Jordan lugged the rolling suitcase up over the last step. She nearly dropped the box of clothes tucked under her other arm from the effort. She paused to hitch it on her hip a little more securely before heading down the hallway.

She had driven back to Austin. Morris & Gibson had finally offered her a position, and her family had sent her off with a nice little Tex-Mex themed congratulatory party.

It had left little time for Carter and Jordan to get together. But he had hinted at maybe coming up to see her at some point.

Jordan and her roommate, April, had sublet their apartment for the summer and the key had been sent back to her last week. April wasn’t supposed to be back until next week so she’d have the place to herself for a while. She was actually looking forward to that. After such an eventful summer, with literally everyone knowing her business, a bit of alone time was refreshing.

She shoved the key into the lock and used the elbow holding the box of clothes to push the door in.

“Oh shit!”

It was the first thing she heard and it caused her to drop the box of clothes and jump in panic. It took a few moments to register what she was looking at. A very naked April Palomino was sitting astride her boyfriend—a similarly very naked Matt Dueker—in the middle of the living room floor.

“Oh my God, oh my God, ohmygod!” Jordan screamed, quickly swiveling her body to face the hallway.

She heard the scramble behind her and waited until the frantic noises subsided.

“Are you decent?” she asked after a while.

There was a bit more whispering then she heard April’s voice, “Um…yeah?”

Jordan waited a moment longer, then slowly turned around. Matt was M.I.A. and April was exiting her bedroom with her bed sheet wrapped around her like an impromptu toga costume.

“What the hell, Jordan!” she said accusingly. “I thought you weren’t going to be back until Friday.”

“You said you weren’t coming back until Saturday!” Jordan responded.

April’s eyes went to the ceiling in recollection. “Oh…yeah, well sorry.” She laughed. “Guess you caught us.”

Jordan picked her box up from the floor and rolled her suitcase in. April had a perfectly good bed to do the do in. Why in the world would she be in the living room of all places?

Says the woman who got to third base in a truck outside her parents’ house.

At least someone was getting their rocks off here in Austin. It made her think of Carter Fox and how they had yet to go that far. Frustrating to say the least.

“If you just give me a chance to drop my stuff off I can leave you to it.

“Thanks, and sorry about that,” April laughed. “Welcome back, I guess!”

“Yeah.”

Jordan unloaded the last of her luggage and boxes in her bedroom. They were both sitting awkwardly in the living room, waiting, by the time she was done.

Matt at least had the decency to look somewhat embarrassed by the whole incident. April just seemed to think it was hilarious. Between Jordan and her roommate, April had always been the more libertine of the two of them. Frankly, it was a wonder that she and Matt had been together as long as they had.

“Sorry about that. It’s just that…well, you’re kinda always here, Jordan” April explained. “At least at night. And weekends. And pretty much any time you’re not at school. I thought I’d take advantage of the few days I had the place to myself.”

“Well, I’m done here, so have at it!” Jordan said with a grand gesture.

“Oh, hey!” April said brightly. “I heard about that thing with Carter Fox! Did he really offer to do a threesome with you? Next time hit a girl up!”

Jordan looked at her in surprise. She cast a quick glance to Matt who just gave a small laugh.

“Oh, we’re totally cool. Besides, Matt would absolutely let me hit it with Carter Fox.”

Well, that explained a lot. If it hadn’t been for a mutual need to split the rent, she wondered how in the world April and she would have ever ended up together. As it had turned out, other than mismatched social lives, they meshed pretty well as roommates.

“So…?” April looked at her expectantly. Matt seemed to be a little too interested as well.

“Really?” Jordan asked, giving her roommate a get real stare. “No, of course I didn’t have a threesome with Carter Fox, or anything else for that matter!”

For some reason, she had no desire for her roommate—for anyone—to know about her and Carter. That first bit of public fanfare was something she didn’t need a repeat of. Better that her roommate thought she was some boring, anti-social prude.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be gone a while so you two love birds can get back to having fun.”

* * *

Jordan sat in the car honestly wondering what to do. It was August, still too damn hot for this. She could go to Starbucks, or the public library maybe. How much time did April and Matt really need? She looked at the clock. Almost 3:30.

The Sluggers weren’t even playing tonight, so there was no point in going to a bar to watch Carter from afar.

Her phone buzzed and she was pleased to see it was Carter.

“What are you up to?” he asked as soon as she answered.

“Melting in my car,” she answered with a laugh.

“How would you like to melt in my arms instead?”