"What if..." I said. "It wasn't just oneguy?"
She frowned, finishing off her cookie and reached for a second. "Like what?" sheasked.
"What if you were living with multipleguys?"
"Like roommates?" She licked the crumbs off herlips.
"I guess." I stared at the floor, my head a whirlwind ofactivity.
There was no telling when my mom would get better, or if she would at all. Knix said he thought I was leaning their way and I guess, when we were on the job, I had been. But now that I was away from them, left behind while they searched for Grayson's brother, I wasn't so sureanymore.
"I think that would suck," Erikaannounced.
I blinked, drawn back to her. "Why’s that?" Iasked.
"Guys are messy. I really like JC, but one guy is enough for me to handle. You know what I mean?" Erika picked up her glass and gulped back half of its contents before continuing. "Roommates clean up after each other on the other hand. So, I don't know, maybe it could work. The only roommates I've ever had are my parents." She scoffed, setting her glass on the table. "And that's no experience at all, so I guess I'm not the expert. You want a cookie?" she asked, lifting the plate and leaning towardsme.
I shook my head. "No, I'm fine." Something else was bothering me. If Iwasgoing to stay with the guys and Iwasgoing to be on their team – which there was no yes or no answer to just yet – we'd probably be roommates. It was more than that though. Bellamy had kissed me. So had Knix, and Marv. That complicatedthings.
"What if they're not all roommates?" Isuggested.
Erika frowned, returning the plate to the table. "You mean like you're datingthem?"
"Just um…" I began, "hypothetically. Maybethree?"
"Damn, girl, what have you been up to?" shegrinned.
I rolled my eyes. "It's a hypothetical question,Erika."
"Sure, sure." She waved her hands. "Well, in that case, it would depend. Do they know about eachother?"
"Maybe?" I winced and then sighed. “I would tell them,” Idecided.
"If they know about each other and they're okay with it, then things should be fine. But if they don't know and you're living together and they find out later, it might become a big deal. You could end up losing one or both or all of them. If you're actually dating them though, it would be pretty difficult tohide."
"You're right," I said. I wasn't dating any of them though. It had been just a kiss, three of them, with three different guys. Guilt rose up inside me as I slumped down further on the couch and thumped my head back on thecushions.
"I'm going to grab some more sweet tea," Erika said, shaking her nearly empty glass. "Be right back. You want anythingelse?"
I shook my head. "No, I'm just going to use yourbathroom."
She shrugged. "You know where itis."
I stood up and moved to the hallway, ignoring the pictures on the wall that I had seen a thousand times before. Some were of Erika and me as children, others were of her parents and relatives I was unfamiliar with. I made it to the bathroom and shut the door behind me. I splashed my face with water and ran it through my frazzled hair. I sighed at my frayed ends, reminding myself to trim it the next time I managed to get some scissors. My back pocket buzzed. Dropping the lock of hair from between my fingertips, I fished out my phone and swiped across the screen to unlock it and read themessage.
Knix:Coming back sooner thanexpected.
Harlow:Did somethinghappen?
Knix:Caruso #2 got away. Probably left town. We're leaving it up toAlex.
I frowned. Did he mean my boss from the diner, Alex? I opened the bathroom door as I clicked down on the text box below to type a quick reply. I was halfway down the hallway when I realized Erika was talking tosomeone.
"She's in the bathroom right now, but I'm so glad you stopped by, Baby. I really wanted you to meether."
"I can't stay, I have togo."
"What? Why? Can't you stay for some tea or something? Is itwork?"