I Belong With You

by Ashelyn Drake

  “So you aren’t into him?”

  I’m not sure how to answer, so I take yet another sip of my Amstel. I swallow and settle for, “Like I said, he’s a friend.”

  “Good to know. Does that mean it would be okay for me to ask you out sometime?”

  James is a nice-looking guy, but I’m not sure I want to date him, especially when it seems like he doesn’t care for my new roommate. “Look, James, I don’t really want to get involved with anyone I work with, you know? Now that I’m an editor, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to date any of the staff writers. I don’t think Mr. Monohan would like that very much.”

  “Do you mean that, or are you hiding behind your boss?” His tone has taken on a hardness I’m not liking in the least.

  “You know, I did mean it, but now I’m thinking that even if that weren’t the case, my answer would still be a firm no.” I get down from my barstool and walk over to David and the others.

  “Everything okay?” David asks me.

  I look up to see James leaving. “Fine. James just got under my skin.”

  David raises his gaze to James’s retreating back. “Looks like you put him in his place.”

  “Always,” I say. I’ve never let a man push me around, and I don’t plan to start.

  “Hey, where’s Sasha?” Simon asks. “She said she was coming tonight.”

  “Oh no, don’t tell me we’re going to have yet another office romance on our hands,” Joel, our sports editor says. He’s in his early forties and doesn’t come out much with the rest of us.

  “Joel, I didn’t even see you there,” I say. “Are you trying to hide or something?”

  “No, I was just here trying to enjoy a quiet drink when the rest of you showed up, and this one started bothering me.” He jerks a thumb in Nate’s direction.

  “You can pretend you don’t love us, but we all know you do.” Nate claps him on the back.

  “And what do you mean, ‘another office romance’?” Simon asks. “I was merely curious where Sasha was. It’s not like I’m trying to grope her like Nate and Aria are constantly doing in her office.”

  “We are not,” Aria protests, but her blushing gives her away.

  “Yeah, and then there’s David and Emily, who can’t stop pawing at each other,” Joel says.

  “David and I don’t paw at each other,” I say. “I don’t know why you all have to make something out of a little harmless flirting. You’re a bunch of prudes.”

  David laughs and wraps an arm around my shoulders. “See? How can you not love this woman when she talks like that? She won’t even take crap from you, Joel, so don’t bother trying.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I’m finishing this drink and leaving you youngsters to carry on the night by yourselves. I should have taken Eliza’s lead and left after one drink.” Joel takes the last sip of his drink, which I’m guessing is brandy, and stands up. He’s a little overweight and has a bad knee, so he’s slow getting up.

  Nate offers him a hand.

  “It’s on me,” David says when Joel pulls out his wallet. “Consider it payment for putting up with us.”

  “Keep that up and I might do it more often,” Joel says, patting David on the back.

  I look up at David, and that’s when I realize his arm is still around me. I hadn’t even noticed. It just felt so...normal. His gaze meets mine, and his arm falls to his side again.

  “Who’s ready for another round?” David asks before finishing the beer in his hand.

  Aria gives me a knowing look but doesn’t say anything. She and Nate are the next to leave about an hour later, right after Sasha shows up.

  “You invite us all out and then bail early. Nice, Nate,” Simon says, though we all know he’s only teasing.

  Nate rolls his eyes, but he waves down Caleb and says, “Another round on my tab. I’ll square up with you tomorrow.”

  Caleb nods. “I know where you live.”

  Nate squeezes Aria against his side and says good night to all of us. As they’re leaving, Olivia and Alex walk in. I quickly wave in their direction, and Olivia smiles. She’s the newest of our staff writers and very eager to learn. She’s petite and blonde, and Alex has been eyeing her up for days. I’m not surprised they showed up together.

  “Hey, thanks for the invite,” Olivia says to Sasha, and I feel a little guilty for not extending the invitation myself.

  “Glad you guys could make it. I wasn’t sure what your schedules were today.” I hadn’t bothered to check either. My mind was too preoccupied with the move.

  Alex looks around. “Does anyone ever invite Monohan to these things?”

  A chorus of “No” rings through our small group, followed by laughter.

  Alex holds up his hands in defense. “Okay, sorry I asked.”

  “It’s just that Mr. M. prefers to pretend we all exist to serve his paper. He doesn’t like to think about which of his employees are hooking up with each other.” I lean toward him. “After Aria and Nate got together, Mr. M. worried the rest of us would pair up and the office would become home to all our sex-crazed shenanigans.”

  Alex’s brow furrows.

  “I’m paraphrasing, but he used very similar words. During a staff meeting, I might add.”

  “He did,” David says. “I was there.”

  Mr. Monohan had glared at David and me right after the comment, too. I do get why he worries, though. Just about everyone is paired up with someone they like to flirt with, whether it’s to make the workday go by quicker or because they’re interested in pursuing something more is still yet to be seen in many cases.

  “Well, I heard a rumor that you two are shacking up now,” Olivia says.

  “Nothing like that,” I say. “We’re roommates. Just because the rest of you can’t handle rooming with someone of the opposite sex doesn’t mean David and I aren’t mature enough to do so.” I finish my Amstel and place the bottle on the bar top. David’s created distance between us, talking to Simon and Sasha. I also notice he seems to have stopped drinking. “Excuse me,” I tell Olivia and Alex.

  I move toward David and place my hand on his forearm. “Hey, are you finished drinking for the night? Because if you’re ready to leave, we don’t have to stay. I’m fine with heading home whenever you are.”

  “Cute,” Simon says. “You two are playing house now.”

  David glares at Simon. “I’m just trying to be responsible since I’m the designated driver.” He turns to face me. “You can go ahead and enjoy yourself. Don’t worry about me.”

  I can’t help feeling guilty, like I’m ruining his good time. Maybe we should take separate cars from now on. David is usually the life of the party, but he’s so quiet and reserved tonight. I’m not sure I like this change, and I especially don’t like being the cause of it.

  “If you don’t mind, could we cut out early? It’s been a long day, and I’d like to unpack a bit before I call it a night.”

  David nods and moves toward the bar. “I’ll get our bill. I mean, our bills.”

  “Did you two have a fight or something?” Simon asks me when David is farther down the bar by Caleb and out of earshot.

  “No. I think we’re both just tired.” I tuck my hair behind my ear. “I should go pay for my drink. See you at work tomorrow.” I say goodbye to the others and catch up with David.

  He turns toward me, his wallet in hand. “You only had one drink, so Caleb put it on Nate’s tab since Nate was buying a round for everyone.”

  “Oh. That was sweet of him.”

  “Nate may not think so.” He laughs and returns his wallet to his back pocket. “You ready?”

  “Yeah, let’s go.”

  We don’t talk on the ride back to the apartment, and as soon as we get inside, David announces he’s going to take a shower. When I don’t respond, he says, “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m not used to sharing a bathroom anymore. Do you want to shower first?”

  “No. Go right ahead,” I tell him. “I haven’t even unpacked my
shower things yet.” I motion awkwardly to my room and start for it, trying not to look at him—or worse, envision him naked in the shower. I close the bedroom door behind me and immediately pull up my favorite playlist on my phone to drown out the sound of the water cascading down David’s perfect body.

  Chapter Six

  David

  The first two days of living with Emily are tougher than I thought they’d be. She sleeps in tight little shorts and tank tops. And she eats breakfast in them, too. She’s avoided me each night, sticking to watching TV in her room. I’m both relieved and saddened by it. And at work, she keeps herself busy. Often too busy to talk to me. I see her less now than I did before we became roommates.

  “You still hanging in there?” Dom asks on the other end of the phone.

  I peek over the partition between my desk and Emily’s. She’s busy talking to Aria, but I keep my voice low just in case. “Yeah. It’s easy to keep my hands and thoughts to myself when I barely see her.”

  “Well, maybe you should stop acting like her chaperone.”

  “I’m not—” I catch myself before my voice gets too loud.

  “Oh, please. That designated driver excuse was crap, and you know it. And from what you said, you practically chased that other guy away from her at the bar.”

  “I didn’t chase James away.” I look around to make sure James isn’t within hearing distance. He’s by the break room, a cup of coffee in hand.

  “Listen, you need to either make a move to show her you’re still interested, or get the hell out of her way. The girl deserves to get laid. If not by you, then by someone else.”

  “Nice, Dom. I’ve got to go finish these edits before quitting time. Talk to you tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, we have that golf tournament, remember?”

  I palm my forehead. “I completely forgot. No problem, though. I’ll be there.”

  “Good. And bring a check for me. I paid your entry fee.”

  “You got it. See you then.” I hang up and open my email to find Alex’s latest story. He covered the fire that occurred downtown this morning. The article is solid. All the facts are there. But it lacks something. “Alex,” I yell, holding my hand up in the air and wagging my fingers in the universal “come here” gesture.

  “Uh-oh, you’re in trouble,” Olivia says in a singsong voice.

  Alex walks over to my cubicle, placing his hand on the edge. “What can I do for you, boss?”

  I finish the final comment in his document and send it back to his email address. “I just sent you your story. I need the rewrite by five.”

  “Rewrite?” He stiffens. “What didn’t you like about it?”

  I turn my chair to face him. “It’s all there, but your delivery is flat. This was a huge fire. One that threatened a lot of businesses downtown, yet you reported it like it was no more exciting than a broken traffic light.” The last story he covered for me.

  “But it’s a news story. I can’t exactly make it exciting by adding my opinions in there.”

  “You can add flavor to it without flat-out stating your opinion,” Emily says, leaning over the divider into my cubicle.

  “How?” Alex asks. “And please don’t let Mr. Monohan know I asked for help. I don’t want to lose this job.”

  Emily waves her hand in the air. “Don’t sweat it.” She jerks her head in my direction. “I had to teach this one, too. Back before For the Record came to be.”

  “You did what now?” I ask.

  “You know, when Aria had us combine our stories. Mine was incredible and full of zest, and yours was flat and lifeless.” She sticks her bottom lip out at me.

  “Oh, you think so, huh?” That wasn’t how I remembered it at all. Though most of what I remember involved Emily’s body pressed against mine as we shared a chair to merge our stories. That and the way her hand kept landing in my lap, which I guessed was intentional. The woman loves to flirt with me. Or she did before a few days ago. The way she’s talking to me now reminds me of the way things used to be.

  “I know so. You needed me to make you better. That was the best piece you ever wrote.”

  I won’t deny that. “We make a good team. I’ll give you that much.”

  “That’s all you’re going to give me? Really?” She steps out of her cubicle and walks around to mine. Extending her hand to Alex, she says, “Come on, Alex. I’m going to help you fix your article. Then we’ll see if David finally gives me the credit I deserve.”

  Alex looks at me briefly before taking Emily’s hand. I can tell he doesn’t want to get in the middle of whatever this is between Emily and me, but he also doesn’t want to pass up the opportunity to work with her. Who would?

  Emily looks back over her shoulder at me and winks, and I get the feeling she’s going to make this torture for me. I open the next file I have to edit, but my eyes keep going to Emily and Alex in the cubicle next to mine, which is tough to conceal, considering I have to stand up to see them. I pretend my back is bothering me and I need to stretch. Emily keeps catching me and smirking. Then she usually does something seductive, like pressing up against Alex’s arm in the chair they’re sharing. She’s trying to get a reaction out of me, and damn, if it isn’t working.

  “She’s brutal,” Nate says, walking over to me with a cup of coffee in his hand. “Why is she working with one of your staff writers, anyway?”

  “His story needed work, and she’s trying to prove a point.” I resist the urge to see what she’s up to now. Is her hand in his lap?

  “Want me to keep an eye on them for you?” Nate asks, still watching them over my shoulder.

  “Emily can do whatever she wants. She’s a free woman.”

  “Sure, but with the way you two flirt, we all figure you’ll get back together eventually.”

  I was probably the only one in the office who didn’t think that was true. Well, other than Emily. She flirts with everyone in her age range. Nate being the exception only because he’s taken.

  “Well, the good news is it’s almost quitting time.” Nate taps his hand on the partition. “You have plans for the weekend?”

  “Golf tournament tomorrow. You?” I make a few corrections to the article I’m editing and save it, knowing it will need another read-through when my head is a little clearer. Emily and I didn’t carpool since I had an out-of-office meeting this morning, so I plan to stay late and finish up a few things without everyone else around.

  “Aria is spending the day with her sister, so Caleb and I are going fishing.”

  “Nice. Hope the fish are biting for you.”

  Nate scoffs. “Do me a favor and figure out whatever is going on with you and Emily. You’re no fun like this.” He turns around and goes back to work.

  I drown out the sounds of Emily and Alex working on the story. Alex is entirely too happy to have Emily’s help, and Emily is clearly trying to get to me by flirting with him. I manage to get through several more edits and send them to Aria for final approval. Friday evenings are always hectic, and I’m looking forward to going home and relaxing on the couch with a cold beer.

  My phone dings with a text from Emily, indicating I should check my email. I don’t give her the satisfaction of acknowledging the text in any way. Instead, I keep working on my to-do list for Monday. Finally, she taps her nails against my cubicle.

  “Some of us would like to get out of here at a reasonable hour, so check your email, David.”

  “In a sec.” I wave a hand in the air, which I’m sure annoys the hell out of her.

  She walks into my cubicle, pushes my chair aside, and opens my email. “There. Attachment downloaded. Now read it.”

  “I may have to report you to human resources for going through my personal email messages, Ms. Richards,” I say, knowing she hates when people call her that. She once told me she never liked her last name because it sounds like a man’s name.

  “Then I may need to report you for not doing your job, Mr. Burke,” she counters, swatting at my le
g to get me to move over so she can sit beside me.

  “I’ll just hang out over here until you two are finished with whatever this is,” Alex says, but neither Emily nor I look at him.

  Her hand is resting on my thigh, and her lavender shampoo is tickling my senses, driving me wild. I pull our chair closer to my desk and start reading the article. From the very first line, I can see a noticeable difference. The enormity of the fire and what the damage means for several businesses downtown jumps right off the page. I make a few corrections and shoot it off to Aria, knowing she’s waiting for it.

  “So?” Emily says. “You obviously approve or you wouldn’t have sent it for production.”

  I meet her gaze, our faces so close my pulse quickens. I don’t allow myself to look at her lips. It would be too tempting. Instead, I stand up, taking her with me since she was practically sitting on my lap. “You did well. Keep it up and I may lose Alex to the opinions section.”

  “No way,” Alex says. “Emily is great and I loved her suggestions for my story, but please don’t ask me to work with her again.”

  Emily turns to look at him, a hurt expression on her face. “Why not?”

  Alex motions to her from head to toe. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to concentrate with you sitting that close? You’re gorgeous, Emily. Clearly, you know that. And while you might have been flirting with me to get David’s attention, it still got to me. So, since we’re finished here, I’m going home to take a cold shower.” He gives us a small wave and walks away.

  “Nice. You ruined the poor guy,” I say, standing up and gathering my things. “Why were you trying to make me jealous anyway?”

  “Were you jealous?” she asks, playing coy. “Didn’t notice.” She turns and walks back to her cubicle. “See you at home, roomie,” she adds as I head for the elevator.

  I stop for a six-pack on the way back to the apartment. My guess is Emily will have a date since it’s Friday night. I’ll need a few in me to watch her get dressed up for an evening with some other guy. About halfway home, I contemplate if the six-pack is going to be enough, but I can’t let myself turn into an alcoholic just because my roommate is sexy as hell. As long as she doesn’t go out with Alex or James or anyone else we work with, I should be able to get through this. I should really hole up in my room and wait until she leaves.