Those were devastating words to me, but I wouldn’t dare let on she’d just crushed my soul again. “Good for you,” I said. “Go get ready.”
17
Lily
I didn’t get too gussied up. I kept my outfit simple and relaxed. I needed to feel confident to get through the night. I was already feeling awkward being out of my comfort zone, which entailed a couch, a book, and maybe a glass of wine in the quiet apartment.
Laura was sitting next to me and leaning over to talk to some guy she met about three minutes after we sat down in the loud bar. I watched the people around me. There was loud pop music and people dancing and talking. Everyone was on a high after the first week of school had finally gotten underway. The bar was mostly students in their early to mid-twenties.
I kept a smile on my face and pretended to be having a blast. Keep smiling. That was my motto. I didn’t want anyone to see just how freaked out I was being in the bar with total strangers. I was nervous as hell.
“Hey,” Donavan said and slid into the booth next to me. He was obviously drunk.
“How are you?” I asked.
“I’m good.” He grinned. “I have a friend that wants to buy you a drink.”
“Where is this friend?”
He pointed at an attractive man with perfect teeth and dark hair. He had a look about him that declared him as being wealthy. Or at least from a wealthy family. He smiled and held up a beer before nodding. I smiled back and turned to Donavan.
“Are you sure he isn’t interested in buying you a drink?” I asked.
Donavan laughed and nudged my shoulder. “I wish. Unfortunately, he likes girls. I guess we can’t have all the hot ones.”
“Gee, thanks for saving a few for us,” I teased.
“He’s cute and he’s interested,” he said. “Are you interested?”
I didn’t want to make eye contact with the guy again. “Are you setting me up?”
“I’m introducing you to a young, eligible, and interested man,” he said with a laugh. “Are you seeing someone?”
Thomas’s face immediately popped into my head. I quickly dismissed it. “I’m not, but I’m not sure I can get involved in a relationship. I’m going to get this degree done in two years. I’m not going to get waylaid by love.”
Donavan burst into laughter. “He doesn’t have a ring. He’s not going to propose. He was offering to buy you a drink. Skittish much?”
“Yes,” I said. “Yes, he can buy me a drink.”
“Good girl,” he said and gave his friend a thumbs-up.
A few minutes later, the man was approaching our table with two drinks in his hand. Donavan looked pleased as his friend sat down across from us. “Hi,” he said.
“Hi,” I replied. I was a little embarrassed.
“I’m Gage,” he said and extended his hand.
I shook his hand. “Lily.”
“Gage is a lawyer,” Donavan blurted out.
That explained that suave, slightly arrogant appearance. “Impressive,” I said.
He grinned. “Junior associate. Not impressive yet, but I will be one day. What about you?”
“Not a lawyer.” I laughed. “I’m a fulltime student.”
“What are you studying?”
“I’m just starting grad school to get my master’s in marketing and communications,” I said.
He nodded and sipped his drink. “That’s great.”
“Thanks.”
The conversation pretty much died at that point. It was incredibly awkward to do this with an audience. “Would you like to dance?” Gage asked.
He was talking to me. My instinct was to decline the offer but I wanted to have fun and he was a good-looking guy. “Sure,” I heard myself say.
There was a shuffle as I slid out of the booth. Gage took my hand and led me to the dance floor. The loud music made it difficult to have a conversation. Then again, that was not the goal. I wasn’t a great dancer, but I could hold my own. Gage, on the other hand, had moves. His hands were a little touchy but not inappropriate.
I told myself to let it go and have some fun. After the first song ended, I felt like I was just getting started. “Want to stay out?” Gage asked loudly.
I bobbed my head up and down. “Yes!” I shouted loud enough to be heard over the electronic beat pumping through the speakers.
Gage was a lot of fun, belying the somewhat stuffy, arrogant appearance. I guessed him to be late twenties and he seemed to have a pretty good head on his shoulders. Being a lawyer meant he was solid. He wasn’t trying to find himself or some nonsense like that.
We finally left the dance floor and rejoined the group at the table. Laura and Donavan had been joined by two other people. Gage sat beside me in the booth. “I need to take off, but I’d like to call you sometime,” he said.
“You would?”
He flashed me his million-dollar smile. “I would. Is that okay?”
“Sure,” I said and shrugged.
We exchanged phone numbers and he was gone a few minutes later. Donavan was grinning like an idiot. “I’m so good at matchmaking,” he said.
“Very funny,” I told him. “Don’t pat yourself on the back just yet.”
The new strangers at the table seemed to notice me just then. One of the guys was obviously a student, judging by the frat T-shirt he was wearing. “Dance with me,” he said.
“I’m good,” I answered.
“Come on, dance with me,” he said and tried to look cute with a flirty smile.
“No thanks,” I said again.
The guy frowned at me. “I’ll buy you a drink.”
I sighed and shook my head. “I’m good.”
The guy ignored my request and called over the waitress. He ordered me another Moscow mule. I looked at Donavan, who simply shrugged. This was why I didn’t do the bar thing very often. I found drunk guys obnoxious.
The waitress brought me the drink. I didn’t want to be rude and smiled as I took the first sip. “Thanks,” I said.
“Drink up, baby,” he said. “We’ll dance once you’ve loosened up.”
I’d had enough from the man. I pushed the drink toward him. “Sorry, I could drink ten of those and it isn’t going to make me want to dance with you.”
The guy scrunched up his nose. “Why are you being such a bitch?” he snapped.
“Get out of here now,” Donavan growled.
“Shut up,” the guy said with a sneer.
“This is our table,” Donavan said. “Leave now.”
“What are you going to do about it?” the kid snapped and called him a derogatory name in an attempt to insult his sexuality.
Donovan stood up. He was over six foot and not small. That was enough to get the kid to move but not without a few parting insults.
“Sorry,” Donovan said as he sat back down. “There’s always one asshole in the crowd.”
“Yes, there is,” I said. “I should get home. I need to get up early to stop at the campus bookstore and see if my book is in.”
“Ah, don’t let that guy ruin your night.” Laura pouted.
“He did not ruin my night and could not ruin anything for me,” I said. “His type is forgettable.”
“We’re supposed to be partying,” Donovan said.
“I did party and now I must sleep. You guys keep partying. I’m going to call a ride.”
“Boo,” Donovan hissed.
I gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you later,” I told him. “Bye, Laura. Thank you both for inviting me out tonight. I had fun.”
“I’ll make sure Gage calls you,” Donovan called out as I walked away.
I waved back and headed outside to wait for the ride. Gage wasn’t a bad guy, but I just wasn’t sure I was interested. I should be. Didn’t everyone dream of being with a successful lawyer? Not just successful but gorgeous. Again, Thomas came to mind. They were very different, but there was something about Thomas that I found myself extremely attracted to.
/> I pushed away the thought and waited on my ride. When I got home, I was surprised to find Thomas on the couch. He was passed out with his head resting on one of the throw pillows. One leg was off, bent at the knee with his foot on the floor. His tablet was resting against his chest. His glasses were slightly skewed on his face.
I took a moment to drink in the sight of him. He was the same as I remembered but different. The cookies he made earlier were still sitting on the plate in the kitchen. He had made me cookies. That was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for me.
When Tamlyn suggested I live with Thomas, I imagined it was going to be awkward and weird. It proved otherwise. Thomas and I got along really well. When we were in school, I remembered we got along okay, but we never really spent a lot of time together. I wondered why we didn’t.
I didn’t want to disturb him just yet. I went into the kitchen and put the cookies in a plastic container to keep them fresh. I couldn’t resist the temptation to sneak one. I took a bite and walked back to the couch. I studied his tall figure and replayed the last few weeks. I thought of the night we went swimming. There had definitely been some flirting.
The other night, we’d been watching TV and I caught him looking at me. There was a moment. At least, I thought there was a moment. Our eyes had locked, and I swore I felt a charge in the air. We both ended up going to bed with nothing happening. Then there was tonight. He made me cookies. I wished I could have given him a kiss to thank him for his very thoughtful act.
I was lost in my daydream and didn’t notice him watching me watch him until I saw him move. Busted.
“You’re home,” he said and slowly sat up. He adjusted his glasses and wiped his mouth.
“I just got home,” I lied. I hoped he didn’t see me gawking at him.
“Did you have fun?” he asked.
“I did. It was nice to get out and meet some new people.”
He nodded and got to his feet. “Good. That’s what college is supposed to be all about.”
“That’s what I’ve heard,” I said with a laugh. “I’m not sure that’s what college is about for me.”
“Ah, because you’re actually there to learn,” he joked.
“Yes, I am. I should go to bed. I’ve got an early morning.”
“Me too,” he yawned.
“Thomas?” I said before walking away.
He looked up from the couch. “Yes?”
“Thank you.”
“For?” he asked.
“Everything you’ve done for me,” I said. “You have singlehandedly changed my life.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” he said.
“I would. You did. Thank you for your support. I know I’ve said it before, but I truly mean it. I am so thankful.”
“You’re welcome,” he said.
I smiled and wished him goodnight before going to my room and quietly closing the door. I didn’t pick up on any vibes. Maybe it was all in my head. It was for the best. I couldn’t get involved with Tamlyn’s brother. I didn’t think that would make her happy. She did me a favor by connecting me to Thomas. I wouldn’t repay her by falling for her brother and complicating things with our friendship and their sibling relationship.
18
Thomas
I indulged in my typical nervous habit of bouncing my pen off the yellow pad in front of me. I listened to my staff talk but I wasn’t really listening. My mind was wandering. Nothing they said was really all that interesting. My thoughts wandered from the app that was on the verge of being released to Lily and what she was doing right then.
It was Tuesday. That meant pizza, Thai, and beer with Lily. She had held fast to our Tuesday tradition. I really didn’t think she would now that she had made some friends from school. She often met up with them for dinner or to study, which made me just a little jealous. I relished our Tuesday nights. We had fun together. I looked forward to every Tuesday. We were supposed to play cards tonight. She was going to teach me a new game. I was willing to do just about anything she wanted if it meant I got to spend time with her.
“Thomas?”
I sat forward and looked to my right. It was Chris. He had both his eyebrows raised. “What?”
Chris sighed before turning to the group. “That’s it for today, guys. We’ll go over these ideas and get back to you guys at the meeting next week.”
The group filed out of the room. I waited until the room was clear before turning in my chair to look at him. I knew he was going to lecture me about not paying attention. I tended to get distracted easily, but lately, it seemed to happen a lot easier.
“Man, if you don’t do something about this roommate situation, things are going to get bad,” Chris said.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, slightly defensive.
“You’ve got that look on your face again.”
“What look?” I asked.
He made a circle motion as he pointed to my face. “The goofy look of a man infatuated with a woman.”
“I’m not infatuated.”
“What’s on your mind?” he asked. “And don’t tell me it’s work. If it was work, you would have been paying attention to what was being said.”
“I tuned out because everything being said was irrelevant,” I said. “I thought they were supposed to be brainstorming ideas for the next big app.” I held up my blank yellow pad and tapped it. “Nothing. I heard nothing that piqued my interest.”
“I’m not sure you were actually listening,” he said. “I heard several good ideas.”
“We need to be the next big thing,” I said. “We can’t just redo what’s been done. I don’t want to be a copycat. I want to be the first out of the gate with something new.”
“Like what?” he asked. “You aren’t exactly a wealth of information.”
“That’s why I pay you guys,” I retorted.
He nodded and I could tell there was something else on his mind. I waited for him to say what was on his mind. “I know you don’t want to hear it, but we need to talk about the launch,” he said.
“I hired that social media guru you referred me to,” I said.
“Yes, but you didn’t hire the actual marketing firm,” he replied. “It’s going to fall flat. I hope you know that. We have no steam behind the launch. It’s going to hit the market with a hundred other apps and get buried.”
“Are you suggesting we hold it back?” I asked.
“No,” he said with a shake of his head. “We have enough interest that we can’t let it fall apart. Before we start talking about the next app, we need to talk about marketing. I think we lost out on a lot of profit by not properly marketing this one.”
He wasn’t wrong. I had waited too long to make a move with an actual marketing firm. These things took weeks or months to properly put together. I’d dropped the ball. “We can do a relaunch,” I said.
He waved a hand. “It’s in the past. I’m not going to rehash it, but we need to be proactive for the next launch.”
I nodded in agreement. “Got it.”
“Now, the next big thing. We’ve got that game that is about finished.”
“We already sold that to EA, right?”
“We did,” he said with a firm nod. “It’ll clear up their schedules to get started on whatever app you want to make happen. We just need the go-ahead.”
“Have them pitch their ideas next week,” I said. “We’ll narrow down one or two and go from there.”
“Alright,” he said and got to his feet. “I suppose you’re leaving soon?”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Yes.”
“When are you going to make the move?” he asked.
I didn’t have to ask him to clarify. He was talking about Lily. He’d been pushing me to ask her out on a real date for weeks. “She’s busy,” I said, relying on my tired excuse. “We see each other every night. That’s close enough to dating.”
“Chicken.”
“Yep,” I said and collected my thing
s to head back to my office.
I left a little early as I usually did on Tuesdays. I picked up the normal Thai food and it was my turn to buy the beer. I headed upstairs knowing I was going to be home before Lily. I was going to take a quick shower before she arrived.
It had been a few weeks since Lily started school and I kind of missed her. She was around but not always as available as she had been the first couple of weeks she lived with me. It was hard not to feel slighted. I had been her only friend for weeks, and now, I was just the roommate.
I heard music coming from the apartment, which surprised me. She was early. I slid my key in the lock and stepped inside. That was when I saw Tamlyn with her feet up on the coffee table and her phone in her hand as she stared at the screen. From my vantage point, I could see she was on social media—as usual.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I came to visit.”
“How did you get in here?” I questioned.
“You gave me a key,” she answered nonchalantly.
I thought about it for a second. “No, I didn’t.”
“Sure, you did.”
“Tamlyn, I would remember giving you a key,” I said and put the food on the counter and the beer in the fridge.
“Oh, maybe I used your spare key,” she said.
“How did you know where my spare key was hidden?”
She tapped her head. “Twin power.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re such a pain in my ass.”
“But that’s why you love me.”
“Why are you here?” I asked and grabbed a beer. I moved to sit down in one of the chairs. She was cramping my style. I had one night guaranteed with Lily and she was crashing my party.
“Gee, you act like I’m a burden,” she said and put her phone away. “You’re acting like I walked in on you in the shower. You’re supposed to be happy to see me.”
“I’m happy to see you, but you normally call,” I said.
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