Roomies ✔

17 - Under The Stars

Juice knew he shouldn't lie to his old lady. He did it nevertheless. 

He told Daphne he had club business tonight; that he would be home late and would go to sleep immediately. 

In reality he wanted to be alone with Jamie. Daphne might have apologized to her, but Juice wasn't sure Jamie dared to be honest when the other girl was around. He didn't want to cause his roommate any more stress; the past days had been tough for her. It was probably a good sign that she had stayed in Oakland tonight, although he had a hard time being happy about it. He would never tell her, but he wished she would dump that guy before he would really hurt her. 

He turned around when the door opened. 

"Oooh, this smells so good!" she called out as she entered the room. Jumpy, she ran to the oven and peered into it. "What have you made?"

"Uh, something with fish and vegetables. Found it on the internet."

She turned around. "Yummy. I can't wait to taste it." She patted her stomach. "Oh, I forgot to hug you!" Before he could blink, she threw her arms around him. "Hi Roomie!"

"Hey beautiful." His arms slipped around her and he held her tight. Immediately something awoke in his stomach; something increasing the wish to hold her a little longer. She just felt so... perfect in his arms – like she belonged there. 

"Did you miss me?" she asked, quietly chuckling. 

"What?" Dazed, he stepped back from her. 

"You held me so tight. You're becoming a hug master!"

"Well I've learnt it from the best," he winked. The temperature of his face sped up, hopefully she didn't notice. "But yeah, I kinda missed you."

He didn't intent to flirt, but he held her glance almost naturally, showing her a smile that had made many knees weak.

But not Jamie's; she looked back with a happy face, returning a smile that did make his knees feel weak. He sat down at the table and waited until she followed. She sat down across from him. Her knee was only an inch away from his knee, and he couldn't stop himself when he subtly shoved his foot a little forward so they were touching.

She didn't take her leg away – she didn't even seem to notice. "How was your day?" she asked. 

She was sweet for asking; her eyes told him she couldn't wait to tell about her own evening. 

"Nothing special," he answered. "Just work. How are you, James? Did you talk to him?"

She nodded, a rosy glow taking over he face. 

Jealous, Juice bit the inside of his cheek; he wanted to be the one causing that blush on her cheeks.

"He was really sweet. When I... entered the bar and asked his friend where he was, he told me he had taken a girl to his room." She dropped her eyes. Although they had probably worked things out, he still felt the pain she'd gone through. There was a prickling sensation in his fingertips; he wanted to shove his hand across hers, even when she didn't need to be comforted right now. But when she told him how she had ran away in panic, strained her ankle and had been crying in an alley for an hour, he could easily picture the scene. 

"Esai never took a girl home," she said. "His friend just said that to scare me, so I would want him to cheer me up. Esai was... working late, and when he heard that I ran away he searched for me in the pouring rain, carrying me back to the bar once he'd found me. He uh – he lives close to the bar, so he let me take a shower while Shanty got me some dry clothes. And I could wear his shirt." Her cheeks turned flaming red, and she flinched a little as if she could no longer handle the butterflies in her stomach.