“I’ll make you another one,” Adira tells Myles quietly from behind the small kitchen counter where she’s pouring me a cup of coffee.
Adira’s the last of my roommates, but she’s only been here a year. While Rainey, Myles, and I have the three bedrooms on the second floor, Adira has settled into the small hobby shop my dad had converted from our detached garage many years ago. He installed baseboard heaters and a small working bathroom with a shower, and he spent a lot of his free time puttering out there—fixing broken things and making little pieces of furniture that were wobbly and adorable at the same time. When I considered adding Adira as a roommate to boost my rental income, I sprang to have the room carpeted for more comfort. She brought her pull-out couch when she moved in, keeps her personal belongings in milk crates, and has been happily, but quietly, living with us since.
She pushes the steaming mug across the counter to me—strong and black, the only way to drink coffee in my opinion—and grabs the bag of bagels to toast another for Myles.
Leaning a hip against the counter, I take a quick sip of the hot java before asking Adira, “Are we carpooling today?”
Adira and I work at the same downtown coffee shop—one of about a few thousand—and we’ll often take turns driving to save gas. That’s how we met and eventually became roommates—I heard she was looking to move out of her ex-boyfriend’s house after a bad breakup.
She shakes her head, her dark wavy locks bouncing. She has the coolest hair. It’s cut in asymmetrical layers, shorter on one side, longer on the other, but never touching her shoulders. She has pretty blue eyes with a light smattering of freckles across her nose and cheekbones. She’s tiny like a waif and while she’s sweet and genuine, it takes a while to get to know her.
“I have a job interview after I get off work,” she explains.
I cock an eyebrow at her. As the manager of the coffee shop where we work together, I’m a little surprised she’d admit such a thing to me.
Noting my expression, she smiles reassuringly. “It’s for a second job doing proofing for a small educational publisher. It won’t take away from my shifts.”
“Phew,” I say with a dramatic swipe of my hand across my brow. “I was fearful for all coffee drinkers I was going to lose one of my best baristas.”
Blushing, Adira busies herself putting cream cheese on Myles’ bagel, which popped out of the toaster.
It’s at this moment Myles sits up straighter in his chair as Rainey shuffles into the kitchen. She has on a blue silk robe wrapped tight around her body, her golden blonde hair quite the mess. Still, she’s one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever had the pleasure of being friends with.
Rainey has one of those perfectly symmetrical faces with large blue eyes and a perfectly straight nose, along with full lips, gleaming, straight teeth, and contoured cheekbones. Her body—just from an unbiased, non-lesbian perspective—is the unrealistic model of perfection every woman dreams about, from her exquisitely shaped breasts to her tiny waist to her long legs.
I’d absolutely hate her for her perfection if I didn’t love the wench so much. After four years as roommates, she’s my closest friend.
My gaze moves to Myles, who shoots her a longing glance. He’s my closest friend, too. To be honest, it’s a draw between them and I hate being the one who holds the secret of his unrequited love. Still, I couldn’t bear to tell Rainey as she’d feel awful not being able to reciprocate, and Myles would be so mortified he’d probably move out.
So I hold my tongue like I always do.
“Okay, nerds,” I announce to my household posse. “I’m outta here. I’m thinking of grilling some burgers tonight, so I need to know who’s in.”
I’m the household cook. Long ago, we divvied up responsibilities and since I was the best at cooking, I became the resident chef and chief grocery shopper. Rainey, Myles, and Adira have a system worked out for cleaning the house, and they all three chip in to cover the groceries.
“I’m out,” Adira says, and I figured as much if she has a job interview after work. “I’ll just grab something downtown.”
“I’m in,” Myles says, his attention now back on his laptop. Adira brings him the bagel she’d just prepared. He ignores it like he did the one before it, but that’s just the way he gets wrapped up in his work.
“I’m in, too,” Rainey mutters as she sips at the coffee she just poured. It takes her a while to wake up and function. She works in the mall as head of the makeup section in a fancy department store. Unlike me, she has a college education. Like me, Rainey’s happy doing what she’s doing and not aspiring toward a more ambitious and lucrative career. Deep down, she’s just waiting to land the right rich man who will keep her in lavish comfort, and I can respect that ambition.