"But I said yes," I reminded him, stepping away to give myself air. I needed space—I needed another galaxy, really. I needed to find a way to shield myself from my own growing feelings for Rook. Living with him, whether we interacted or not, was like leaving a daisy in a pot of purple dye. It seemed so motionless, so benign, but before I knew it, Knox had seeped into every cell of my being. My longing for him deepened every day, just as surely as a white petal turned violet.
But I didn't want to be violet. Did I?
"You said yes, but I told him that we had a boundary, Gemma. We can't afford to complicate what is already a disastrous mess—"
"Oh, living withmeis a mess?" I challenged as the elevator doors opened. I slammed my arm against them to keep them from closing. "That's rich, coming from someone who decorates his bedroom floor with gym socks."
Knox straightened away from the wall, his brows slashing together angrily. "You'reoff limits, Gemma. I told him that, and I'm telling you, now. We are not adding more knots to this clusterfuck."
"Clusterfuck?" I repeated incredulously. Suddenly my nervous, staccato heartbeat from a second ago deepened to a furious drumbeat. It slammed in my chest and choked my words. "I'mthe clusterfuck, or your mother is?"
"Thisis a clusterfuck," Knox replied calmly, even as his body language tightened visibly. "This situation is a goddamn mess, Gemma, and you know it. Stop twisting my words to fit your selfish desires."
"Myselfish desires?"The doors tried to close and I shoved against them. "Since when is it selfish to want control ofmypersonal life? Who the fuck do you think you are?"
"Clearly," he snapped, his composure finally cracking with a scowl and a step toward me, "I'm the only level-headed participant in this situation."
I stumbled back, and Mini suddenly sat on her haunches heavily, placing herself between Rook and me. Righteous anger burned in my throat, strangling my words as I glared at Knox from behind Mini's enormous, stalwart body. "I'd rather fall right off a cliff than be level with you, asshole." I slammed the door closed button.
Knox stood rigid, his fists at his sides and his features tight with fury. "Do not date him, Gemma."
I gave him the middle finger just as the doors closed.
"Do you think if I wore a Jack-o’-lantern on my head, Spencer would find me extra irresistible?" I held a heavy, traditionally carved pumpkin up on my shoulder to illustrate the improvement it might make.
Ruth glanced at me from where she sat on the floor of our company lobby, her fingers slowly twining black tulle around a string of twinkle lights. She pushed her glasses up with her wrist and studied me with a cock of her head. "It might muffle some of your crazy."
"Oh, bonus perk I hadn't thought about." I set the pumpkin down with the rest of its friends where they'd been artistically bunched in front of a stack of hay bales. Kiss-Met was hosting a Samhain Singles Mingle tonight, so we had spent the majority of our day decorating the lobby and helping to set up tables and chairs in the two-story, bright space.
"Also, it might shield your face from getting caught by Dr. Rook, which I suspect is the real reason you want to hide," Ruth speculated primly.
I planted my hands on my hips, glaring down at her. "Keep your hypotheses to yourself, smarty pants."
A ghost of a smile tugged at Ruth's lips, and she slid the lights across her lap, finishing off the tulle with an efficient bow. "Are you sure you want to piss off your roommate? It's not terribly… logical."
"Nothing about this situation is logical," I countered, plopping myself down on the floor across from her and reaching in the cardboard box for another string of lights. We were zig-zaggingthe lights across the foyer ceiling to make an illuminated, black curtain that reminded me of a graveyard fog. This whole thing had been Janice's idea, but the execution had turned out way cooler than I'd first imagined. I was almost disappointed that I’d miss the event.
Ruth glanced up at me, her gray-blue eyes shimmering with mirth. "So, your solution is to make it more awkward?"
"He'smaking it awkward," I argued, tugging on the spool of tulle a little too harshly. "Who the hell is he to call me 'off limits' to anyone? It's absolutely mental."
A waft of cinnamon floated over our heads as Janice coasted across the lobby with two lit candles in her hands. She had a wispy, black, bohemian dress over her thin body, and the black gauzy shawl she wore over her shoulders made her look like the Grim Reaper's grandmother. "I'm sensing tension," she said with a frown as she looked over her shoulder at us. "None of that. This is a positive atmosphere, Ms. Daise."
I put a hand to my chest. "Why me? How do we know Ruth isn't the sour one?"
Janice gave me a knowing look over her glasses, still balancing the orange candles in her hands. "Come now, Gemma."
Ruth snickered, and I shoved her over before standing with a sniff. "Well, I apologize that my personal life is—" I made air quotes with my fingers "—'ruining the vibe.' I'll just go get ready for my date, then."
As Ruth struggled to sit up, she fixed her glasses with another muffled snort of laughter. Cal materialized from God only knew where—he'd been setting up tables a second ago. But with an affronted glare my way, he righted his girlfriend and dropped a kiss on top of her head. "Is Gemma bullying you? Want me to unalphabatize her files for you?"
"Don't you dare," I threatened with my index finger.
Cal gave me a lopsided grin as he straightened. "Has your roommate figured out what a neurotic freak you are, yet?" He still had on his green button-down and black chinos, which meant he was so disgustingly in love with Ruth, he'd come straight here from his urgent care practice down the block. He was so pussy whipped.
I lifted my chin imperiously. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"I would," Ruth said, standing to wrap her arms around Cal's toned torso. "Because I kind of figured he would be super neat like you."
