With You

12. Space Geek

My room had always been cramped. Maybe it was all the soccer trophies lining the walls. Maybe it was my old soccer balls and boots hanging from shelves. Maybe it was the fact that I had a double bed in a single bed sized room.

Whatever it was, suddenly the room seemed a million times smaller with Rowan standing in it.

He was all long limbs and sophisticated grace in a room of clutter and embarrassing baby photos. I kicked a t-shirt on the floor out of the way before reaching over my bed to flip a lamp on.

"Sorry it's messy," I said.

"Messy?" He kicked a shoe and watched it roll to the edge of the room. "I didn't even notice."

I laughed, rolling my eyes. "Please. I'd like to see how your room looks."

As soon as the words left my mouth, I realised how they sounded. I clasped a hand over my mouth, but it was too late. Rowan smirked at me, a brow lifting suggestively as he stepped closer.

"What was that, Sebastian? You'd like to see my room?"

"You know what I meant," I groaned.

His smirk grew. "Oh, I know. Trust me. I know."

"This is my house," I started, pointing a finger at him. "I can kick you out at any time. Remember who's in charge here."

He took another step, narrowing his eyes at me. "Remind me then, Sebastian, who's in charge?"

His eyes drilled into mine and I wavered for a second before quickly catching myself, refusing to break eye contact. His lips twitched and a heavy silence filled the room for a moment.

Then, he was stepping back and leaning against my dresser, scanning my room with narrowed eyes. I released a tight breath, trying to relax my shoulders and failing. My hands – I didn't know where to put my hands. I placed them on my knees, then changed my mind, placing them on the mattress.

Why did I feel so awkward?

Below the floor, we could still hear my family chattering loudly, laughing, music playing and I briefly considered getting up and going back down there, re-joining my family. It couldn't be worse than the awkward silence that had drifted over the room.

I shifted uncomfortably, searching for something to say – a conversation starter, anything. Rowan had begun to take slow steps around the room, his narrowed eyes taking everything in.

I followed his gaze across the room, trying to imagine it from an outsider's perspective. Looking now at the old soccer shoes hanging from my shelves, covered in creases and grass stains, I wondered if it looked more sentimental or more hoarder-type behaviour. I pursed my lips, beginning to notice all the tiny details – the cracks in the corner of the ceiling, the tiny stain on the carpet from spilled soda, the wrinkled sheets of my bed.

I should have cleaned.

"Stars?"

I blinked, turning to see Rowan quirking a brow at me. Noticing my confusion, he nodded to his left, gesturing towards a little splatter of glow in the dark stars that I'd stuck to my wall years ago. I'd forgotten it was there.

I shrugged, as if it were completely normal for a college student's room to have glow in the dark stars stuck up on his bedroom wall. "I liked space."

"Wouldn't have expected that," Rowan remarked.

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know." He pushed off the dresser, beginning to circle the room. "Angsty, soccer athlete? Peaked in high school? Failing college –"