“I wish you’d let me help,” Nadia said, coming in to grab the last of her boxes.
Ty, her tall ginger boyfriend, plucked a carton from her arms. His four-year-old son was running around the living room, bothering Angus, who didn’t seem to mind. I waved at both of them but didn’t get up. Truthfully, I was more than a little verklempt over her leaving, even if she was only going downstairs. In the six months since I’d moved in, we’d become good friends. When I moved in, I’d taken over Lauren’s half of the room; she had been Nadia’s best friend from high school, so it wouldn’t have been surprising if Nadia had resented me. Instead she did her best to make me feel at home. And it wasn’t like she hadn’t given us notice that she’d be moving in with Ty. I just hadn’t acted on it because I’d secretly hoped their cohabitation wouldn’t pan out, like maybe she’d realize what a huge step it was to take on someone else’s kid.
“It’s fine,” I said. “I’m the one who procrastinated.”
Max nodded. “If I hadn’t made flyers, Kaufman here would still be waiting for the perfect roommate to drop out of the sky.”
“It could work. A skydiving roomie would be pretty sweet.”
Ty grinned. “I’d be worried about the rent.”
“The man makes a good point.” Max waved as they left, taking the rest of Nadia’s worldly belongings. “Here’s another possible. ‘Saw your ad. About me: Carmen, drama major, junior. I have no annoying habits and an aversion to being homeless. Email me back!’”
“How am I supposed to choose—”
“She attached a picture.” Max handed me the tablet. “I’m inclined to say yes.”
When I saw it, I knew why. Carmen had long silky black hair, golden skin, big brown eyes and an amazing body. While I’d definitely bang her, I didn’t want her living in my room. The possibility for problems boggled the mind.
Shaking my head, I passed the iPad back. “No way.”
“Why not? She’s perfect!”
“She sent a wet T-shirt contest photo, dude. To random strangers. Does that speak highly of her common sense?”
He sighed. “Not really.”
“I don’t want to come home to someone shooting amateur porn in my room.”
“Are you sure? I’m positive that would look great on a résumé.”
“You’re such a weirdo.”
“Guilty.” Max glanced toward the doorway, where Angus had propped himself like a fashion model.
In different ways, my two roommates were both hot as hell. Blond-haired, green-eyed Angus radiated the moneyed GQ vibe; he was always put together, clean-shaven, well-dressed and delicious-smelling. Max, on the other hand, was a dimpled and scruffy, tattooed, motorcycle-riding hooligan. Right then I had the bad boy and the dream boy in my bedroom, pretty much winning the whole hot-guy lottery, but neither was interested in me. Angus had a boyfriend, and Max always had women blowing up his cell phone. But it wasn’t like I was pining; I hadn’t been in a relationship since Amy, and I wasn’t looking, either. Still, for pure eye candy, it didn’t suck to be me.
“House meeting,” Angus said, sauntering over to flop across the foot of my bed. “Any progress on the roommate issue?”
Hunching my shoulders, I wrapped my arms around another plushie microbe, an adorable ovum this time. “I’m working on it.”
“It’s true. She’s rejected four possibles since I came in.”
I cut Max a look. “You’re not helping.”
“But I’ve been reading emails to you for the past ten minutes.”
Ignoring that, I nudged Angus’s thigh with my foot. “Do you know anyone who’s looking? Preferably not a random stranger.”
“Actually, that’s part of the reason why I’m in here.”
When I bounced, his head jogged on my mattress. “Spill it.”
“I’ve been in pre-med with Kia since freshman year. She mentioned she wants to break up with her boyfriend, but she’s been putting it off because it’ll mean moving out. I didn’t say anything because I wanted to talk to you guys first. But—”
“Is she nice?” I cut in at the same time Max asked, “Is she hot?”
Angus smirked. “Yes and yes. I think she’d make you both happy.”
Then he got out his phone, flipping through the gallery until he found a selfie of him with a pretty African-American girl. She had a great smile, bright and friendly, dark skin and short, natural hair. Sometimes the faces people made in photos gave me a vibe about them, and she seemed like she’d be fun.
I took his cell, brought up her contact info and said, “Call her.”
“You mean I made flyers for nothing?” Max grumbled, but I could tell he was glad to have it settled. Maybe.
He got off the floor and wormed his way between Angus and me. Three people on a twin, probably not what the manufacturer intended. “If you break my bed—”
“Shh. It’s ringing.” Angus frowned at us like we were delinquent children. “Kia? It’s me. Do you have a minute?” That sounded like code for Can you talk freely?
The volume was loud enough for me to hear her reply. “Yeah, I can email you the notes.”
“I get it. Call me back when you can.”
“Whoa,” Max said. “Sounds like the boyfriend’s a controlling asshole.”
Angus nodded. “I’ve been telling her to get out for three months.”
“Is he abusive?” The answer wouldn’t change my mind about rooming with her, but we might need to amp up security around here.
“Depends on your definition. In my view, he’s overly invested in where she goes and who she talks to. And he disapproves of me. A lot.”
“Homophobe?” I asked.
“Young Republican, so...probably? He wears a lot of sweater vests, comes from a conservative political family in the Bible Belt.”
“Ah. He’s lousy with privilege,” Max guessed.
Angus’s phone buzzed then and he grabbed it on the first ring, putting it on speaker. “Kia?”
“What’s up?”
“Is Duncan giving you a hard time today?”
“Always.” She sounded tired.
No wonder. Between the last year of pre-med and a demanding boyfriend, she must be sick of the drama. But we needed to speak up before she said something she’d hate revealing to strangers. “Hey, this is Courtney, one of Angus’s roommates.”
“And I’m Max, the other one.”
“Are we on a conference call?” She sounded amused more than annoyed, so that was a decent start.
“I talked to them and if you really want to dump the D-bag, you can move in here. Courtney would be sharing with you. Want to come over, see if it’s a good fit?”
“Yes, please.” Her response was heartfelt.
An hour later, Kia was on our couch, after a quick tour of the apartment and my half-empty room. She was taller than me, thinner, too, no surprise there, but nowhere near as imposing as Nadia. From listening to her conversation with Angus, I already knew I wanted this to happen. If it didn’t work out and we had to call in Physical Education Kelly, I’d be bummed.