Alyssa dropped her phone in her bag and headed off toward the gym, only to see the devil striding toward her. Liss might have looked for a place to hide, or an alley into which she could duck, but it was obvious by the glare in Sasha’s eyes that she had already spotted her.
Better to get it over with.
“What the hell, Liss?” Sasha held up her phone. “You send me a text telling me I can’t come home?”
“You’ve sent me texts like that so many times that I’ve started carrying a change of clothes in my bag.” Alyssa held up her bag, grateful to have had it packed for her quick escape this morning.
“It’s my apartment. You can’t tell me not to come home to my own apartment.”
“I pay rent too. So it’s my apartment as much as yours.”
“Well the landlord won’t see it that way since my name is the only one on the lease.”
It was always like this.
In the beginning, Sasha had been her friend. But friends don’t always make the best roommates. Sasha had gotten the apartment in her name because Alyssa’s past had adversely affected her credit score. They’d agreed to take turns, one of them getting the tiny bed and the other sleeping on the loveseat a week at a time. But eventually, Sasha claimed the bed because her name was on the lease and Alyssa’s wasn’t. It just spiraled from there.
“I knew you were working until two, so what were a couple more hours?” Alyssa pointed out. She’d texted her roommate at ten, telling her she had a guest. That should have been plenty of time for Sasha to work her magic and find an alternate plan.
She had a feeling the issue was more a matter of sticking it to Alyssa than of not having a place to sleep the night before.
“I have to go now or I’ll be late for work. We’ll discuss it later, okay? Maybe we can make up a schedule or something.”
Without waiting for an answer, Alyssa hurried away knowing she was screwed and that pushing the discussion off until later probably wouldn’t change the outcome.
* * * *
Gray was shaken awake by an angry woman. For a second, he thought the vixen he’d slept with three times the night before had morphed into this harpy by the light of day—but then it spoke.
“Liss left. You need to get out.”
So this wasn’t the woman he’d slept with. Alyssa had simply run off, not changed into a nightmare.
The woman tossed a crumpled piece of paper toward him.
“Get out of my bed, and no you can’t shower here.”
“You must be Sasha,” he guessed.
“Yes. I’m Sasha. And this is my apartment.”
“Okay, okay. I’m gone. Can you give me a second to get dressed?” He was still naked under the sheet.
“Sure.” She flopped down on the sofa, six feet away, and crossed her arms as if waiting for a show.
Alyssa had warned him that her roommate might make a scene. She’d expected the other woman to show up at some point during the night and demand to be let in, which was why she had double-checked the chain on the lock to ensure their privacy.
Conflict wasn’t Gray’s thing, but he hadn’t been willing to walk away from Alyssa the night before. He was more than intrigued by her suggestion that they enjoy each other’s company and then go their separate ways in the morning without any pressure to continue the relationship.
The alarm on his phone went off, reminding him he had to be at work this morning. With a sigh of determination, he tossed the sheet aside and got up.
After getting dressed to a few impressed sounds from Alyssa’s roommate, he checked for his phone, keys, and wallet before rushing out of the apartment. It had been a great night, but it was over.
He hesitated as he opened the wrinkled note from Alyssa, wondering if she was hoping for more—or worse, that she wasn’t. He was new at this one-night thing. He knew he should want it to fade away in the light of day, but he couldn’t help but feel a little saddened by that thought.
Grayson,
I had a great time last night. Sorry there’s no food. You can help yourself to coffee. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime. Maybe not. No worries.
Liss
She hadn’t even given him her phone number.
Sure Alyssa had talked a good game, but he didn’t think it was really possible for people to have sex and walk away without any strings at all. He’d never encountered such a thing. He wanted some kind of string.
On the sidewalk, he pulled out his phone and made a note of her address, just in case.
He took a cab to his apartment across town and showered quickly so he’d have time to stop for real coffee on the way into work.
When he moved to the city, he’d promised himself he wouldn’t turn into a hipster coffee snob, but there he was in the immense line to order his double vanilla latte with foam.
The line shifted, and he looked up from his phone to notice a blonde woman in front of him. He tilted his head and studied her legs in the understated but sexy black pencil skirt. He knew those legs. They’d been wrapped around his waist for most of the night.
“Liss?” he said.
Her head instantly snapped up and she turned to face him. A look of confusion took over her subtly made-up face. With less makeup, she looked even prettier than she had the night before.
She allowed the patrons between them to go in front of her so she could stand next to him.
“What are you doing here? Are you following me?” she hissed, and tucked her damp hair behind her ear.
“No. This is where I get coffee.” He looked up at the sign above the counter. “Every morning for the last year and a half to be exact.”
“Really?” she said, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Yep.”
“I’ve never seen you here before.”
“Maybe neither of us was looking before.”
“Maybe.”
“Let me buy you coffee,” he offered. It seemed the least he could do since they’d been intimate.
“You don’t need to do that.” She pulled out her wallet as she ordered her double vanilla latte with foam.
His brows rose in surprise, and he quickly came up with a morning beverage alternative. She would surely think he was nuts if he ordered the same drink. Even if it was his normal drink. He wondered what the odds of that were as he ordered a mocha.
“Which way are you headed?” he asked.
“Up,” she answered, pointing in the direction he was going.
“Me, too. Are we allowed to walk together?”
“Sure. I’m not far.”
“I got your note and wanted to tell you I also had a really great time last night.” Great wasn’t the right word. From the ease of talking with her to the way they’d connected in bed, it had felt so different. Then she let him stay when he asked. Holding her while he slept felt right on so many levels.
“Great. We both had a great time.” He smiled at her overuse of the word he found lacking. “But now it’s the next day, and we agreed there would be no next day.” Alyssa had made it very clear she didn’t want anything from him but sex. Was there a reason? Had someone hurt her in the past? He swallowed down his urge to ask, knowing it would lead to him wanting to help.
If his past relationships