The Roommate (The Camgirl Part 2)

Part XII: Nervous

XII: Marie and Lexi

Marie

The warmth of the fire pit less than a foot away provided a welcome contrast to the night's crisp chill. Without that or her jacket, Marie would have been freezing, especially with the occasional breeze that rose off the water.

The two bottles'-worth of hard lemonade inside her helped a bit.

"So how are things with Liam?" Emily asked, "You haven't really said much since you guys first started actually dating."

Marie bit back a sigh as she looked over at her friend. Emily had worn a heavy jacket that enveloped her small frame and her red hair shone bright in the fire's orange glow. They'd met up and talked a bit about school and their respective Thanksgivings, and for a bit, Marie had been relatively content just sitting by the fire in good company.

She hesitated at Emily's question, then took a sip from her current bottle.

"We broke up, actually."

It took her a moment to look over at Emily. By the time she did, Emily had already placed a hand on her shoulder.

"When? Why didn't you tell me? Are you okay?"

Marie took another sip, trying not to wince at the concern or the sliver of hurt in her best friend's voice.

"A little while after Halloween," she said, "And I don't know. I told my roommate because she saw how much of a mess I was when I came home that day, but I didn't really want to tell anyone because I felt so shitty."

"What happened?"

"I fucked it up," Marie said after a moment's hesitation, not wanting to get into the details. She was surprised at how steady her voice was, "He asked if there was anything between us other than sex, and he was really great and sweet but..."

Marie took another sip from her drink as she trailed off.

"After just a few months of actually dating?" Emily asked, "That seems a bit quick for something like that, even if you guys did start talking before summer."

Marie shook her head, "No, he wasn't being too clingy or anything. I fucked up a bit earlier before he actually broke things off. He let it slide, but I just...I took advantage of it. He was so nice, and I was just a bitch."

She laid back on one of the towels they'd brought, setting her bottle down behind her, "I still can't figure out why I acted that way."

"Maybe after Dan you just liked being treated that way and just didn't realize you didn't have the same feelings for him," Emily supplied.

Marie sighed.

That lets me off too easy.

Her ex before Liam hadn't been a monster or anything--just a regular asshole too hot and cocky for his own good who'd managed to hide that side of himself when they'd first started going out.

"What did you do to fuck it up, anyway?" Emily asked, "Get drunk and sleep with his roommate?"

"Nope. My roommate."

After a few moments of silence from Emily--the soft lapping of the waves and crackling of the fire the only sounds--Marie pushed herself up on her elbows and looked over at her friend.

Emily stared at her, eyes wide, body language a bit defensive.

Marie held in her sigh.

Fuck...I probably should have seen that coming.

Their town wasn't the most progressive community. It wasn't outright bigoted, but things like sexuality were iffy topics to bring up.

Even with my best friend, apparently.