’d forced that kiss. He’d been just as into it as I was at the time, maybe even more. Unless I’d imagined his hands roaming all over my ass.

I didn’t bother moving my car, but instead just walked the three blocks, thankful I’d put on my boots with the chunky heel.

When I walked in, I saw a few familiar faces. It was more crowded now than when I’d first come. People actually did this every night? I couldn’t imagine spending my leisure time hanging out in some douche bar hoping to land a rich guy. Maybe that was judgmental, but I couldn’t help thinking that it made total sense that Trevor worked here. He was probably used to desperate women who’d do anything for a guy with a fat wallet.

Well, he had better get used to dealing with women like me, the kind who didn’t take any bullshit.

Once I finally pushed past a giggly crowd of women standing around a guy in a suit, I got to the bar. I scanned behind the bar, but there was only the guy from the other night.

What if he wasn’t even here? I’d assumed that he was going to work when he left, but he could have been going somewhere else. My anger had probably just forced me to walk over here for nothing.

Then Trevor came out of the back.

Immediately, his eyes locked on me. His face hardened, and he tapped the guy behind the bar on the shoulder to whisper something. He nodded and then walked over to me.

“What can I get for you?”

I fumed as Trevor turned his back to me. So he’d decided to ignore me? Whatever, two could play that game. He might refuse to talk to me, but he couldn’t make me leave if I was a paying customer. I was willing to bet that he’d get tired of seeing me sitting there eventually.

“I’ll have one of those watermelon drinks, please. The Ladies’ Orgasm. Thanks.”

The guy barked out a laugh, then started making my drink, but he paused often to glance over at Trevor. I wondered what Trevor had told him. Definitely not the truth: that his roommate was there to chew his ass out for being a presumptuous prick.

“Here you go, darlin’. Enjoy.”

“Thanks.” I slid the drink closer and took a long sip. Immediately, my head started swimming, and I coughed.

Damn, this drink was strong. Now I really wanted to know what Trevor had told the guy. Maybe to make my drinks so strong that I’d end up comatose? I wouldn’t put it past him.

I looked up to see Trevor watching me with a little smile on his face. I smiled back. He thought he’d won, but I knew something he didn’t.

I liked my drinks strong.

I took several more long sips, and then raised my hand to catch the other bartender’s attention. When he approached, he looked shocked to see my drink was almost gone.

I grinned. “Another one, please.”