The Trouble Down The Hall

3.

Jules

Flipping my pancakes had me so engrossed I didn’t hear the door of my new neighbor s***h my nemesis open, or his footsteps as he walked into the kitchen, until he spoke.

“That sure looks yummy.” He said and I almost jumped out of my own skin.

Hissing, I turned with the spatula still in hand, tempted to use it, to see him looking at me with a smirk, but that wasn’t what had me gritting my teeth, it was how close he was standing.

“Jesus, Ryan! You can’t just sneak up on people like that.” Sneak up on me like that one more time and you're going to have yourself to blame, you annoying piece of s**t.

At least, those were the words I wanted to say to him.

He lifted his hands in mock surrender, his eyes dancing with amusement, so much I wanted to hiss in his face. “I didn’t mean to. You were… focused, so it's not really my fault.”

I pushed up my brows as I looked at him, actually, I glared. Focused, my ass. My heart was still thundering from the shock, and maybe just a little from the way he looked or how close he was standing to me. His hair was damp so I could tell he had just gotten out of shower, a white T-shirt clinging to muscles I didn’t remember him having, and grey sweatpants hanging low on his hips like some kind of public indecency.

I quickly turned back to the stove before my brain could betray me any further because that was all my body parts knew how to do best. “There’s something called calling my name. Or, you know, making noise like a normal person.”

“Calling my name? Jules, what's that?” I chastised myself mentally. “You would like that, won't you?”

He leaned against the counter beside me, too close again, that stupid smirk still in place as if he could hear the conversation I was having in my brain. “It’s a kitchen, not a private office. I didn’t realize I needed an appointment to get breakfast.”

I flipped the last pancake with more force than necessary, partly to prove a point. “You’re not getting breakfast. These are mine.” I didn't promise a bed and bedfast treatment when I put out the ad for looking for a roommate, so he better not be getting any ideas.

“Harsh.” He reached for the plate cooling on the counter, and I swatted his hand away with the spatula.

Ryan chuckled low, the sound infuriatingly warm. “Still territorial, huh?” he asked, shaking his head.

“And you're still as annoying as I remember,” I shot back.

He shrugged his shoulder with an unbothered expression, reaching up to grab a mug from the cabinet like he had lived here for years. “Coffee?”

I glared at him. “You don’t even know where the filters are.”

He met my glare with one of his own, the corner of his mouth twitching. “Guess you’ll have to show me.”

And just like that, I realized something truly terrible; this man was going to test every ounce of my patience, one smirk and one stolen pancake at a time.

I sat down with my pancakes and syrup, and three minutes later, I was done, so I took my plate to the sink to wash it up before walking back to my room to get dressed for work.

I had just stepped back outside my room all dressed when the doorbell rang. With a frown, I started towards the door but Ryan beat me to it.

He opened the door and I saw a woman fling her arms around his neck, another man standing behind her. The woman’s squeal nearly made me flinch. “Ryan!” she cried, flinging her arms around his neck like she had been waiting months for this reunion, throwing herself into his arms.

I froze mid-step, the breath catching in my throat as she hugged him like she had been waiting her whole life for this exact moment. Her blonde curls bounced against his chest, her manicured fingers clutching his shoulders possessively.

A tall man stood behind her, grinning like he had seen this a thousand times before.

Ryan looked mildly startled but didn’t push her away. “Uh, hey, Lex. Didn’t know you were coming.”

Lex. Great. She even had one of those short, cutesy nicknames that sounded like it belonged in a love song.

I crossed my arms, staying just far enough away from the door to pretend I wasn’t watching. But I was watching, every second of it.

Ryan stepped back slightly, peeling the woman… Alexis, if I remembered right… from his chest. “Trent,” he said, his tone tight but polite, “you didn’t mention Alexis was tagging along.”

Oh right, this was the man, the Trent who had gotten us into this entire roommate mess in the first place.

Trent shrugged. “She insisted. You know how she gets when she hears you’re in town.”

Trent cleared his throat, finally stepping forward. “Hey, Jules. Looks like it all worked out, huh?”

Worked out. Yeah, sure. I forced a polite smile. “Oh, it’s just perfect.”

Ryan glanced back, probably noticing the ice in my tone. His lips parted like he was about to explain, but I beat him to it.

“So,” I said lightly, my voice a little too chipper, “this must be your girlfriend.”

Both of them blinked. Ryan looked horrified; Alexis looked thrilled. “Girlfriend?” she repeated the word like it was gold, smiling wide enough to rival the sun.

Ryan started to protest, “No, she’s…”

“…Lovely,” I cut in, offering Alexis a polite nod before turning to Trent. “It’s nice to meet you both. I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m running late for work.”

I brushed past Ryan, grabbing my bag off the counter. “Spare key’s on the TV shelf,” I said without looking back. “Make yourselves comfortable.”

And before Ryan could say another word, or correct my little “girlfriend” assumption, I was out the door with my heart pounding, telling myself that the tightness in my chest was irritation.

It was definitely not jealousy, because what would I be jealous about? It didn't make any sense, right?