Roommates with Benefits

Chapter 3

I groan seeing him sliding on his coat and shoes by the front door. Ugh, I knew I shouldn't had said anything. Chrissy flirts with whoever on the phone as I'm following her brother out the door after sliding on my shoes.

"So, how do you know my sister?" Inside the grocery store, I'm walking next to Damien down an aisle of alcoholic beverages while he pushes a shopping cart. Even though he's an asshole, he has a nice voice.

I slide my phone down in my back pocket after reading several messages from Adam begging me to come see him tonight. Groaning inwardly, I tuck some hair behind an ear. "We went to high school together—well I transferred from Arizona and attended the last two years at her school." Strange as it sounds, I never knew Chrissy had a brother until a couple of days ago when she announced him being released from prison on parole. She never really talks about any other family member.

Grabbing a wine bottle off the shelf, I take a good look at the label before carefully setting it down inside the shopping cart. "How long will you be on probation?" I glance at the monitor around his ankle as we move further down the aisle.

Damien groans loudly, grabbing himself a pack of beer from one of the coolers. "Thirty four months."

"Damn. And what time do you need to be at home before that thing starts beeping?" I point to the ankle monitor as we walk side by side.

"Eight pm."

I can't help but ask him. "What did you do to go to prison?"

He pushes his hair back with one hand. "You ask a lot of questions, do you know that?"

Scoffing, I roll my eyes and round the corner, walking ahead of him but stopping in my path seeing my ex standing in the canned food aisle flirting with a girl. He has his arms around her waist as she squirms, bursting out a fit of giggles. He looks so happy. It's been eight months since the breakup.

"There you are," Damien comes up behind me, startling me. I bump against a shelf knocking things down. The loud noises of cans hitting the floor alarms my ex and the girl he's with.

Quickly, he pulls away from her and then stares at me speechless as if his words are stuck in his throat while his girl is standing to the side looking between him and I very cluelessly.

"Brandy?" My ex steps forward, rubbing a hand behind his head, awkwardly.

I sigh, waving at him with my lips pressing in a thin line, feeling my cheeks burning. "Hi, Thomas." The air thickens.

Dressed in a black trench coat, white button up shirt, red tie and khaki pants, he slides his hands inside his pockets. His blond hair is neatly combed and his beard is trimmed. "Uh," he looks back at the brunette and then towards me, introducing us. "This is Meredith. Meredith that's Brandy, my ex girlfriend."

I wave with a small smile when she says "Hi." and then loops an arm around his waist.

Damien sighs in annoyance "Okay, this is f*****g awkward. Brandy, I'll be near the ice cream." and then turns around, leaving the aisle.

Right on cue, Meredith's phone rings. "It's my mom. I'll be right back honey." She stands on her tip toes and pecks him on the lips then looks at me, smiling. "It was nice meeting you,"

I mutter "Same to you" but she's already gone.

Thomas blows raspberries, staring down at the floor, rocking back and forth on his feet. We haven't talk in almost a year and he still doesn't know what to say to me.

"How long have you two been dating?" I ask. I'm not really hurt as much as I was back then. I've definitely healed but right now I'm just so damn uncomfortable standing in front of him while he stares at me with those ocean blue eyes.

"Four months," he mumbles.

"Cool. You both seem happy."

He then asks me with knit brows "What about that guy? Are you two dating?"

I shake my head quickly. "He's my roommate's brother."

"Oh," his face relaxes. "You've lost weight." He points out and then corrects himself by saying "I—I meant you look good. You just look way smaller than the last time I saw you."

I look down at my body. "Oh, really? I haven't noticed. My clothes are two sizes bigger so it could just be that." Of course he would tell the difference in my body because he'd always complain about how much weight I gained or how much calories I ate in one day when we were dating. Thing is, he isn't attracted to heavy set women. I had put on so much weight because I was depressed but he couldn't accept that.

Meredith is perfect for him. She's thin and pretty.

"No, I can see it in your face you had lost weight."

I roll my eyes "Thanks, Thomas." and then turn my back.

He grips my left arm, spinning me around to face him and my heart races when memories of him yelling in my face during heated arguments while holding my arms tightly in his hands flashes in my mind.

"Let go of me!" I yank my arm out of his reach.

"Hey, it's okay. I just want to talk." He grabs my arms tightly and then speaks closely to my ear but he lets go when Damien appears around the corner standing tall with his chest poked out, a threatening expression on his face.

"She said let go." Damien glares at Thomas with a clenched jaw, tossing a carton of cookie dough ice cream and a pack of ramen noodles in the shopping cart.

I step back away from my controlling ex boyfriend and then stand beside Damien with my head hanging low, and one hand rubbing my arm.

Letting go of a breathy chuckle with his hands sliding inside his pockets, Thomas smiles devilishly. "Back off man. We were just talking."

"Keep your hands off her or I will break your neck." My mouth drops hearing Damien threatening Thomas.

Thomas tilts his head sideways lifting both brows, smiling slowly fading away. "Excuse me?"

Here comes Meredith saving the day like a hero in an action movie. She walks quickly towards us with worrisome settling on her face. "Thomas! We gotta go. My sister is about to give birth. Mom is at the hospital with her now."

Thomas snaps out of it and then nods at her."Okay, let's go." When Meredith's far ahead of him he looks back at me over one shoulder "It was nice seeing you, Brandy." then disappears around the corner, cackling.

I let out the breath I was holding and continue shopping with Damien.

"You should've let me kicked his ass back there. Homeboy needs a good ass whooping." The car moves slowly on the road during the snow storm as the tires wobbles, crunching on the ice along the road. The windshield wipers are squeaking, moving side to side as ice sticks on all the windows while the heat warms us both inside.

Putting my hands in front of the vent, I ask him. "Do you want to go back to prison?"

Damien chuckles, guiding the steering wheel with one hand while a cigarette is lit between his lips. He stares through the front windshield, making a complete stop behind the white line at a broken traffic light that's blinking the color red and then looks both ways before pushing on the gas. "Nah, I'm loving my freedom so far."

I lean back against the seat. "How long were you locked up?"

He makes a right turn at a stop sign in the middle of a neighborhood. "I was supposed to be behind bars for fifteen years but only did nine. Got off on parole for good behavior. The cops came to my home and put me in handcuffs when I was only eighteen,"

"You were a teenager." I gasp, glancing at him with my mouth wide open. Can't even imagine myself throwing away my life like that. "How old are you now?"

"Twenty six." Is daylight outside without the harsh sunlight and the road ahead is covered in white with tire tracks in both lanes as snow falls from the sky. We've passed Christmas decorations on houses and funny shaped snowmans in front yards. Oh, the holidays brings back so many memories. The good and bad ones. Ever since I left home things haven't been the same.

I mutter, crossing my arms in front of my chest, staring out the window, trying to see but I can't because the ice sticking on the glass is so thick. "You're a year older than me. I'll turn twenty five on the thirty first of this month." Without thinking about it, I blurt out another question. "What did you get locked up for?"

Damien stays silent and I'm wondering if he heard me. Instead of replying, he slowly pulls into the parking garage, waits for the gate to open and then finds a spot near the elevator on the first level. "I'll get the bags. You can head upstairs," with a clenched jaw, he shifts the gear, turns the engine over, pulls the keys out the ignition and then steps out into the car saying nothing else to me. Did I say something wrong?