The Bad Boys Roommate

Do You Have a Cat?

Laying with Dakota felt right. I can't explain how his annoying self seemed to pull me into this trance, but hey. I'm not complaining.

"Kota, hey.." I gently shake his shoulder. He fell asleep on me, it's now 4:30pm and I have to go see my aunt tonight. He lifts his head up, glaring at me with those beautiful eyes.

"Rude of you to awaken me from this great slumber." he utters.

"Awaken you from your great slumber? Who are you, Shakespeare?" I laugh. He really is such a strange human, why am I attracted to this.

"Must you leave me, fair lady?" he adds.

"Oh, I must." I have to admit I don't want to leave him, but at this point, I'm starting to feel really bad for blowing off my aunt.

"So, what are you gonna do about Carter?.. I mean I know we aren't like boyfriend and girlfriend, but you can't just string the poor guy along. I can see right through you Alice, you don't like him." He says.

"Kota, that's the thing. I did really like him, I just.. I can't deny the feelings I have for you." I say.

"The FEELINGS? Woah, woah, woah, speed racer, I know you wanna marry me, but let's take this one step at a time, ya?" he teases.

"Oh, shut up!" I poke his arm. He's still laying across me, looking up at me.

"I'm teasing Alice, you know I feel the same way. I want to take my time with you, though." he says. I do agree, if there's one I want to enjoy every second of, it's Dakota. It's finding out more about him, his life, who he is. That's also the scariest part. What if Dakota isn't who I thought? Don't think I forgot about his little whore date on our couch. I'm going to be careful with this one.

"I agree, but again, I have to goooo!" I slide him off my chest, rolling out from underneath of him. I start putting my boots back on and hear my phone ding from over on the night stand. Walking over to my phone picking it up I notice 3 texts from Acacia.

**NEW ROOMMATE COMES TMRW!**

**And don't worry its a girl, her name is sasha**

**hope she's not a bitch**

"Who's that?" Dakota pries. Awful nosy all the sudden. I mean, who am I kidding he's always been nosy.

"Just Acacia, she told me she's getting her new roommate tomorrow, and its a girl, thank god."

"Well, that's good news, I'm not saving your asses from another psycho." he says, spread out on my bed like he owns the damn thing. I've gotta admit he looks kind of hot laying there though.

"You'd save me a million times, don't kid yourself." I smirk, glancing his direction. He rolls his eyes.

"Don't flatter yourself, love." he says. "I like you, but do I like you that much?...EEhhhh.. debatable." I just roll my eyes at his comment and grab my purse, slinging it across my chest.

"I'll be back after dinner, okay?" I tell him.

"Can't wait." he says. I couldn't if what he said was sarcasm or genuine. This newly developed relationship between the two of us is going to take some getting used to. As I'm about to head out the door I hear Dakota coming towards me. I turn around and he just stands there, looking at me.

"Yes?" I ask. He puts his hand on the back of his neck, looking down for a second then back up at me. Next thing I know, he leans in and pecks my lips.

"Hurry up." he says as he turns around walking back to the room. I just smile to myself, making my way out the door.

I grab my phone and start texting my aunt that I'm on my way, I can't wait to see her.

*Coming to see you soon!*

I finally make it out to my car, jiggling the door handle again, examining how broken it is but hopping in my car anyways. The cold air coming from my vents fills my thighs with goosebumps. I crank that bitch up to heat. Fall really came with no warning. I'm going to miss the warm summer air. I find myself looking around as I leave, briefly thinking about Carter. There's a few dorm rooms overlooking the parking lot, maybe he just saw me pull up? Either way, I need to let him know where my head is at. That the date was perfect, but my feelings have shifted?.. No. That I-I... fucks sake. This is going to be harder than I originally thought. I drive all the way through town, the sky finally starting to drift into its more somber deep purple colors. Finally, I pull into my Aunt Tracies driveway.

She comes running out of the front door, clearly had been waiting for me my the window.

"You made it! I was so worried you'd get lost. This place has a habit of doing that." she gushes. I notice something different about her, her smile seems brighter, she seems happier. Ever since my dad started to struggle with his alcoholism she's been a bit more depressed. But I see the light starting to fill back in her eyes.

"Yes, I'm so happy to see you." I say hugging her. She takes me inside and I notice a man sitting at the dinner table. He quickly stands up, brushing his hands over his blue jeans.

"Hi, I'm Richard." He says with a sleepy smile across his face. Oh, so THE Richard. The one who's been dating my aunt. This should be interesting.

"Oh hello, I'm Alice," I say smiling, reaching out to shake his hand, "My aunt didn't mention you were coming!" I look over at her questioning her with my glare.

"I wanted it to be a surprise, he really wanted to meet you." she says happily. Oh so this is where her new found light is shining from.

"Well I'm sure surprised! It's nice to meet you I've heard great things." I say.

"It's nice to meet you as well." he adds.

"Well, dinner is about ready! I just need to pull the chicken from the oven! I'll be right back." she says, Richard follows behind her to help so I take it upon myself to look around her living room. She decorated it with cute pictures of our family and lots of cheesy sayings. I notice pictures of my dad years ago before his addiction was a thing. His face was so much more lifelike back then, I see an empty canvas every time I look at him now. I quickly avert my thoughts from him to stop myself from feeling sad. As I continue looking around the room, something catches the corner of my eye from the window. I could have sworn... I just saw something moving.

"Hey tracie?" I yell at her.

"Yeah hun?" she replies.

"Do you have a cat?" I ask her.

"No, I don't why?" she says in a confused voice.

"Oh, no reason." I continue looking out the window trying to figure out what moved past it. My anxiety starts to rise, so I head back into the dining room, sitting down with my Aunt and Richard at the fully set table. "This looks delicious." I say, practically drooling over this home cooked meal that isn't ramen.

"It really does" Richard says. putting his hand on hers.

Her eyes light up and she smiles sweetly back at us, "Thank you, thank you, I did my best."

We all eat and talk about our plans for the week, I ask Richard a few questions, don't worry, only interrogating him slightly. And we rap up dinner with a delicious dessert. After eating and talking for a while I decide its getting too late, and I start missing Dakota. We say our goodbyes and I start walking out the door.

As I'm walking to my car I see something dart behind a bush on the edge of the driveway. I stop dead in my tracks. That.. that was human sized. I put my key between my fingers, standing there in shock, then slowly walk towards the bush. Rounding the corner I see a black hooded person ducking behind the bush. "HEY" I yell, key between my fingers out in front of me. The person turns around, and reveals their face.

"Carter? What the fuck are you doing here."

"I-I can explain."