“That’s not true!” Monique says heatedly. Her fair skin flushes, and it’s obvious she’s really passionate about her books. She strikes me as shy, and it’s likely she doesn’t get overly animated about anything else. “I read through them all the time. And books actually increase in value, so they’re worth collecting.”
“Hey! My shoes are not worthless!”
“Can we talk about something else?” Esme asks.
“I must say, the steaks are excellent,” Vera says obligingly. She pops a piece in her mouth and chews with an abundance of thoughtful enjoyment. Her eyes even slide close—the whole bit.
I think she’s definitely flirting with me now.
Esme shoots Vera a strange look that Vera, since her eyes are closed, doesn’t even see. It sends a sharp knot of feeling straight to my stomach, which resounds straight to my cock. Esme’s eyes are green, but right now, I think they’re greener than normal. Is she annoyed with Vera, or is she actually jealous about Vera flirting? With me. Maybe I am reading things completely wrong.
I must be because Esme obviously has no interest in me at all. It could be that she just doesn’t like it when her friends get too friendly with a roommate she would love to hate.
“Can I get the recipe?”
“Vera! Come on,” Monique groans. “You don’t even cook, let alone grill.”
“I’ve been thinking about taking it up!” Vera shoots back.
“Oh good,” Monique quips. “You could practice on your shoes.”
“I was actually planning on getting it fired up with some of your exceptionally rare books—the ones you only handle with gloves. I think they’d burn well, don’t you?”
To her credit, Monique just rolls her eyes. She’s clearly very used to Vera’s ribbing, which indicates they’ve been friends for a long time. It also shows that Monique is incredibly patient and has a very good sense of humor.
“I’d grill you if you tried that with my books.” Monique tries her steak. “Mmm. This is really good. Did you marinate them?”
“Nope. I just threw them on the grill. They were a good cut, I guess.”
“Mad skills with the grill,” Vera chimes in with a nod of her head.
“Good lord,” Monique mutters.
“He must have if he was cooking on your old beast back there.” Vera has no problem defending herself.
“Thanks,” Esme mumbles. “My grill is seriously offended by that statement.”
“You haven’t even tried it.” Vera gestures at the steak.
Esme sinks lower in her chair, and it’s clear she feels pressured now. She slices a bit off the edge, makes sure it’s coated in sauce, and then sticks it in her mouth. “Mm, yeah. Just like every other piece of meat I’ve ever tried,” she says with disdain.
“It’s good! Jeepers bleepers. The guy bought you a brand new sewing machine. You could cut him some slack, even if he is in league with Pappy.” Vera looks back at me before pointedly asking, “Are you?”
“I just came for the room,” I say, hating myself a little bit more for another lie. “Just have some business down here.” The steak I’m chewing very nearly gets stuck in my throat when I try to swallow.
“There you go!” Vera says proudly. “He’s just here for the room. You don’t have to hate him.” But Vera does menacingly shake her fork at me when she continues, “If you hurt Esme in any way, shape, or form, you are dead meat. Deader than that steak. I’ll cut you up and put you on the grill I don’t have and flavor you with those books I was talking about.”
“I think, technically, the books wouldn’t lend much flavor since you’re grilling and not smoking my chopped-up carcass.”
“Can we please talk about something else?” Esme groans again. She now looks like she wants to facepalm herself with her fork and knife.
Speaking of knives, Monique picks hers up and points it at me. It’s a dull-looking steak knife with an ancient wood handle that isn’t very threatening at all. “I second that. I want you to swear you won’t hurt Esme,” she adds.
“That’s not why I invited you over,” Esme protests in a small voice. “Not to threaten him. I just wanted to…I don’t know. I wanted you guys to enjoy dinner as I haven’t seen you both since girls’ night. I just…” Then she actually turns and looks at me apologetically. “I just wanted to…never mind. They’re just protective of me. I’m sorry.”
“That’s alright. It’s good to have people in your corner.”
“Esme’s been treated pretty badly by the male variety,” Vera goes on. I watch Esme shudder and melt further into her chair. “So, just telling you, I’m not above tying you up in my basement and torturing you if you do anything to make her unhappy.”
“He’s just a roommate,” Esme protests. “He’s just here for work.”
Vera and Monique look at both of us like they don’t buy it for a second. I don’t know what they’re thinking or even what they’re seeing because there is zero chance I would ever be more than just a roommate. I mean, even if they think I’m scheming with Silas or something, they should know that Esme doesn’t want anything to do with me.