Roommates with Benefits [COMPLETED]

Chapter 5 - It's a set up

Knightley

"What's up with you?" Noah asks and bumps my shoulder with his as he sits down on the sofa. "Why are you so quiet?"

I curse as he makes me drop the food back into the container and push him back.

Jenna and Julian look up at me from their own containers of Chinese food. We're gathered in Noah's and Julian's living room, having dinner.

"It's nothing," I say and make another attempt at eating the pork.

"Did you ever find a roommate?" Noah asks.

"Why? Did you change your mind?" I look at him.

"Are you kidding me?" He gestures at Jenna. "You think I'd move out of here while Jenna is learning to bake? She made this sheet cake with almonds on top yesterday. It's almost better than sex."

Jenna's face is bright red. I don't know if it's from the compliment or Noah mentioning sex.

"There's still some left," she says quietly.

"No, there isn't," Noah grins.

"Dude." Julian throws a pillow at his head. "Not cool."

"Sorry. I wasn't going to eat it all, but damn, it was good."

"You don't eat the last without asking," Julian says sternly. "What if Jenna wanted that?"

Jenna swallows. "It's fine. I can make more."

I clear my throat. "No, I didn't find anyone. I had one guy look at the room, but he works night shifts at the hospital, and he has a huge dog. So I figured I'd just live alone."

"At least you can afford it."

I make a non-committal grunt as I continue eating. He wasn't wrong. When I was fourteen, I started working on a piece of software to help my mom out. She was always complaining about having to track her billable hours and then collate them and spend way too much time creating bills for her clients.

It took me a few years, but I created something that tracked her hours and correlated them to a client. The program then creates the bills automatically, and all she has to do is double check them.

She helped me turn that one idea into a profitable company. I was a millionaire by the time I was eighteen.

"Are you sure nothing's wrong?" Jenna asks with a slightly concerned look. Jenna is one of the kindest persons I know. The only one else coming close is Julian.

I look up at them. Her eyes are big and kind, and I sigh. "Do you ever regret being set up?"

Jenna looks confused for a while. "No. It's not like anyone forced us to get together."

"But Emma did set you up."

"Sure, but that was such a small part of our relationship."

"But you both got hurt."

"That was on us," Julian says. "And in the end, the happiness more than makes up for it." The look he gives Jenna is full of love.

Jenna tears away to look at me. "Why do you ask? Have you fallen in love?"

I laugh a short, joyless laugh. "No. But I made a bet with Emma. I'm not sure that was the right thing to do. Because now she's going to set two people up, and what if it ends badly?"

"What if it doesn't?" Julian smiles.

"Then I lose the bet."

"I can't imagine Emma doing anything that will cause someone to get hurt. Besides, she might be too busy with her new friend. She even brought her to book club on Sunday."

I laugh for real this time. "Is she still trying to convince you she's actually going to read a book at some point?"

"Maybe she will," Jenna says. "Hannah might be a good influence."

Noah grins. "The day Emma reads a book is the day I streak the campus."

I shake my head. "You'd streak the campus for twenty dollars."

"Money's money." He takes another bite of his food. "For someone claiming she'll never fall in love, Emma sure spends a lot of time looking for it for others."

Julian refills Jenna's glass. "Maybe it's her way of telling us she wants to be set up as well."

They all laugh, but I can't quite put my finger on the funny bit.

"Maybe we should," Jenna says.

I stare at my food. Jenna isn't the one to suggest stupid ideas like this.

"Are you serious?" Julian asks.

"I want nothing to do with it," Noah says and leans back on the sofa.

"Yes, I'm serious," Jenna says and I stir my food.

"Who would we even set her up with?"

I can't believe Julian is taking this seriously.

"How about your cousin? He's single, right?"

"You want to set Emma up with Frank?"

"Who's Frank?" I ask and take a sip of my water.

"Frank Churchill," Jenna says and her eyes are sparkling.

I almost spray the water all over her but manage to swallow it instead. "Frank Churchill is your cousin?" I ask Julian.

He smiles sheepishly and shrugs.

"Are you telling me," Noah says and leans forward, "that all this time, I've been living with someone who's related to a fucking movie star?"

"And he's coming to visit," Jenna says. "Don't you think he would be perfect for Emma? I could see her on the red carpet. Don't you think she would look amazing on his arm?" She's looking straight at me, waiting for an answer.

"Sure," I grumble and turn my attention to the food. They want to set up Emma with a movie star. With a young, hot movie star who's dated some of the hottest women in the world. "I'm not sure we should set them up though," I say carefully.

"Why not?" Jenna asks. The plan has clearly taken hold of her now.

"Well, shouldn't she get to make her own decisions?"

"It's not like we'll lock them in a room together or something." Jenna shrugs.

"Let's see if he can make it here first," Julian says. "His schedule is pretty hectic."

"Holy shit," Noah says. "I can't believe Frank Churchill is coming here. When is he coming?"

"We were talking about Christmas, but it's not set in stone yet."

I get back to my food as the others talk about when he might come and what they want to have him do while he's here. If anyone at UNI could catch the interest of a movie star, it would be Emma. She could get any man she wanted with a flick of her hair.

The conversation moves on and I try to participate, but there's a disconcerting feeling in my gut. Like I forgot something important, or like something's wrong. I just can't put my finger on it.