Colton scoffed at that. “Nothing changes too quickly in Westwend. My day tomorrow issuperpacked with my basketball game against me, myself, and I, but IsupposeI could squeeze you in.” He shot me a wink and my stomach flipped.
And what the fuck was that? Was I suddenly getting nerves over my new roommate situation?
Shaking off that weird reaction, I huffed out a laugh. “Basketball? You play?”
“Yep. It’s like the only sport I do play, but I mostly just shoot hoops by myself now. Do you play?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I used to love playing in college. Just recreational stuff.”
Colton beamed. “We can play some one-on-one and I’ll show you around town, how does that sound?”
“Sounds like a plan,” I smiled, stretching a bit and checking my watch. I did a double-take at the time before realizing how dark it’d gotten outside. Had the day really flown by that fast?
A heaviness washed over me, as if it’d been waiting to sneak in. Between the travel and the shock of the new arrangement, exhaustion was settling fast. Colton smirked, clearly recognizing how tired I’d suddenly become, and excused himself first. I made my way back to my room, grateful for the quick reprieve.
But, despite my weariness, it seemed that my brain wasn’tquite on board with turning in for the night. I laid there, arms behind my head as I stared at the ceiling.
For the next few months, I had a roommate. That wasn’t such a crazy notion, so why was my mind so stuck on it? I couldn’t figure out if I was more shocked by who I was living with or how the whole situation came about.
Sighing, I rolled over, hoping that sleep would eventually take me.
I was in for a long night, otherwise.
CHAPTER 3
Colton
The morningafter I took in a stray human-being, I laid in bed staring at the ceiling like it held the answers to the universe.
How was this my life?
There was a part of me that still wasn’t convinced this wasn’t one big fever dream. Maybe I’d wake up and find out that I never agreed to becoming the patron saint of displaced attorneys.
I could call up my dad and say ‘Hey, had this wild dream—super funny—you unceremoniously dropped your new hire into my guest bedroom without even asking. You were a total ass about it! Hilarious, right? So glad you’d never actually do that to me, Daddio!’.
I groaned, scrubbing my hands up and down my face with the subtlety of someone trying to erase their entire life through sheer friction. When my skin was red and borderline raw, I stopped. Staring contest with the ceiling: round two.
Eventually, I admitted defeat and peeled myself out of bed. After taking care of business in my bathroom—thank God for ensuites and built-in delay tactics—I made the slow march toward the kitchen, steeling myself for the awkward reunion.
Turning the corner into the living room, the scent hit me like a freight train full of comfort food. Bacon. Coffee. Something edgy and fancy-sounding.
Then I sawhim.
Derek was at the stove, looking stupidly domestic in a dark gray shirt and soft, pale sweatpants that cupped his perfectly rounded ass that I was… totally not staring at. He looked like he’d walked straight out of a cozy romance novel and into my kitchen. His hair was still a little tousled from sleep, sticking up in weird angles like it couldn’t decide what to do with itself. Honestly, same.
I closed my eyes and begged for strength. This man was my new roommate. My dad’s employee.You cannot get horny over breakfast. That would violate some roommate agreement, I was sure.
Just as I was trying to convince myself this wasn’t what it looked like, Derek turned slightly and caught sight of me. He lifted his spatula in greeting with a crooked smile.
“Hey, good morning!”
“Morning…” I managed, mentally sending dirty looks at my dick to stay down.
“I made breakfast for us,” He stated, flipping something in the pan with the kind of confidence that should be illegal before eight a.m. “Coffee’s done, too. I assume you drink it since you have this whole fancy set-up.”
He gestured to the all-in-one espresso machine, my baby, on the counter.
“I didn’tmakethe coffee, though,” he added quickly. “It made itself. Nearly scared the piss out of me. I was digging around for a pan and the thing started hissing and gurgling like it was possessed. Thought the house was haunted.” He shook his head.
