The Unexpected Roommate

Chapter 4

     I snuggle deeper into the warmth of the blanket, sighing in content.

     I open my eyes instantly when an arm engulfs me pulling me closer. The first thing my eyes land on is a tattoo. A very familiar tattoo at that. This must be a nightmare. I close my eyes and open them again. Nope, he is still here.

     "Can you stop moving?" He mumbles into my hair.

     I squirm to get out of his hold and the bed.

     "What are you doing here?" I snatch the sheets off the bed wrapping them around my waist. "How did you get in here?" I try to keep my eyes on his sleepy face and not the rest of his barely naked body. However, the rest of his body looks damn good.

      He peeks at me through one eye. "Fire escape."

     I look to the window and roll my eyes.

     "I told you I wasn't leaving." He yawns rolling onto his back. "You might as well get used to this."

      "No, I won't get use to this. Why don't you live with your girlfriend until the frat house is finished?" Honestly, I think that would be best. I'm sure his girlfriend doesn't want him living with another girl. She seems like an overprotective girlfriend anyway.

      He kicks his arms and legs about, almost like he is throwing a tantrum and sits up, glaring at me. "It," he reaches for his phone on the nightstand. "It's eight in the morning and you're going on about something that won't get fixed anytime soon. So you have two options, one get back in bed and go to sleep or two go in the living room--leaving me alone."

     "Ugh," I walked out of the room slamming the door behind me. "Asshole," I shout as I walk down the hallway. There is a knock at the door and I open it without a second thought. The smile on India's face vanishes when she sees it's me. I watch as she takes in my appearance and I cringe. I still have the damn sheet wrapped around my body.

     "You know what I can't go back to sleep. Let's just finish what you started." Avery says walking down the hallway. India's face screws up and she looks like she is about to explode. Why is this happening now?

     "Why are you half-naked?" She storms inside the house, pushing me aside. "Answer me Ave?"

     "You talking to me or her?" He asks teasingly and it pisses India off a little bit more. Seriously?

     "You!" she points at his chest. "Did you sleep with her?"

     "Yeah..." he answers and my mouth drops open.

     "No, we did not." I rush out quickly.

     "Yeah, we did. I could have sworn you woke up in my arms, right?" he retorts and I want to choke him. "We slept together."

     I don't say anything and walk around the two of them. I need to put on some pants.  I can already see he loves to joke around and it's going to get someone hurt one of these days. I don't make it down the hallway fast enough before India grabs my arm that's holding the sheet together.

     "Excuse me?" I use my free hand to get her hand off of me.

     "You slept with my boyfriend."

     "Get your hand off of me, before I break it." My nose flare as I stare her down.

     "India Scott," Avery helps remove her hand and stands in between us. "You need to leave," he tells her and even I'm shocked by this. The way he said her full name, I can almost for certain say he isn't happy with her behavior at the moment.

     "What?!"

     I leave them to it and go back into the room. The last thing I need is a fight over something and someone that I care nothing about. The last time I got into an altercation was in secondary school. My mother grounded me for a whole month. Fighting isn't really my thing. Taking my time I put on my pants, hoping India will be gone once I walk back out there.

     "You okay?" He walks back into the room.

     I quickly pull up my pants. "Yeah, is she gone?"

     "She is. I apologize for that. India can be a bit much."

     "Of course she will be. That's your girlfriend."

     He moves around the room, digging through the dresser, retrieving a pair of black basketball shorts. I sit on the bed and watch him. He is really easy on the eyes and that's a plus if he and I are going to be roommates. I mentally shake the thoughts from my head. This apartment complex really screwed up on this one.

     "Earth to Avery," he flops down on the bed next to me, laying on his back. I turn my body slightly to look at him. "Did you hear anything I just said?"

     "Sorry wasn't paying attention."

     "I said she is not my girlfriend, but since I've been only hooking up with just her this summer, she is staking claim on me in a way." he yawns again, causing me to yawn too. "Sleepy?"

     "Not really," I answer.

     I look at his bare chest, getting a better view of his tattoo. Love looks not with eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. "You're a fan of Shakespeare."

     "I dabble a bit." He touches the quote I'm currently staring at. "Let me guess you're an Emily Brontë, kind of girl."

     I snort. "No."

     He sits up and stares at me. "No? Jane Austen? Sylvia Plath?"

     I shake my head no again.

     "Then who?" he asks.

     "The one and only Maya Angelou."

     He raises his eyebrows at me. "I would have never guessed. Tell me something else about you."

     I cross my legs underneath me, tilting my head to the side. "I love the color blue, what about you?"

     "Grey."

     I open my mouth to ask him a question and my phone rings, bursting the bubble we temporarily created. Snap out of Avery, you can not share this apartment with him. No matter what. I grab my phone off the dresser.

     "Hey Vick," I answer.

     "Hey, where are you? You didn't come back to my room last night. Are you okay?"

     "I stayed at my apartment last night."

     "With him?"

     "I gotta go, Vick. Are we still on for tonight?"

     "What are you hiding?"

     "I'm not hiding anything. I just gotta go, see you tonight." I quickly hang up the phone, turning around. Avery is laying back on the bed, his eyes closed. I don't know if I should get back on the bed, resuming the conversation, or just leave.

     "You can stop staring."

     "I'm not staring," I look away from him. "Um, I'm about to leave soon."

     "Whatever," he yawns again, making me yawn yet again. "I need to get going anyway. India is probably thinking of ways to chop me up into little pieces. I need to calm her down." He quickly sits up, grabbing a towel off the chair in the corner. "I'm going to take a shower and be out of your hair for a while. Please don't put the chain lock on tonight." He winks, leaving me looking dumbfound it in the middle of the room.

     At this point is fighting him for the apartment worth it? With a few house rules, I think he and I could probably make this work. Keyword probably.

     "Hey Avery, where are my plates and utensils?!" I shout walking out the room.