“And he’s a bit of stickler for keeping your shoes off in his apartment. So I would always make sure you take your shoes off at the door. Do not wear them around his place.”
“Shoes off, always. Got it.”
Or I’d never take my shoes off. Ever. Hell, I’d probably start showering in them.
“All right, G. I better go and make sure I’m not doing any of those things.”
“Good plan.”
After I hung up the phone, I slid on my oldest pair of Chucks and headed into the kitchen. I found a serving bowl, filled it to the brim with Trix and milk, and made my way into the living room where I proceeded to sprawl out on his couch and scroll through his DVR recordings.
ESPN SportsCenter… Goddammit, I can’t delete that.
America’s Next Top Model… Of course, keep.
The Late Late Show with James Corden… Keep.
Family Guy… Keep.
It’s Always Sunny… Keep.
The Voice… Fuck. Keep.
Well, this wasn’t going as planned. At. All. He had the same taste in television as I did.
“Honey, I’m home!” Thatch called as he came through the door. I heard his footfalls stop in the entryway while he was predictably taking his shoes off. “Where are you, Cass?”
“I’m on the couch. Bring the food in here, baby!” I yelled over my shoulder, adding my own endearment as a counterpart to his. If he wanted to crawl up my ass, I could do the same to him. I was Cassie fucking Phillips. I could handle whatever he threw my way.
Well, maybe not literal anal fisting. I don’t think I could handle that. His hands were big.
He strode into the living room with two bags of Chinese takeout in hand and stopped dead in his tracks when he found me on his sofa.
“Hi,” I greeted with a sugary smile as I took an equally sugary bite of his favorite cereal. “Sorry,” I continued over a mouthful, “I got too hungry waiting for you to get back.”
His brown eyes looked me over, and once they saw the shoe-covered foot resting on his pristine leather couch, I swore I saw his jaw tick a few times in response, but somehow, he managed to force his face into an annoyingly neutral expression.
I swallowed the bite and asked, “What’d ya get?”
“I hope you like Chinese. I would’ve gotten your favorite food, but I don’t know it.” He flashed a smirk in my direction as he set the bags on the coffee table and sat down beside me. “But I guess that’s how all serious, live-in relationships start out, right? Not knowing anything about each other. Seems normal to me,” he said with a shrug as he pulled cartons from the bag.
God, he was such a smartass, and I couldn’t deny that I enjoyed that aspect of his personality endlessly.
“Well, mystery is what makes a good relationship.” I set my serving bowl onto the table and started opening up the cartons. “At least I’ve heard that somewhere…like Cosmo or Georgie? I mean, look at them. They were catfishing each other, and it worked out pretty damn good.”
He chuckled at that. “Yeah, I’d say it worked out well for both of them.”
“Can I have the orange chicken, sweetie pie?” I asked, holding up the carton in his direction.
“Anything for you, honeybunch,” he said, flashing a wink. He grabbed the remote from my lap and turned on SportsCenter. As the sportscaster rolled through the Top Ten Highlights, Thatch leaned back on the couch and started to dig into a container of Kung Pao Chicken.
I made myself even more comfortable, stretching my legs out and placing my shoe-clad feet in his lap, but to my disappointment, he briefly glanced down and then his eyes went back to the TV as he continued eating his food. And even though I had eaten the equivalent of half a box of cereal, I couldn’t resist gorging on Chinese while we sat in silence for a while, just eating and watching SportsCenter. It was oddly comforting.
I didn’t realize he had finished his food until he was busy untying my laces and gently removing my shoes and socks. Next thing I knew, his big hands were massaging the soles of my feet while his gaze stayed fixated on the television.
The whole scene felt way too instinctive on his part. I honestly didn’t know if he even realized he was doing it, and that was probably why I found myself asking, “Have you ever had a roommate before?”
“Kline and I were roommates in college,” he answered without looking in my direction.
I removed my foot from his grip and tapped his thigh, urging his attention.
He looked at me, tilting his head in slight confusion.
“I meant roommate of the female persuasion.”
“No.” He shook his head. “I’ve never lived with a woman.”
Interesting. Maybe he had just had a lot of girlfriends? Because, yeah, his hands were real fucking good at giving massages.
“When was your last girlfriend?”
“It’s been a while,” he answered cryptically.
“A while? Like a few years?”
“I haven’t had a girlfriend since high school.”
“High school?” I questioned in shock.
He nodded. “Like I said, it’s been a while.”