The Roommate

Chapter 1

"What?! You can't do that!" I yelled. My landlord glared at me.
"I can, it says so in your lease, and I did. Now get out of my office, or get evicted." I walked out of the office, growling at the ground as I went back to my place. After a while of wondering where I was going to get the money, it hit me. I called my friend Janice.
"Hey, what's up?"
"Didn't you say, that you had a friend who needed a place to stay?"
"Woah, um yeah."
"Well my landlord just fucking tripled my rent."
"Is that legal?"
"It's apparently in my lease. Do they still need a place to stay?"
"Yeah I will let them know. I can make them a extra key off my copy."
"Yeah thanks. I'm off tomorrow but if they want to move their stuff in today while I'm at work, they can. You can show them my office."
"Sounds good to me."
"Okay I have to get to work. The rent is $900 by the way."
"Okay." I hung up, and moved my things out of my office, before getting ready and heading into work. Work was work, and 10 hours later I finally got off work and headed home. When I got home, I went to the bathroom, showering and heading to my room before heading to bed. When I woke up the next morning, I heard the shower running. I got dressed, heading out to make my breakfast. I hummed as I brewed my coffee, turning to the fridge to get my eggs.
"Morning." I heard a deep voice say and I jumped, dropping an egg. I turned and looked at him. "I'm your new roommate." He was only wearing a towel, but it was clear from his sparkling abs that he'd just gotten out of the shower. His brunette hair was pulled up in a man-bun, showing off the shaved sides and his jawline.
"Y-you?" He nodded.
"There something wrong? Other than your egg drop." I looked, and cursed, grabbing a paper towel, trying to wipe it up.
"Could you p-put a shirt on?" I managed as I stood up.
"I could. But I'm not going to." He smirked as he grabbed a new carton of milk out of the fridge. I turned away, frying up the egg I'd managed to not drop, and making my breakfast sandwich. I turned on my show, watching the new episode as I ate and drank my coffee. "You actually watch that shit?"
"Yes, I do. Do you have a problem with my crime show fascination?" He walked back to his bedroom, and came out in a tank top and shorts.
"Well I'm headed to my workout." He said, walking out. I called my friend on my way to work.
"Hey, what up?"
"You didn't tell me you friend was a dude."
"No I didn't."
"You didn't tell me he had abs."
"No I didn't."
"Why?!"
"Because it's like this, Harper. You need to get some action! You are way to uptight for your age."
"No I don't!"
"You haven't had sex in four years! Since you and Danny broke up! You haven't even dated someone in that time."
"Whatever."
"Did he do something?"
"He got out of the shower and came out in a towel this morning."
"Oh you are lucky." I rolled my eyes.
"I got to go." I hung up and went into work. 10 hours later I went home, and walked inside to see a woman. In his lap. On MY COUCH. They looked over, seemingly unimpressed. "If you could take that off my couch, and go in your room that'd be great." I said and she scoffed. He looked at me. "I AM SERIOUS. STOP FUCKING ON MY COUCH." She got off of him.
"You roommate is a buzzkill." She said, pulling her pants on and walking out of the house. I shut the door behind her, then turned to him.
"Ground rules. Your sexcapades happen in your room. You do not come out in the mornings in just a towel. And if you stain it, you replace it. Rent is due by the fifth of every month. You are not on the lease yet. Tread lightly, I can still find someone else." He bit his lip, smiling a little. "What is so funny?!"
"You." He stood up and walked over. "You were so shy this morning." I backed up, bumping into the door. "And now you are a little firecracker." He leaned on the door, smiling down at me. "And now, you're shy again. Just because I got close to you. We'll see how this plays out." He walked away, chuckling lowly as he opened his door and walked in. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding, and showered before going to bed. I was actually off today, so I slept in a little, before getting up around 11:30 and ordering my breakfast. The doorbell rang and I thanked the door dash driver, before digging into my Bob Evans breakfast. The door opened and he walked in. I looked over. He was sweaty, in a tank top and shorts. "Morning."
"Morning." I took a bite of my pancakes, smiling at the food.
"What on earth are you eating?"
"Bob Evans pancakes and bacon." He scoffed, walking back to his room. He returned in jeans and a T-shirt, sitting on the couch next to me. His phone rang and he groaned, picking it up.
"Kierra, I've told you. We are not a thing. You're a fucking stalker. You know I already said no. I'm not going to date you!" I actually felt bad for him, and grabbed his phone from him. He looked at me like I was crazy as I stood up and walked around.
"Jacob, baby-"
"Honey, stay away from my man." I said, trying to match her whiny voice. "You are not special. I've seen you in his phone."
"Who is this?"
"His girlfriend. Now back off my man!"
"Go to hell whore!"
"The only whore here is you. Going after taken men? Tells me how desperate you are. Anywho, I gotta go sweetie! Don't wanna be late for my manicure! Byeee!" I hung up the phone, tossing it to him. He looked at me.
"I, um..."
"You're welcome." I plopped back down and continued eating my pancakes as I flicked on a tv show. He was still looking at me. "What?"
"Why did you do that?"
"Because even though you drive me up the wall, you deserve respect. And she wasn't going to give it without getting shut down." I said, shoveling bacon in my mouth.
"That is really unhealthy for you."
"We all die someday. I'm not suicidal, but I want to die soon of natural causes." He just turned back to the show, piddling on his phone for a bit. I muted the tv.
"You good?"
"We got off to a bad start." I said. "I'm Harper."
"Jacob." He said, the confusion evident in his voice.
"What do you do for fun?"
"I workout."
"Wow, who would have guessed?" I said sarcastically. He smirked.
"Okay, smartass. What about you?"
"I watch tv." He nodded.
"Who would have guessed?" I smiled softly. "What do you do for work?"
"I am a computer programmer."
"No you aren't." I laughed.
"No I'm not. I am a waitress. You? Wait. Don't tell me." I put my hands on the sides of my head for a moment, just for dramatic effect. "Personal trainer."
"Correct." He said, smirking. We talked for a bit, and watched tv. Soon it was 5:30. There was a knock at the door, and I went to answer it.
"Katrina, what's up?"
"Hey, just wanted to come over." I let her in and she looked at Jacob. "Oh my god, I am so sorry!"
"He's my roommate. Calm down."
"You have a roommate? Since when? And since when is your roommate hot?"
"Katrina, that's enough." I warned. She nodded.
"Sorry."
"It's fine. Tv binge?" She nodded. I plopped down on the couch and she sat down. He gave me a look as I turned on CHiPs.
"What on Earth?"
"It's a cop show. Aired from 1977 to 1983." I said and she nodded.
"You are weird." He got up and went to his room, and then left the house. I smiled at her.
"Okay, who is he?!" She paused the show. I groaned.
"My roommate. Workout fanatic. Names Jacob." She looked out the window. "Girl stop."
"He's cute."
"I found him last night with a girl, on my couch." I said. "My couch."
"So? You should have joined them!" I scoffed. "Girl you need to get some dick."
"Whatever." I said.
"Come on, I was gonna go on a run later but we should go."
"Girl, I don't run."
"Okay we can walk." I sighed and nodded. I changed into some leggings and a sports bra, tossing a mesh sweatshirt over it. It was completely see through, but it covered enough. I put my tennis shoes on and she drove us out to the hill. We started our trek, as I wondered how she roped me into her workout routine. "This should take about 2 hours."
"What?!"
"Well if we ran, it'd take half an hour, 45 minutes. But you don't run." I grumbled as we began to walk. 20 minutes later I heard a familiar voice behind us.
"Come on, kick up that pace." I turned and groaned in disbelief. "Harper." He greeted me as they ran past.
"Unbelievable. You knew he ran this hill?"
"Katrina, you gonna let her slow your pace?" He said, challenging us. She looked at me before taking off. I groaned but chased after, kissing my sweat free day goodbye. We hit the halfway point, and I tripped, falling. "You okay?" He kneeled next to me.
"No." I groaned, rolling over.
"Here, let's get you to the top."
"I'm not going any further." I said. "I hate running."
"Why?"
"Because it's all sweat. No reward." He pulled me to my feet.
"You've obviously never felt a runners high. Come on. Ten minutes and we're done." I groaned.
"You are not my trainer."
"No, but you'll see the difference between running, and running."
"You said the same thing. But with inflection. There is no difference."
"Come on. Where's that firecracker I saw at home?"
"At home. Eating junk food. And watching tv." I said flatly.
"Come on." Katrina said. I groaned and started up the hill once more. Katrina cheered as she matched my speed. He pushed ahead to catch up to the other girl. Ten minutes later we hit the top of the hill and I collapsed, falling to my knees as I laid in the grass.
"Owwwwww." I groaned and he chuckled.
"Glad you could make it." He said with a smirk. The girl he was training left without him, I'd noticed. He laid on the ground, sighing as he relaxed.
"What is so fun about this?"
"What? Running?" I nodded. "Oh absolutely nothing. I hate running. But it is necessary for some to have cardio in their workout. And some, like the client who was with us, are training for a marathon. So I do what I need to do to be effective for them." I nodded. "That being said, take out this morning didn't help you today."
"Is that why I feel like throwing up?" I said sarcastically. He chuckled.
"Come on." He got up and helped me up, leading me over to the cliff edge. He leaned on the fence, sighing. "My favorite part of this run." I leaned against the fence, looking at the sunset. "The sunset here is beautiful." I nodded. "You ready?"
"For what?"
"I don't run back down this hill." Katrina waved us over and I looked at her.
"What, no no no!" I backed away from the edge.
"Hey, what's up?" He said.
"I don't want to die today."
"It's zip line." He said.
"It's a death trap." I said plainly.
"Fine, you walk down the hill. I'm not waiting for you." Katrina said, buckling into the line, and jumping. I felt my stomach churn as she disappeared into the distance.
"I can't." I said, sitting on the ground.
"It's completely safe." He said. "I do it all the time. And I weigh like 265." I looked at him. "They have double harnesses. We could go down together."
"That's like 390 pounds!" I squeaked.
"It's build to withstand 1,000 pounds at any given time. Come on." He harnessed up and looked at me. "You'll be fine, I got ya." I slowly got into the harness and he hooked us onto the line. "Your call."
"Okay." In a moment, we were flying. I screamed, but he took my hand with his free one.
"Easy, we're fine. Look at our hands. Focus on that." As I did so, my breathing slowed. I looked up, watching the trees wiz past. We began to slow down, and he landed us on the platform. "All done, all safe and sound." He said, unhooking us. We got out of the harness and I felt my knees buckle a little. "Woah, easy." He wrapped his arm around me to make sure I didn't fall and I blushed. "Did you have fun?" I hesitated before nodding. "See? Told you it wouldn't be bad." The zip line guy took our harness, and Jacob helped me down the stairs. "Katrina, are you heading back to our place?"
"I think I'm going to head home."
"Okay." He led me to his car. "You ready to go?" I nodded, and he pulled out of the parking space. Once home, he walked to the kitchen, grabbing two bowls as I showered. I came back out after I was done, and sat on the couch in silence, thinking. "Here." I looked up and took the bowl.
"Ice cream?" He nodded.
"Junk food tastes good." He sat down, taking a bite of his ice cream. "Movie?"
"Your pick." He looked at me, surprised, but put on a movie. "Action. Figures."
"It's a good movie." We watched the movie, eating our ice cream.
"I'm going to make myself a smoothie, want one?"
"Fruit only, sure." He made us each a smoothie and we finished the movie. As I went to bed early that day, he went to shower. Maybe having a roommate wouldn't be so bad. I woke up the next morning to the sound of a blender. I got dressed and went out, glaring at him. "Making this much noise this early is going to get you hurt one day."
"Good morning to you too. Do you work?" I nodded my head and he pulled out a Keurig pod, starting a cup of coffee in my favorite mug. "I'm off today, so I figured I'd make your breakfast while I make mine." He said. I gave him a look. "Consider this my apology for trying to fuck a girl on your couch? I solemnly swear to only fuck girls on my own furniture from now on."
"That's an understatement." I said. "Two fried eggs. Salt, pepper, garlic powder." He nodded and got to work. "My everything hurts."
"Specific?"
"Um, back, legs, feet, arms." He nodded and grabbed something out of the freezer. Peas.
"Put these on the couch and lay on top of them for your back, and I will get you some icy hot for your legs and arms. Can't do much for feet." Once he was done making my breakfast, I ate and he returned with Icy Hot. He helped me apply them and I smiled softly.
"So much better." I said and he chuckled.
"I would suggest wearing insoles today." I nodded.
"Thanks." I said and he nodded. A few weeks went by and we actually got to be good friends.
"Wait you haven't had a boyfriend in have long?!" He said. I blushed.
"4 years?"
"Okay, that's it. We're going clubbing tonight."
"What?!"
"Get dressed." He said, pushing me into my bedroom. I groaned and shut the door, looking through my closet. "You dressed?!"
"I have nothing to wear!" I said. He came in, looking through my closet.
"Wow okay, we need to work on this." He said, riffling through my clothes. He pulled out a black dress I'd literally never worn. It had a deep v neck plunge with a waist cinch, and the fitted skirt stopped right below my ass. "This still has the tag on it."
"Never wore it."
"Why?"
"My ex. He was protective of who was allowed to see my body. And that meant it never got worn." He tossed it to me.
"Fuck your ex. Put it on. Show it off." He walked out and I put the dress on, putting on some black heels and doing my hair and makeup. I grabbed a black clutch, attaching a gold purse chain to it and walking out. He was wearing blue jeans and white fitted t shirt. He looked up. "Wow."
"Does it look okay?"
"I um... wow." He nodded. "Yeah." I blushed. "Um, shall we?" I nodded and we got in his car, pulling up to the club a while later.
"Um if I look in distress, please save me." I said and he nodded.
"Of course." We went inside and I looked around. We got a few drinks and he went out on the dance floor. After a while, I decided to get out on the dance floor. A few minutes later, I felt someone behind me and I turned around.
"Hey baby, you lookin fine tonight." He said, his words running together. I smiled politely, trying to subtlety dance away. "Aw, come on, don't play coy." He went to grab my hand but someone grabbed his hand first, tossing it away.
"She isn't interested." I looked up at Jacob, before slinking into his free arm to make a point.
"Wow, if your girl here wasn't putting herself on display-"
"What she wears, is her choice. What she wears, doesn't mean that you have the right to touch her. You earn that." He led me away.
"Thank you." I said softly. He nodded, smiling softly.
"He's a douche. He doesn't deserve your time." I blushed, looking at the floor. I have to admit, I was pretty drunk so I wasn't thinking rationally. "Fix your skirt though." I adjusted my dress, blushing madly.
"Um, I need more alcohol."
"You're drunk already."
"I want to get plastered." He nodded.
"You stay with me then. I don't want you running off and getting hurt." I nodded, touched by the way he was acting. Four hours later, he drove us home and helped me inside. "One more step."
"You're really nice." I said, giggling.
"I try to be. Let's get you to bed."
"My friends say you're hot. I deny it. But you aren't allowed to know that I agree with them. Okay, hot boy?"
"Okay, I'll keep that mind." He opened my bedroom door.
"I think I'm gonna be sick." I slurred, and he took me to the bathroom. I felt him pull my hair back and I promptly threw up in the toilet.
"Easy, let it out." Once I was done, he sat me down, wiping my face clean. "You gonna throw up again?" I shook my head. "Okay. Let's get you to bed." He picked me up and I wrapped my arms and legs around his torso.
"You're so strong." I said softly, and he put me in my bed. I smiled to myself as he covered me with my blanket. "You know that?" He nodded. "Hey, why are there two of you?"
"My twin brother is here." He said and I giggled.
"What's his name?"
"Tyler." Jacob said.
"Hi Tyler. I go to sleep now." I closed my eyes and with that I was out.