Chapter 3

Abigail

I was a little nervous about going over to Ian’s. I had been there before for a couple parties, but the last time I’d been there had been a while ago. Actually, I had a feeling Zach had something to do with that, like he wanted to keep me away from his best friend. Which was fine; I understood that. I would have been a little weirded out if Zach and Brittany started hanging out, too.

I was surprised Ian suggested I might move in with him. I just hoped he had cleared it with Zach first.

I brushed my hands down my suit jacket and rang the doorbell. Ian answered it right away. “Hey,” he said, giving me a once-over and frowning. “You know, you didn’t have to dress up for this. I mean, you look nice and all, but I’ve known you for years now.”

I laughed and self-consciously smoothed my hands over my suit again. “I’m going door to door handing out my resume after this,” I told him. “I’m dressed up for that.”

“Oh, right. That makes sense,” Ian said. He smiled at me and took a step back so I could come in. “I just made a couple breakfast parfaits. You want one?”

“Sure,” I said, trailing after him into the kitchen.

“So this is the kitchen,” Ian said, and I rolled my eyes.

“I have been here before,” I reminded him.

“I know,” Ian said, grinning at me. “I’m just teasing.” He handed me a glass and led me into the living room. “So probably the only room you haven’t seen is the bedroom.”

“Right,” I said. I shivered a little as his hand connected with my lower back, warmly leading me into a small but well-lit room with a bed in the center of it.

I didn’t want to let on how much I wanted him to tumble me down into that bed. I had been attracted to Ian for a long time now, but that would screw up my chance at living somewhere other than my parents’ place. Also, Zach would never forgive me if I slept with his best friend. So, I pushed those urges away and took a bite of my parfait, trying to cover up any awkwardness on my part.

Meanwhile, Ian explained what had happened to his former roommate, oblivious to my inner thoughts and desires. “Yeah, so Pete had to move out because his off-again, on-again girlfriend just had a baby. Originally they weren’t planning on living together once the baby was born, but I guess the girlfriend didn’t realize how much work it was going to be, raising a kid on her own. Or something. Anyway, he’s gone, so this would be your room.”

Ian was babbling a little, and I wondered whether he was nervous, too. Not that I was going to ask, but I was curious what he had to be nervous about. Maybe he was a terrible roommate. Not like that mattered. I didn’t have any other options.

“It’s nice,” I said, looking around the space and already imagining my things here. I turned back to Ian, biting my lower lip. “But are you sure about this? What if I don’t get a job right away?”

“We’ll figure it out,” Ian said simply. “Like I said over the phone yesterday, I’ve already paid for this month’s rent on my own, so I’m not worried about that. And I can keep floating you.” He paused. “To be honest, it’ll just be nice to have someone normal renting the room, someone I already know. You wouldn’t believe how many obnoxiously passive-aggressive roommates I’ve had over the past couple years.”

I laughed. “If I have a problem, I’ll let you know about it,” I told him. “But you have to do the same.”

“Sure thing,” Ian said, holding out his hand and looking mock-seriously at me. “To always letting the other person know what’s on our minds.”

I shook his hand, feeling another little shiver run down my spine at the contact. It seemed like every time I saw Ian, he was more fit than the previous time, which I supposed made sense since he worked in a gym as a personal trainer. He was always improving himself even while he was improving his clients, but still. Damn.

“So when I do start paying rent, what will it be?” I asked, trying to distract myself. It was going to be tough living with him if I couldn’t stop thinking about how sexy he was. Secretly, I hoped he was super obnoxious as a roommate just so I wouldn’t find myself getting increasingly turned on by him.

“Your part of the rent would be six fifty, including utilities,” Ian said. “It’s a steal for this part of the city, but the place is rent controlled so that’s why.”

“Wow, that’s awesome,” I said. It was slightly more expensive than the previous place I’d lived, but if I could get a decent job, I’d be able to cover that with no problem. I just needed to focus on the “getting a job” part. “And when could I move in?”

Ian shrugged. “Tonight if you wanted,” he said. “As you can see, the previous guy is totally out of here, and I’ve had a cleaner in to tidy it up in preparation for someone else moving in.”

“Cool. I’ll just have to find some way to get my stuff over here,” I said slowly. “Do you have a car?”

“I can do better than that,” Ian said. “One of my buddies has a moving truck company. I’ll see if we can borrow one for tomorrow morning—if that works for you.”

“That would be awesome,” I said. I was surprised by how well the pieces were coming together. It was like fate really wanted me here with him or something. I smiled at the thought.

“Why don’t I call Zach and see if he’ll help us?” Ian suggested.

I wrinkled my nose. “He’s going to say no,” I said. “He thinks I’m being super irresponsible with this whole thing.” I paused. “But I’ve been trying to get a job. I’ve passed out more copies of my resume than you could believe. It’s just that no one seems to be hiring right now.”

“I know how hard it can be to find a job in this city,” Ian said, nodding sympathetically. “But I’m sure you’ll find something soon.”

“I hope so,” I said with a sigh.

“Come on, you’re smart and you’re creative. Plus, you’re pretty. You’d at least make a hot secretary for someone.”

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t help grinning. He was only kidding, but I was still pleased by the compliments. “I guess I should head back to my place and start packing,” I said.

“Here’s a key,” Ian said, pulling one off his key ring.

“Thanks again,” I said sincerely, pocketing the key. “See you around, I guess, roomie.”

“See you around,” Ian said, laughing.

When I got back to my place, I looked around, breathing in and out slowly, trying to calm myself down. This whole month had been such a whirlwind of emotion. I still couldn’t believe I hadn’t netted myself a job. What was wrong with me?

I sat down on the couch even though I knew I needed to start packing, especially if I was going to move everything over to Ian’s the next morning. But I really needed a moment just to veg, so I turned on the TV.

The door burst open. I knew who it was immediately. I could smell the cloying scent of her perfume before I’d even stood up. “Mom.”

I sighed, seeing her standing there with her hands on her hips. She had dropped an empty stack of boxes on the floor, and she looked furious with me.

“I knew you weren’t really trying to get a job,” she said. “Look at this, home in the middle of the day, watching TV. You should be out handing out your resume, or at least scouring the job boards for different opportunities.”

“What do you think I was doing all morning?” I snapped.

“Don’t you take that tone with me,” Mom said. “If you’re going to be moving back in with your father and me, I expect you to show some respect. I came to help you pack your things.”

“That’s very kind of you,” I said with false sweetness, “but I don’t need your help, and I’m not moving back in with you guys. I thought I might, but it was never a hundred percent.”

“You’ve found somewhere else that they’ll let you live rent free?” Mom asked sarcastically. “What, are you going to be sleeping on all your friends’ couches? I hear that’s what your generation thinks is acceptable.”

“No. I found a different place to live,” I told her. I knew she wouldn’t drop it until I told her where it was, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell her I was moving in with Zach’s best friend. For a moment, I debated lying to cover my ass, but the truth would come out sooner or later. She and I might not get along, but she and Zach talked nearly every day, usually while he was on his way to run errands.

“You aren’t moving in with Ian, are you?” she asked, her voice dripping with disgust.

So she had already heard about it.

I shrugged as nonchalantly as I could. “He offered,” I told her. “He has a spare room.”

“And how are you going to pay rent there if you couldn’t even afford this dump?”

“It’ll be cheaper since we’re sharing the apartment, and it’s rent controlled,” I told her. “Besides, Ian says he can help me out a little until I get back on my feet again.”

“I honestly can’t believe you,” Mom said, shaking her head. “We didn’t raise you kids to be like this, taking handouts from everyone. We raised you to work hard and support yourselves. And it must have worked since we all know Zach has his life together. He’s able to support himself, and he has a lovely girlfriend.”

I tried not to flinch. Mom and I didn’t always see eye to eye, but she usually wasn’t this outright cruel. To be fair, she hadn’t caught me at the best time, but I had definitely been trying to get a job. I just couldn’t seem to get one.

“We should have known this would happen with that degree of yours,” she continued. “I know you never had the best grades in school, but you could have at least made a pretty nurse or something like that. If you’d just studied something where you’d have had a guaranteed job after school, things would have worked out better for you.”

“Mom, I’m not dead,” I said exasperatedly. “Things are going to turn around.”

Mom gave me a look like she didn’t believe me. “I just hope Zach’s okay with the fact that you’re mooching off his friends now,” she said. “It would be bad enough if you went to your own friends for help. Then again, I guess Brittany and the rest of them know there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell of you ever paying them back. They know exactly how much they’d be risking, letting you in, and they want nothing to do with you. Doesn’t that say something?”

I couldn’t believe some of the things she was saying. I knew that underneath it all, she was probably just worried about me. And maybe she thought that if she said these things, it would galvanize me into doing something, into miraculously finding a job and saving myself from destitution. But it just felt mean-spirited.

I couldn’t believe I had ever considered moving back in with them.

“You don’t even have a response, do you?” Mom asked. “You know there’s nothing you can say to defend yourself because—”

“Mom, shut up.” To my surprise, she actually fell silent, but from the way she was staring at me in shock, it wasn’t because she thought I had something to say for myself. No, she was just surprised I had finally talked back to her.

I drew myself up to my full height. “At least for now, this is still my apartment, and I would like you to leave.”

Mom stared at me for a long moment, and I thought she was going to argue, but then she seemed to decide she had nothing else to say. She tossed her hair back over her shoulder, still looking at me as though I were some sort of bug to squash under her heel.

“You’d better not come begging your father for money again,” she warned on her way out. “Your father has worked half his life to support you, and now it’s time he and I have a little fun. It’s time for you to grow up.”

“Sure, whatever,” I said, rolling my eyes. I had only asked Dad for money once, and it had been because I was stranded in a foreign country during a study abroad trip. And I had paid him back every cent of that money with interest. I couldn’t help the other times he had given me money to help me out, and I couldn’t help that he didn’t spend more money on trips for the two of them or other things that Mom wanted.

I held the door open pointedly, exhaling gratefully when she finally walked out. I slammed the door shut behind her and flipped the deadbolt, though I knew she wouldn’t be coming back.

I went back to the couch, but I turned the TV off and stared up at the ceiling instead. I started thinking about what it would be like to live with Ian. Maybe it really wasn’t a good idea. Maybe I should call it off. But Zach clearly knew about the plan, and he hadn’t told me not to. Nor had he done anything to stop Ian from calling me or suggesting I live with him. So, I had to assume my brother was okay with it.

And now I knew for sure that I couldn’t move back in with my parents. I couldn’t suffer attacks like that from Mom every day. I was old enough that I should be able to support myself. They hadn’t sent me to college for nothing. It would be easier to get a job if I was already based here in the city, too, especially in the area where Ian lived. I wasn’t holding out for some great position; there were plenty of restaurants and office buildings in his area that could hire me for something like Ian had suggested—a secretary or a hostess, something unskilled and low-paying but something at least.

I was kind of excited about the idea of living with Ian, too. He’d always been Zach’s best friend, but we’d hung out together enough while we were growing up that I knew I liked him. He had a good sense of humor.

And he was hot. That was undeniable.

Would he walk around shirtless? Would I ever catch him sprawled out on the couch, his hand down his sweats?

I flushed at the thought of it, feeling that prickly sensation of lust course through my body. He was still Zach’s best friend even if he was going to be my roommate, and that meant he was totally, 100 percent off-limits. But the naughtiness of my attraction to him only made me even more turned on.

I pulled my skirt up and rubbed at my clit through my cotton panties. The material was already damp from my thoughts and those shivery feelings I’d gotten earlier when Ian had touched first my back and then my hand. Those little touches had sent hot sparks of excitement shooting through me.

And it had been a long time since I’d had a guy touch me.

Suddenly, I found myself thinking of the more intimate details of living with Ian. I’d hear him in the shower. What if I walked in on him by accident? I could practically picture him there beneath the spray, water droplets coursing down his chiseled, naked body.

I’d strip off my own clothes and step in to join him, running my hands up his firm body, gliding over his abs and his pecs and down along his biceps. We’d kiss and our tongues would twist together as he tangled his fingers in my hair, his other arm dropping down around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

He’d slip his fingers inside my warm, wet pussy, working them in and out of me, bringing me closer and closer to a breathless climax.

My own actions matched the ones I was imagining for Ian. I spread my legs a little wider and pushed my panties out of the way. For a moment, I considered getting one of my toys to use on myself, but I was already so surprisingly and desperately impatient to come that I didn’t want to waste time.

Ian’s fingers inside me would feel so good, but it wouldn’t be enough, and eventually I’d find myself begging for something more, not even sure what I needed. But Ian would know. He’d spin me around and bend me over, thrusting inside me. Once, twice, and again. Each time, I’d moan, overcome with pleasure.

I drove my own fingers inside myself, imagining it was his thick, hard cock thrusting into me. Slowly, heat began to build in my core. I imagined Ian getting close as well, wondered how he would sound, how he would look.

I flicked my thumb against my clit as I kept working my fingers deep inside me. God, I was so close already.

The scene in my mind changed, and I imagined Ian on the couch with me. On his couch, though, in the apartment we would share. He was bending over me, using the arm rest to drag his body toward mine, his thrusts hard and rapid and—

The next thing I knew, I was coming, a hoarse cry issuing from my lips. My whole body flushed with embarrassment even though it was just me there to hear myself. For a moment, all I could do was lie there, my eyes closed as I tried to catch my breath. I slowly dragged my fingers out of my tight hole, shivering at the overstimulation that caused.

I let a breath out, long and slow, and forced my eyes open, my heartbeat still echoing loudly in my ears. I could hardly believe what I had just done. If Ian knew the kinds of things I thought about him, he definitely never would have invited me to live with him.

I’d have to be careful. I didn’t want to weird Ian out, and I definitely didn’t want to do anything I would regret. I needed this place to live more than I could believe. I pulled my panties back to where they should be and stood up, tugging my skirt down. I looked back toward the pile of empty boxes and then shook my head. I should take a shower first. Then I’d deal with all the packing.