Roommaid

by Sariah Wilson

  “Good for you!” Delia grinned at me as she took the empty chair next to Shay. “I’m really out of the loop. I didn’t even know you were dating anyone.”

  I detected the slightest note of hurt in her voice. “No, we’re not dating or anything. I’m his new roommate.”

  “And his maid,” Shay couldn’t help but add.

  At Delia’s shocked expression, I hurried to fill her in on everything I’d told Shay so far, adding, “I thought you had recess duty today or else I would have waited for you.”

  “I switched with Amanda. I have to help Jayden with one of his perspective art projects after school and so I’m going to stay late.”

  “You are like a human granola bar,” Shay told her. “You’re too nice.”

  “That’s kind of a weird insult,” she replied. “But my niceness is not what we’re discussing. Like shouldn’t we talk about the problematic implications of what Madison’s doing?”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “You cleaning up his apartment is really playing into those traditional gender and economic roles.”

  “Except for the fact that I can’t be conforming to a gender role because I have no idea how to clean.”

  “Good point,” she said, lifting up her cup of peppermint tea to take a quick sip.

  And during all this, Shay had continued to stare at Tyler’s picture on my phone with a goofy grin on her face. An inclination I understood, but it was starting to make me a little uneasy. Possibly jealous as well.

  Shay turned the phone screen toward Delia. “Did you see his dog, too? Men are a hundred times hotter when they love dogs. That’s legit math. From a math teacher.”

  I couldn’t help but brag about him a little, because it was one of the facts I knew from my Tyler brain file. “He rescued that dog, Pigeon, from an abusive home. I mean, I guess it was actually the shelter who rescued her and then Tyler adopted her, but still.”

  Shay nodded. “I was wrong in my calculations. He is now ten thousand times hotter.”

  “He’s like a real-life Captain America,” Delia agreed. “He should have his own ticker-tape parade.”

  “I’ll be grand marshal,” Shay said.

  “I think the fact that we’re all so gaga over him means we should probably be dating more,” I said.

  Shay shook her head, disagreeing with me. “I date plenty.”

  “I mean guys you go out on more than one date with.”

  She rolled her eyes at me and in apparent retaliation announced, “I feel like Tyler Roth is in need of a deep dive.”

  I said, “No,” and reached for my phone, but she ignored me. Delia grabbed her own phone and started tapping on it. “He hasn’t posted anything on Facebook in years. No account on Twitter that I can find.”

  Shay showed her my phone. “But look at the stuff he’s posted on Insta. He not only adopted his dog from that shelter, but he volunteers there, too. Speaking of volunteering, he’s involved with this coffee company that donates its profits to building homes in Guatemala. He actually flew out there and helped build them. He really is Captain America.” She hesitated slightly to suck in a deep breath of appreciation. “Oh, look, he does the cutest thing. He takes pictures with his dog and Photoshops famous sites behind them. Like the Eiffel Tower, Colosseum, the Statue of Liberty. He says she’s too nervous to fly but he wishes he could show her the world. That is the cutest thing ever. And he hashtags them all with #ohtheplacesyoullgo.”

  “That’s enough,” I said, reaching for my phone.

  Shay tapped the screen thoughtfully, ignoring my hand. “Maybe he’s too kind.”

  “Too kind?” I repeated. Was that even possible?

  “Yeah. You know the type that’s so nice and helpful that he winds up being taken advantage of.”

  I didn’t know him well enough to know whether or not that was true. It could be. But he seemed so strong and confident and sure of himself that I had a hard time imagining it.

  “Personally, I think you should marry this guy immediately,” Delia announced. “Now on to LinkedIn to check out his employment prospects.”

  That was enough. “This feels too much like invading his privacy. You guys should stop.”

  There was loud male laughter from the other side of the room, which put an end to the search as we turned to see Tristan Ramon and Owen James laughing loudly. Tristan waved slightly at Delia, who pretended not to notice. While both men were tall, Tristan had dark-black hair and dark eyes and Owen was his polar opposite, with dirty-blond hair and light-brown eyes. The two men had both started five years ago and had become best friends. Because the academy had only been open for about ten years, Millstone had a disproportionate number of young teachers. Which wasn’t an issue until it was.

  Like with Owen and Shay’s rivalry. Where Tristan just seemed emotionally stunted in how he went about wooing women by teasing them, Owen was not like that. He and Shay legitimately despised one another.

  Owen nodded his chin at Shay and asked, “Why are you smiling so much? Did your huntsman finally bring you your stepdaughter’s heart?”

  That got Shay to put my phone down and I snatched it back before she realized what she had done. “Look who decided to grace us with his douchedom.”

  “Eloquent and charming as ever, Ms. Simmons. But I think I’ll head out because, thanks to your predictability, I already know where this is going.”

  “Maybe grab a handbasket on your way out and see where it takes you,” she invited, her arms crossed over her chest. I wondered how long it would take him to figure that one out. He was a smart guy. I was betting he’d get it eventually.

  With a shake of his head, Owen left. Tristan followed behind him, sporting a sheepish and apologetic smile.

  “Assault should be legal against people like him,” Shay muttered under her breath, adding a word that sounded suspiciously like “pass goal.”

  I figured my best bet was to distract her, so I waved my phone back and forth in front of her. “I was planning on trying to move in today.”

  It did the trick and she leaned forward and said, “I have two questions. One, can I help you move in?”

  “Of course.” I was hoping she’d offer because I had a lot of clothing.

  “Great. And my second question—does Tyler have another extra room?”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Shay was suitably impressed by everything at Tyler’s place—the doorman (Gerald) who greeted us, the swanky elevator, the view from the balcony, the state-of-the-art kitchen, my large and luxurious bedroom. “Your room is the same size as my whole apartment!”

  I didn’t say anything, but trust me, I knew.

  She stuck her head in Tyler’s room and I caught a glimpse of Pigeon’s tail before she hid under the bed. “Come on. We need to get me moved in.” I tugged on Shay’s arm and closed his door. While I was just as curious, I didn’t want to infringe on his personal space and stress Pigeon out any further.

  Bringing up all my junk, even with Gerald’s help, was a slow and tedious process. I tried to tell myself I was getting a great workout, given that I could no longer afford to see my personal trainer.

  We were close to being done when I heard Tyler’s voice call out, “Madison?”

  The sound of my name on his lips sent weird shivers up my spine. Shay and I were still in my room, dropping off boxes. We exchanged glances and before I could mouth the word behave to her, Tyler rapped on my open door and stuck his head in.

  “Oh, hi! I didn’t realize you had company. I’m Tyler.”

  Shay stood there, motionless.

  “This is Shay, my best friend.”

  “Great to meet you.” He smiled at her and then focused his gaze on me. “Hey, I’m going to go change and then I’ll come help you with the rest of the boxes.”

  “Sounds good!”

  When I heard his door shut, I said to Shay, “I’ll give you the same advice Frederica gave me. Close your mouth, sweetheart.”
<
br />   She recovered much more quickly than I had. “Are you kidding me right now? I mean, you told me he was better looking in real life but . . . how much is a soul going for these days?”

  Not able to follow her line of thinking, I asked, “What?”

  “I’m assuming you had to have sold yours, given that beautiful man.” She paused, tapping one fingertip against her mouth. “You do realize that he’s half-naked in a room across the hall from yours right now.”

  Unbidden imagery filled my brain and I had to blink several times in an attempt to get it to stop. “And?”

  She looked at me like I was insane. “And if I were you I would kick down that door and have my way with him.”

  “That’s what he’s trying to avoid, remember?”

  “Then he should stop walking around looking like that. Good grief. I bet every woman in a three-block radius is in constant heat just from the proximity.” She shook her head as if this were beyond her comprehension. “Explain this situation to me again, like I’m stupid. You’re living with that man and you’re not allowed to be attracted to him?”

  “I think it’s okay if I’m attracted to him.” I hoped it was, because I totally was. “Just that we both understand nobody will be acting on it. And by nobody, I mean me.”

  Her eyes lit up. “Does that mean he’s allowed to make a move?”

  I wish. “That won’t be happening. Frederica made him think that I’m with Brad.”

  “Ugh. Right. And Tyler seems like a good guy, which means he won’t do anything.” She said this with so much disappointment that I couldn’t help but laugh.

  Then she added, “You are the only person I know that this could happen to. You lose all your money, can’t afford your own place, and wind up in a penthouse with a man hotter than the surface of the sun. If I didn’t love you so much, I would totally hate you. Also, are you sure there isn’t another room here? Your closet is pretty big. I could live there.”

  We heard Tyler’s door open and he stuck his head back through my doorframe. “Is your car parked out front?”

  “My car is,” Shay said, all but batting her eyelashes at him as honey dripped from her voice. “Let me show you where we have the rest of the boxes.”

  I started to follow them, but Shay turned and hissed at me, “Stay.” So I fought off my slight flare of jealousy and went out and watched as she trailed behind him to the elevator. She turned at the last minute to mouth the letters O, M, and G at me.

  I held my laughter in until the elevator doors shut. I knew she’d only been joking about moving in with me but part of me was thinking how nice it would be to have her here as my own personal security blanket. A buffer to keep me away from Tyler so that I could respect his boundaries. Because that might be the only way this could possibly work.

  But Shay needed her own personal space back. Time to be the adult I kept claiming I was.

  When they returned they were both laughing, and I unnecessarily directed them into my room. Shay had had her chance to do some one-on-one flirting, so this time I went down to help with the few boxes that remained. In a matter of minutes we’d cleared out the rest and had it all moved into my room. I was going to be unpacking for a long time.

  Tyler put his hands on his hips, which made him look like an actual superhero. “Seems like that’s it. If you’ll excuse me, I’m off to take a shower. It was nice to meet you, Shay.”

  “Likewise,” she said, and we both watched him walk into his room.

  “Say nothing about him in the shower,” I told her when his door shut. My hormone-addled brain could take only so much. She gave me a wink and reached for her purse.

  My phone buzzed. There was a text. From my mother.

  It said:

  “What is it?” Shay asked. I showed her my phone.

  There was no ignoring a text or a summoning of this level. My parents had made it clear they weren’t speaking to me, so to send a message instructing me to come to dinner was something I couldn’t ignore or else this would escalate to telenovela levels of drama. Everything was always on my mother’s terms.

  Well, almost everything.

  “Do you want to come with me?” I asked Shay, hopeful for a moment after I texted Tyler’s address back.

  “Oh, I would but I have this thing where I don’t want to go.”

  I sighed. “Fine. Abandon me to the wolves.”

  “You’ll be fine. Tell Satan and her husband I say what’s up.”

  I was in the middle of picturing my mother’s reaction to Shay’s message when she said, “Come walk me out to the car.”

  “What, you don’t want to hang around in case he comes out here in a towel?” I teased.

  “Don’t tempt me. Let’s go.” We headed for the elevator and waited for it to travel up to the top floor.

  “Just so you know,” Shay said, “I think he’s dating someone.”

  Why did that make my heart drop from my chest down to my feet? “What makes you say that?”

  “I just full-court pressed him on our trip down to my car and nothing. Not even a tiny nibble. And I put out a lot of bait.”

  The doors opened and we got in. “I think you’re mixing some of your metaphors.”

  “Regardless, I’m glad you’re the one living here and not me. You’re a much better woman than I.”

  I doubted that. I just had more reason to keep my lips and grubby paws to myself.

  She went on: “I think Tyler is proof that the universe is patently unfair. How is a guy that good looking, rich, helpful, charming, and rescues abused dogs? It’s like when they were making people they just poured the entire bag of human bonuses on his head.”

  The doors to the lobby opened while I was laughing at her remark. She wasn’t wrong. It didn’t seem quite fair for Tyler to be so perfect. Shay and I both waved to Gerald and I thanked him for his help.

  We reached Shay’s car and I said, “And thank you for your help, too. For everything. I never would have gotten through all this without you.”

  To my surprise, she hugged me. Shay was not really the hugging type. “Have fun in your new place. And just know that if you pretend to sleepwalk and accidentally climb into his bed in the middle of the night, no one will blame you.”

  I hugged her even tighter while laughing again. She had no idea how much our friendship meant to me, how much I relied on it. I told her I would call her soon.

  “You better,” she replied. “I want to hear what the queen of the underworld wants. Also, remember when dealing with your family that we live in Texas, so please don’t do anything that will get you the death penalty.”

  “I can’t make that kind of promise.”

  “Okay, okay. But if Tyler asks about me, I am single and ready to mingle!” She smiled and shook her head. She waved one last time and got into her car, then drove off. I headed back inside, eager to start my new life. When I got to the apartment, Tyler’s door was still closed and I went into my room and opened the closest box.

  There were sweaters I had forgotten I even owned. At Shay’s place I had been basically living out of a few suitcases and had left most of my wardrobe in boxes. After I’d pulled out the sweaters, I found a bunch of underwear next. Cute underwear! I had so much of it!

  Too bad there was no one else to see it.

  I went through a bunch more boxes and found skirts and dresses and jeans and blouses and so many things that I was excited to wear again. In the fourth box I opened I found my kitchen mug, the one Shay had got me at graduation that said WORLD’S BEST TEACHER. I brought it into the kitchen and was surprised to find Tyler at the stove, humming to himself as he cooked.

  Little shivers of awareness shot through me at the sight of him. His shoulders were so broad and he was so deliciously tall and his arms were just perfectly formed and . . . I forced myself to clear my throat and said, “Hi.”

  I wanted to roll my eyes at myself because that was so stupid. We were roommates. I couldn’t say hi to him every time I s
aw him.

  Fortunately, he didn’t call me out on my dumbness. “Hey, I’m making some fettuccine Alfredo. Would you like some?”

  He was going to feed me? Did he not understand the possible fallout from that? He was obviously going to make me fall in love with him. Be an adult who respects rules, I told myself as I put my mug down on the counter. I sat on the barstool in front of the island. “I would love some.”

  Nodding at my mug, he said, “Do you need help unpacking?”

  Oh. He assumed that I was a normal person and had more things to put in the kitchen besides one single mug. “No, I’m good. It kind of feels like Christmas, only for stuff you already own. I’d forgotten half of the things in there. Like the Birkin bag my grandmother gave me for graduation. It’s one of my favorite things in the whole world.” My mother had been livid when I opened it. It was one of the bags from the first Birkin line and my mom had been certain she would add this particular heirloom to her stash.

  She had been pretty shocked, too, when I’d refused to hand it over.

  “It’s a good thing you have such a great attitude about it. Most people would just see it as a chore. Oh, speaking of . . .” He turned around to grab a piece of paper off the fridge. “So, full disclosure, I copied this off one of those house-organizational websites. I thought it might be helpful. But if you don’t want to do things this way, it’s totally up to you.”

  He handed me the paper and it was a list of chores for the apartment. Dusting, vacuuming, washing the windows. Cleaning toilets. Ick. My stomach sank at the prospect. I hadn’t even thought about that. I was going to need one of those full-on hazmat suits to do it.

  “Don’t worry about my room or my bathroom. Like I said, I’ll clean up after myself. This is just some deeper cleaning in the general areas. Are you good with that?”

  “Yes.” I was going to have to be, wasn’t I?

  “While I’m thinking about it, I have my calendar hanging up on the fridge so that you know when I’ll be here and when I won’t. I’m flying out for New York first thing in the morning and I’ll be gone for a few days.”