“You’re good?”

I looked at Brendan. “Sure. I can handle cleanup,” I said and chuckled.

He gave me this half smile that set my blood on fire.

His cell went off, and he pulled it out of his pocket to look at it. A sigh left him second later.

“Everything okay?”

He nodded and pocketed his phone. “Yeah. It’s just Hunter wanting to go out and drink. I’m not down with that.” He grinned again as he looked at me, and I felt this electricity slam into me. “I was thinking you and I could raid Netflix and find something to watch.”

My heart did this little flutter at the suggestion. “Yeah, okay.” I hated that I sounded so breathy.

“I’m just going to go take a quick shower. I smell like work.”

I laughed and nodded.

I shouldn’t have let my thoughts control me, but trying not to think about Brendan while living under the same roof with him was impossible. And, honestly? A part of me didn’t want to push those thoughts aside.

Being his roommate wasn’t like I’d thought it would be. During the short time I’d been here, he was respectful, sweet, and although I knew he’d always been like that, I thought maybe he would be different because I was intruding on his space and time.

I put the last plate in the dishwasher, popped in one of those cleaning packs, and closed the door. True to my word, and because this was the least I could do, I’d just cooked us a meal and was cleaning up. I tried to be as domestic as I could between work and going to school, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I liked doing this. It seemed weirdly intimate, like we were a team, a partnership.

It just felt right, and I hated that I had these delusions that there was something more than there was.

But do you really think there isn’t anything there?

I thought about the way I saw him look at me, at the fact I swore he felt the connection between us too. Hell, just a few minutes ago, I felt his stare on me as I cleaned up. And when I looked at him, I could see this intensity, this heat spear right through me.

God, just thinking about it now had me getting all hot and bothered.

It was another ten minutes before I was done in the kitchen. I heard the shower cut off down the hall, and I couldn’t help the pervy thoughts that slammed into my head.

Naked.

Water droplets on his body.

His flesh slightly red from the shower.

Lord. I could have had a heart attack.

I went into the living room, feeling pretty giddy at the prospect of watching a movie with Brendan.

I am some kind of pathetic, that’s for sure.

I heard a few knocks on the front door and contemplated ignoring it. I might live here temporarily, but I felt slightly weird answering his door. But then I thought not seeing who it was would be rude as hell, and I found myself walking toward it, gripping the handle, and pulling the door open.

I saw one of Brendan’s friends on the other side, his focus on his phone for a second before he looked up at me. The grin he gave me was slow, and I felt like he was trying to picture me naked by the way he was eyeing me up and down.

I thought his name was Hunter.

I’d met him one other time since being here, and although he was nice enough, I’d felt him checking me out. It was uncomfortable, not because it was him, but because I’d never been one to feel especially good when a guy eye-fucked me.

“Hey. Brendan around?”

I nodded and moved back to let him in. Before I could call out to Brendan, Hunter was doing that.

“Yo, bitch tits. Get your ass out here.”

I refrained from rolling my eyes at the macho attitude coming from Hunter.

I turned to go wait in the living room, but Hunter clearing his throat had me stopping and turning around.

He had this smirk on his face, one that told me he had something nasty on his mind.

“You seeing anyone?”

“Kind of a personal question for someone you don’t really know,” I said honestly, not trying to be a bitch about it, but also hating when this kind of thing happened. It wasn’t like it happened a lot, but in college, there had been a few times I got hit on, featuring lewd comments that made me feel like oil had been poured on me. I just knew where this was going by the way he was eyeing me and seeming to smack his lips.

“Just trying to be friendly,” he said, his grin widening. “So, seeing anyone?”

“No.”

His eyebrows lifted slightly. “No? Well, how about you let me take you out?” He came closer, and I turned around, about to tell him no thanks, but he started talking again. “Dinner, movie, and maybe afterward we can head to my place for some drinks?”

I refrained from rolling my eyes for the second time in less than five minutes of being in his presence tonight.

Then, surprising the hell out of me, Hunter reached out and wrapped his fingers around a lock of my hair.

“Just say you’ll go out with me.” He leaned in a little closer, and I cocked my head back, not about to go there with him. Before I could say anything, I heard Brendan.

“What the fuck, Hunter?”

Hunter looked to his side.

“She’s not on the market, so get the fuck away.”

I was surprised at what Brendan said, but also at the anger coming from him.

He came closer, his hair damp, and only a pair of sweats hanging low on his hips covering his body. He glared at Hunter, and I looked at the guy, seeing he was still close to me, and still had my hair wrapped around his finger.

“I said back off, Hunter.” There was a distinctive sharpness in Brendan’s voice, and instantly Hunter moved back. He looked between Brendan and me, then shrugged.

“I came by to talk you into coming out tonight and drinking.”

Brendan shook his head. “I texted you back I was busy.”

Hunter knitted his brows. “Busy with what? You’re like all ready for bed and shit.”

“I have plans already” was all Brendan said. “I’ll talk to you later.” The finality in Brendan’s voice had Hunter nodding. There was no argument, no trying to push him into going out. Instead, Hunter just turned and left.

I stood there, wondering what in the hell had happened. Brendan had been protective while we were growing up, but this seemed a lot different. He seemed possessive almost.

Or was that just my wishful thinking?

“Brendan, is everything okay?” I ran my now sweaty hands down my jeans and stared at him. He looked down at the ground, his jaw clenched. Under the stubble-covered flesh, I saw a muscle ticking.

“He didn’t do anything else before I got out here, did he?” He looked at me then, and I shook my head. “He didn’t touch you anywhere but your hair, did he?”

I shook my head again. “No. But are you okay? You seem … intense and angry about what happened.” Although Hunter had been forward as hell, Brendan’s reaction shocked me. He’d been incensed.

“I’m fine. It’s just Hunter has a pretty filthy reputation, and I don’t like the idea of him near you.” He looked at me, and I saw something flash across his face.

Was he lying?

Was he jealous?

Before I could really let that sink in, he came up to me, placed his hand on my shoulder, and led me into the living room. I didn’t miss how his fingers flexed on my shoulder, or how I felt his body heat seep into me. I also swore he leaned down and smelled my hair.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked and looked over my shoulder at him. I froze when I saw exactly how close we were. His face was lowered, and the only reason it would be that way was if I had been right and he’d smelled my hair.

If I rose up, I’d kiss him right now.

As if I said those words out loud, or maybe he thought the same thing, he lowered his gaze to my lips and held it there for long seconds.

“How about we watch a movie?” he said in a low, deep voice. He looked into my eyes again and as much as I wanted to kiss him, I nodded and turned back toward the living room.

Okay, there was something between us, and it wasn’t just one sided.