"He's practically geriatric," I replied seriously.
"Well," she shrugged, her sweet, heart-shaped features taking on an amused tilt. "He is being stubborn about this whole thing anyway. He chose to sleep there."
"He made his bed," I agreed. I sank my teeth into my apple. Served him right for ignoring me.
When I got back to the apartment, Mini greeted me with fast tail wagging and excited leaps that nearly toppled the couches with their intensity. As I gave Mini her usual aggressive scratches and pats, I stared at the cream-colored couch cushions. They were empty with only folded blankets and pillows on the end because Rook had gone on another trip somewhere, and he hadn't bothered to tell me when he would be back. Not that I cared. Much. It wasn't like I was unused to living on my own. I'd been on my own since I was eighteen, since I had escapedthe strangling, forced happiness of my childhood home and embarked on my own adventures.
The problem was the apartmentdidfeel empty. It groaned like a hollow stomach, and I wasn't sure how to fill the cavernous quiet. As I hooked Mini up to her leash and set out on a fast walk through the dark neighborhood, a text came through the game's messaging app. For one, traitorous second, I had hoped it was a text from Rook. I knew it wasn't because he never texted me. Also, why would he? But maybe I'd gotten used to him being in the house because I kept hoping he would come back or tell me where he was.
Emmaculate94:
Hey you getting on tonight?
I tapped out a response while I waited for Mini to pee on a grass lot only a few hundred yards from the building.
GemsNLace178576:
Yeah, I'm alone in my apt and it's weird, so let's kill goblins.
Emmaculate94:
Oh yeah. I'm alone in my house a lot. I like when Dain is here. Guess it's good u have a guy sometimes.
GemsNlace178576:
Idk. He's not the comforting type.
Emmaculate94:
Oh, gotcha, Screw him, then.
GemsNlace178576:
U still with Dain in that apt?
Emmaculate94:
Yes, with Dain but moved into a new house. It's nice. U should come visit!
GemsNlace178576
Ooh, out of the apt! Moving up! Yeah, I'll have to come visit.
I had held back with Ruth earlier. I hadn't told her how conflicted I was about being with Rook. I hadn't mentioned that he never touched me, and as a person who craved connection, that was slowly killing me. I hadn’t told her that he made me dinner when he was home early enough, and he started my coffee before he left. I hadn’t told her that Rook looked like the most delicious slice of fudge cake I'd ever seen in my life, and I wanted to absolutelydevour himwhenever he was near me.
Why hadn't I told her? I couldn't say. Maybe because if I said it out loud, then that would be admitting that I was in an unrequited love situation with the roommate I'd gotten stuck with. And if I said that, then I would have to admit how pathetic it was.
But I could tell Emma. Typing it wasn't the same as saying it out loud. Right?
When I got back to the apartment, I got Mini settled for the night with her stuffies, a dental chew, and plenty of pats before I peeled off my coat. A sniff revealed that I smelled like a campfire, so I hung up the coat, hoping it would air out, and meandered over to the bedroom. Rook had cleared out half his closet, and as tempted as I had been to snoop through his things, I had miraculously resisted the temptation up to this point.
As I flicked on the light in the walk-in closet, I took a second to admire how funny it looked. On the left, nicely pressed, white dress shirts marched in a row back to earth-tone sweatersand dark suit jackets. On the right, an explosion of color stood in contrast to Rook's stately wardrobe, ruffling, swishing, and draping in vibrant hues like confetti. Any chance I could douse Rook in obnoxious color was a win in my book.
I peeled off my T-shirt, tossing it into the wicker hamper I kept under my hanging shirts, and reached for a hoodie before grabbing my favorite sweats from the shelf where I kept them folded. Rook's closet really was massive. With ten-foot ceilings, stacked rows of hanging rods the full height of the space, and plenty of square footage, I had contemplated asking him to make it my bedroom. At least then we would have our own beds. But then we'd have to give up our clothing storage, and I wasn't sure how practical that was, either. As I turned to leave, I glimpsed something on his top shelf. Usually, that shelf was where he kept his suitcase, but because he'd left on a trip, the spot six feet above me was empty.
Well, almost empty. A metallic, silver bag glinted in the dim lighting. I glanced around the abandoned closet like I might find Rook there, but he was gone. And his stuff was just sitting there, defenseless and vulnerable to snooping. I knew I shouldn't look, but why would a man have a silver bag hidden in the top of his closet? Was it a sex toy? HisYu-Gi-Oh!card collection from when he was fifteen? An accumulation of fingers from his serial killing hobby?
I dropped my sweatshirt and sweats to the carpeted floor, and still in my bra and jeans, I reached up on tiptoes to grab it. No use. I couldn't even reach the highest hanger rod in the closet, let alone the top shelf. But Rook had a set of sturdy-built, thick shelves that stacked up to the ceiling, and using my tiptoes, I was able to climb the lower shelf and reach the bag with a fast vault in the air and a swipe of my hand before falling backward.
