Roommates with Benefits [18+ only]

55. Do men cry for love?

LUKAS

"He only has to try again." I groaned, while stirring the turkey cutlets I was making. Luckily, I found my earphones, even though I barely use them, otherwise I couldn't cook and talk on the phone at the same time.

"I told you, it's fine ..." Corinne sighed, seemingly downcast.

"It's not fine, Cor." I spat, angry, but not at her. "It's not fine at all. The shit he said to you, had I been there, he'd have found himself with a few broken ribs." I was taking it out on the food, but I was mad at this piece of crap that had gone too far with my best friend.

Corinne chuckled lightly. "Babe, it's all very cute, but I'm fine."

"You called me crying the other night, Cor." I reminded her.

"Well, that was the spur of the moment, ok?" She heaved a deep sigh. "I'm fine now." She chuckled, forcing out humor. "So you can spare me your chivalrous outbursts."

"There's nothing chivalrous about what I said, Cor." I scoffed, minding the pasta I was making – because what's an I-love-you-night without a delicious dinner? "It's a fact. Had I been there, he'd have prayed for his soul." I confirmed, clenching my jaw.

"You're overreacting ..."

"The hell I am!" I yelled, nearly throwing everything on the floor out of anger. I don't get why she always minimizes these things, pretending it doesn't upset her, but it does. When she called me the other night, in tears, I nearly took the first flight to San Francisco to do 2 things: comfort her, then break the jerk's face. "He came onto you strong, even tried to touch you, and when you rejected him, he started insulting you and belittling you in the middle of a crowd. That is a big deal, Cor. It's a really fucking big deal. It's harassment and you should have reported him." I groaned. "Does he still come to the shop? If he dares even only look at you, he's dead meat."

Corinne laughed wryly. "Luke, I love that you feel you need to protect me at all costs, but I'm fine, really. If I had a penny for every time some jerk has body-shamed me, I'd have two mansions by now, instead of still trying to save up to buy a duplex."

"This was more than body-shaming, Cor." I pointed out, trying to calm down a bit, mostly because cooking requires peace of mind. I raked a hand over my face. "I'm going to be alone for Thanksgiving, I can come over, if you want."

"And do what?" She laughed. "Start a city-wide hunt for an idiot? You'd waste 10 Thanksgivings in such a quest."

I rolled my eyes, but managed to calm down a bit, because at least she had regained her good mood. "I mean, I haven't seen my best friend in more than 2 months ..." I played a bit dirty, "don't you miss me?" I used my cute sad voice, even though I knew it didn't work on her.

"You call me almost every day, babe, how can I miss you?"

"Ouch," I feigned hurt, bringing a hand to my heart, even though she couldn't see me, "I didn't know my calls weren't welcome."

Corinne scoffed. "Are you sure you wanna be a doctor? You're quite the drama king, you'd be a great actor."

I laughed, my mood lighting up as we slipped into our usual routine. "No, but seriously," I resumed when I sobered up, "I'm going to be alone on Thanksgiving, I could come over, unless you have other plans."

"My brother invited me, but there's no way in Hell I'm going. You know I can't stand his bitch-wife." Corinne scoffed, seemingly munching onto something – probably Pringles, she loves them. "My mom is going to Barbados with Steve-or was it Greg? Hell, I can't keep track of her beaus."

"What about your dad?"

She scoffed loudly. "My dad? Are you crazy? He's got his nice new family, with perfect little Brandon and Brenda – and yes, naming twins after the Beverly Hills 90210 characters was pretty lame, but he's a pretty lame man himself, so."