Roommate - SEASON 1 EPISODE 23

Story 4 months ago

Roommate - SEASON 1 EPISODE 23

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 23

Nicole

I had no idea how I got myself in this situation. I woke up this morning with the idea of staying in all day to read because it was one of the only days I was free. No classes or work schedules.

Yet here I was, with Patricia, Justus, and Blake at the mall. If I was honest, I didn't even remember agreeing to come. My ass was just dragged here against my will. Blake was right, I guess; Patricia never took no as an answer.

Such a shame Blake wasn't sick anymore, because I would've used the excuse of wanting to look after him to stay in the dorm. That guy's immune system worked hard. He got better within three days.

Annoyed, I flipped him the bird, making him laugh as he continued talking to Justus across the store.

"How does this one look?"

Focusing my attention back to Patricia, I watched her pull a beautiful emerald green dress up to her chin. It had a low scoop and looked like it wouldn't even reach mid thigh on her long legs. Funny how she asked how everything would look on her when even a trash bag would look good on her.

Oh, to be effortlessly beautiful.

"Looks beautiful, sis." I jumped a bit at how close Blake suddenly was and side stepped so he wouldn't be behind me anymore. "What are you gonna get, angel face?"

One of his fingers fixed the spaghetti strap that was sliding off my shoulder, making me have to fight a shiver so I didn't look like a touch-deprived idiot. Sure I was, but no one had to know or see how desperate I was to be touched. Especially by Blake.

Pushing his hand away, I cleared my throat and shrugged. "I'm not buying anything. Why would I?"

"I asked what you're gonna get, not buy." He felt the need to clarify. "I asked Patricia to invite you so you could pick out an outfit as well. I'm paying."

I raised a brow and ignored Patricia's snicker as she skimmed through more dresses. "What are you, my sugar daddy?"

"That's weird to say, considering I'm paying for my sister's as well. Don't you think?"

He was right, that was weird. But that was his sister. I wasn't anything to him. Therefore, he had no reason to buy anything for me unless he was my sugar daddy. He wasn't even in the age group to consider himself a sugar daddy.

"Well, if I needed anything, I'd buy it myself." He was smiling. Fucker found it amusing to watch me struggle to fight back. "Thank you, though."

Patricia lifted a different dress up to her chin and looked in one of the mirrors. "Blake never offers to buy anyone anything, not even me. I'd say you take advantage of it while the offer stands." Not liking how the dress looked, she set it back and smiled at me. "Because you're coming to the party whether you want to or not."

Now I was just confused. "Party?"

"Justus's birthday is this weekend, we're throwing him a party," Patricia answered as she grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the boutique we were in. Guess none of the dresses were good enough for her. "We've been throwing them for him since Blake and him were friends. So we need a cute dress for the occasion."

I looked over my shoulder to see Blake and Justus following, having a conversation of their own. Blake sensed me looking and bounced his eyes over to me, giving me one of his beautiful, charming smiles. I bit my lip as I turned back to Patricia, choosing to ignore him and how attracted I was to him.

Quite frankly, I knew I couldn't deny my attraction to him any longer. Considering the fucker had done everything possible to make me fall for him. I just knew he'd never be serious about anything between us except possibly friendship.

I grew to accept the fact that if I had feelings for him, it would be one sided. He was a womanizer, and a player was always going to be a player. Unless they met someone they deemed worthy enough to stop their habits. That someone would never be me, though.

"Nicole," Blake called for me as Patricia tried pulling me into a different boutique. She let go of my arm when she heard her brother and let me wait for him by the door as she walked towards the dresses on display.

Blake signaled for Justus to follow his sister and smiled at me as his best friend left us alone. "Wanna get something to eat?"

All I did was stare at him, because that was far from what I expected him to say or ask. "Right now?"

He nodded, leaning back against the nearest wall as he folded his arms across his chest. "Yeah, right now. Patricia usually takes long to pick something out and it takes several little stores for her to actually pick one. It's usually one she already looked at, probably one of the few she saw when we first got here, but she has to know all her options before settling."

That was a statement only a man knew when they were victims of long shopping sprees. Yet he was still here accompanying his sister, knowing she'd take long. That was sweet.

I was developing a toothache because of this man.

"So..." he chuckled as I failed to give him an answer, pushing off the wall to start walking. "Food, sweet cheeks?"

"What about Patricia and Justus?" Despite me not saying yes directly, he took me following after him as his answer.

"She won't eat until she finds the outfit she wants." He really knew his sister. "She claims food bloats her and she'll hate every outfit if it makes her look fat." Air quotes were used at the end as he rolled his eyes. "She never even looks fat."

As a girl, I could understand Patricia. We were our own biggest haters. Body dysmorphia was such a struggle.

When we reached the food section of the mall, all the smells of the different booths hit me at once, and my stomach growled almost immediately. My eyes closed and I took in a big whiff as pizza and Mongolian wafted towards us first.

"Do you know what you want?" Blake asked as I was still focused on trying to distinguish the other smells coming to me. "It's on me, whatever you want."

That took me out of my concentration and I lifted a brow at him. "I can pay for myself, thanks."

"I never said you weren't capable of that, I'm just offering to pay for you."

"Is this a date, or what?" Despite me knowing this was far from that, my heart somersaulted at the idea anyway. "Cause guys usually only tend to pay for the girl when it's a date."

He chuckled, shoving his hands into his pockets as we continued our stroll towards the tables located in the middle of every food booth. "Do you want this to be a date?"

The question caught me off guard, because I was fully expecting him to flat out say this wasn't a date and that I was crazy to even ask. Instead he had me questioning if I did indeed want this to be a date.

The answer was maybe... yes.

"Hell no."

A deep laugh erupted from his lips and he pulled out a chair before pointing me towards it. A bit hesitant, I sat down and let him push it in before watching him go around to sit across from me. "Then no, it's not a date."

Even though I was the one that gave him that answer, I was still a bit disappointed.

"So, what do you want to eat?"

I sniffed the delicious air again and nearly moaned. "Honestly, I can smell the Mongolian food from here and I'm really craving it now."

He smiled. "A woman of taste. Alright, Mongolian it is, doll face. Let's go."

After being entranced by the workers cooking our food, we walked back to our table and enjoyed our first bites in silence. Apart from the few soft moans of delight that left me after each bite.

Once my hunger subsided a bit, my mind started spiraling. Something that always happened against my will and that I couldn't control or end no matter how hard I tried.

Even though I had said I could pay for my own, he ended up paying for both our meals and now I felt like I owed him something. I hated feeling like I owed people anything.

He sensed me staring as he was mid-bite and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Chewing quickly before swallowing the half-chewed noodles, he looked at me with nothing but concern. "What's wrong? Does it not taste right? You would think it was perfect by the sounds you've been making."

I forced a laugh as I poked at my food to distract myself. "I said I could pay. Now I feel weird."

"That's what's bothering you? That I didn't let you pay?"

I just nodded.

"Nicole," he set his fork down and reached out for my hand. For some reason, I didn't pull it back. "If it makes you feel any better, you can pay me back. But it really doesn't bother me to pay for you."

"I'm just used to people wanting something in return when they do anything for me." I was mumbling because I felt dumb.

His hold on my hand loosened a bit and I looked up to see his features change. He seemed offended. "You think I paid because I want something from you?"

"No, I just-" I didn't know how to save it. There was no saving it. That's exactly what I thought. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry." He set my hands back on the table and grabbed his fork again, avoiding my eyes. "If that's how you feel then your feelings are valid. I'm sorry for not listening to you when you said you could pay. I overstepped and that's on me. But I really don't want anything from you, Nicole. Pay me back if you want, but I prefer if you don't."

"Blake-"

Waving me off, he met my eyes again and I could tell the smile he was giving was forced. "Let's just eat, okay? You haven't eaten all day."

"How do you-"

"I pay attention, Nicole."

Him worrying about me only made me feel more terrible. I was falling for this man, and I hated every second of the way down.

This was gonna hurt.