“Thanks.” She took it from my hand and sat on the sofa. “I could ask for you.”

“That would be great.” Both of us chugged down our water.

Lexy got up and turned on the air conditioner. “It’s so freakin’ hot. Don’t mind me, I practically live here.”

I didn’t mind it at all. According to everything she had told me, they all acted like family. “Anyway, Lexy, I want to thank you for helping me out and I would like to make dinner for you, Seth, and Elijah too, tomorrow if you can make it.”

“Really?” She looked at her watch. “Uh oh, I gotta go. I have an orientation in half an hour for work. We do this every freakin’ year. They should cut me some slack. I’ve been there for the three years. Anyway, sure…thanks. I would love a home-cooked meal.” Lexy sounded excited. After grabbing her keys and purse, she paced toward the front door. Just then, the doorknob rattled slightly and Elijah walked in, all sweaty.

His tank top clung to his chest, framing his toned abs; his workout shorts did the same. The vision of him walking in hot and sweaty, the sun beaming perfectly around him as if God had presented a gift at the front door, was a heart fluttering moment. I could tell Lexy was captivated, too. I don’t know how long he stood there as I stared at him, but I broke out of my trance when Lexy spoke.

“Hey, Elijah. Did you go to the gym?”

“Lexy, what do you think?” he chuckled as if she should have known. Little did he know that Lexy was possibly tongue twisted from the sight of him.

“Come here and give me a hug.” Just as he reached for her, Lexy jerked back.

“Hell no. You’re all sweaty.”

Elijah cut his laugh short when he saw me. “Hey,” he said in monotone. That was all he had to say to me as he walked into the kitchen.

“I gotta go, Ellie,” Lexy laughed, halfway out the door.

“Bye, Lexy. And don’t call me that.” Elijah’s good-bye was somewhat muffled from his face being inside the refrigerator.

“By the way, Alex is going to cook dinner for the three of us tomorrow night. I’ll let Seth know.” Looking over her shoulder to me, she asked, “What time?”

“How about six?”

“Perfect. Seth and I will bring beer and if we have time, we’ll get dessert. What do you like?”

“How about ice cream? Any kind except for vanilla, unless you bring some sprinkles or hot fudge syrup.”

“Damn girl, you sound just like Ellie. See you tomorrow,” she waved and left.

The sound of the front door and the refrigerator door closing simultaneously startled me. They were both loud. Elijah turned to me with a frown.

“Alex, you bought so much. That’s fine. I’m not going to tell you what to buy or how much to buy, but you need to save some room for me. Not that I buy much.” His tone was loud, but it sure wasn’t friendly.

Suddenly, I got nervous and couldn’t look at him. What he said was so weird and awkward, as if I would be that selfish and take up all the room. I should have thought about what he would have thought, but never having a roommate, how the hell was I supposed to know? He didn’t mention anything about sharing space before I left.

“I’m sorry. I know I bought a lot but I was actually thinking that we could share. I don’t expect you to pay me a penny for it. Lexy told me that you can cook, so I thought maybe if there was more food in the refrigerator, you would eat more home-cooked meals instead of eating out so often. It’s not good for you.” Oh God! I said too much. When I get nervous, I just spit out whatever I’m thinking. It was a bad habit of mine.

The awkward silence made me look up at him. I could tell he didn’t like what I had said. Elijah’s head tilted and he was narrowing his eyes on me. They flickered, as if he couldn’t believe what I had just said. Then he opened his mouth to speak. “Just because Jimmy and I are good friends, you don’t have to feel obligated to take care of me. I’m more than capable of taking care of myself and I don’t need anyone to tell me what I should or shouldn’t eat.” Though his tone was soft, it was stone cold.

I couldn’t believe his reaction. Anger and embarrassment shot through me. I knew he didn’t like me when we first met, but I thought he would at least have the decency to be nice to me since I was his roommate. He had painfully twisted my heart with his words. We were off to a great start! Not what I had in mind when I thought about having a roommate, imagining how much fun Ellie and I would have together. How ironic.

Elijah didn’t move, but he looked away. I could have told him off, but it would have made things worse, so I decided to bite my tongue. Though a huge part of me wanted to yell at him for being a jerk, I knew once I said something, I couldn’t take it back. I also didn’t want to get kicked out. Not having another place to live, I had to stay calm.

I wasn’t mad at Jimmy for not letting me know Ellie was really Elijah, but he was going to hear from me…today. Making sure I had a water bottle in my hand because I had no intention of coming out of my room as long as he was here, I stormed to my bedroom. Instead of slamming the door, I closed it softly behind me.

Chapter 7

Elijah

What the f**k did I just say? I couldn’t believe the words that flew out of my mouth. Shit! I had practically yelled at her. For what? For doing something so sweet, it actually surprised me. Brushing my hair back with my hand, I contemplated what to do. Do I knock on her door and apologize or do I just forget about it? Either way, I felt like shit, especially when I saw her eyes glisten. Hopefully, those weren’t actual tears.