Page 58 of The Roommate Problem
Now or ever.
He sat there, mouth slightly open like a fish out of water for a solid minute.
Come on, you ass, do something before she starts asking questions you don’t want to answer.
Mo smiled, laughing softly with a shake of her head. She bent down to kiss the tip of his nose. “Unfreeze, August. It’s okay. I’ll take it for the compliment I’m sure it was meant to be and not add any feelings into it.”
She slid off his lap, grabbing her empty ice cream bowl, the empty popcorn bag, and the shreds of paper.
“I can take care of those,” he said, standing and grabbing the items from her hands. If he was going to act like a jerk, the least he could do was clean up. He’d have done it anyway because Mo usually just stacked everything on the counter instead of throwing trash away and putting dirty dishes in the dishwasher. He wondered if her old roommates had cleaned up after her, too, or if she just did it to mess with him?
He tossed the trash, stacking the dirty bowl into the top rack of the dishwasher. When he turned around, Mo had disappeared. Fearing he had hurt her feelings, he started to head down the hallway to the bedrooms.
“Mo?”
The squeak of a floorboard sounded before her bedroom door opened. She stuck her head out with an impish smile.
“Hey, August. Catch.”
His hand went up in surprise as her arm rose and tossed something directly at him. Luckily, he’d been on his high school varsity baseball team. He caught the item, which turned out to be a large, pristine white softball. Looked like it hadn’t gotten lots of use. But there did appear to be some writing on it. Black and fresh from the looks of it. He read the words scribbled on the ball.
Feelings.
Glancing up, he saw Mo holding up a black magic marker in her fingers, leaning against the wall to hold herself up as she doubled over with laughter. “Oh no! You caught them.”
He shook his head, chuckling along with her, but inside his heart raced and his stomach cramped.
Because he was terrified it might be true.
