Yours Anyways

Ethan

The Craigslist ad was simple. “Looking for a roommate, preferably male. Private room with shared kitchen, bathroom, and living room. $700 a month.”

I typed the number into my phone and, heart racing, pushed ‘call.’

I hated talking on the phone. Or maybe I just hated the unpredictability of who might be on the other end? Or what they might say. That was probably it right there. Too many calls with his name on the screen, never knowing if I was getting my boyfriend…or the demon wearing my boyfriend’s face.

Ex-boyfriend. That’s an important detail. Ale was my ex-boyfriend now, which was why I was looking for somewhere to live on an artist’s budget. $700 was at the top of my price range, but if it included utilities and internet, I could swing it.

The phone rang, and rang, and rang. Each second made my stomach tense up tighter and brought me closer to hanging up in panic. Which I almost did, actually, when I heard an unfamiliar male voice on the other end of the line. “Hello?”

I managed to stop my knee-jerk reaction and forced myself into my performance facade. “Hello! My name is Ethan, and I’m calling about your ad for a roommate. Is the room still available?”

“Yes, it is! I’ll be around this evening to let you look at it, if you want?”

Despite knowing the guy couldn’t see it, I nodded. “Yeah, that would work for me. I’m free all day today. If you shoot me a time and an address, I’ll be there.”

“Rad. Is this a cell? I can text you the address. And what about 7? Oh, I’m Jordan, by the way.” I couldn’t help chuckling. Call me crazy, but I liked this guy already. I confirmed that would be fine, and hung up with a smile on my face.

That was how I ended up standing in front of a cute little two bedroom townhouse on the edge of town. It was painted a soft yellow with white trim, and the lawn out front was immaculate. Flowers bloomed in the beds on either side of the porch. I felt warm just looking at the place.

Should I have brought someone with me to meet a stranger? Yeah, probably. But I didn’t think about it until I opened the white picket gate (I know, how stereotypical and adorable!) and followed the stepping stones to the front door. I knocked twice, straightening my spine and doing my best to look confident.

The door opened to reveal a smiling, hot as hell Jordan. His hair was dark and short, fading perfectly into sculpted cheeks and a chiseled jawline. He towered over me as he casually leaned on the doorframe with one arm. “You must be Ethan?”

I nodded and tried to act casual. “Yup, that’s me. Cu-er, nice place you’ve got. Looks like you take really good care of it.”

Jordan smirked and shrugged. “Can’t really take too much credit. I only moved in yesterday. But, bonus points, that means I haven’t had time to make it a mess yet. Why don’t you come on in?” He moved out of the doorway and I stepped inside, glancing around for any indication if this was a shoes-on or shoes-off situation.

“It’s not muddy outside. You can keep your shoes on, if you want. I’m not bothered either way.”

A mindreader, huh? I opted to keep them on, just to avoid the bother of having to put them back on when it was time to go. He closed the door and gestured to the living area just inside. “It came fully furnished, so you wouldn’t have to worry about that. The TV and consoles are mine, though.” I spotted the newest XBox on the TV stand, and a shelf of sports games.

Okay, jock. I could rock that. But not like that. I mean…I could, heck, I would, but every sign pointed to a straight man so far.

“Cool, that makes life easier.” I shot Jordan a thumbs-up and followed him farther into the house. The bedrooms and whatnot were nothing fancy, painted a light beige with generic carpet and tile flooring. Your typical rental stock. I made a mental note that the bed didn’t have sheets and the towels were all Jordan’s, and tried to picture if all my stuff would fit in my room.

It would be a tight fit. But I was sure Jordan didn’t want instruments and canvases vomited all over the common areas, so at least at first they needed to stay contained. Jordan led me back to the living room, where we sat down on the generic grey sectional. “I don’t have too many rules. No drugs, don’t get blackout drunk and leave puddles of vomit for me to step in, and if you’re going to have a parade of girls, keep the sexytimes in your bedroom. Oh, and don’t make me label all my food. I hate that. If you don’t have permission to eat it, don’t eat it.”

“Sounds like the fairly standard ‘be a decent person to live with’ bare minimum. I’m one hundred percent sure I can manage that.” I grinned cheekily at Jordan, who laughed and nodded. Damn, even his laugh was attractive! I shifted slightly to hide my growing (literally) embarrassment and kept talking to keep his attention away from it. “Have you had lots of applications? And when are you planning to make a decision?”

He shrugged and leaned back against the couch with both arms resting along the top of the cushions. “A handful. I have three more guys to show around tomorrow, so probably tomorrow afternoon?” I nodded, and he draped his foot over the opposite knee. “I do need to ask a few questions. Tell me a bit about yourself! What do you do for a living? Any criminal past I need to know about before I Google you and stalk your social media tonight?” He waggled his eyebrows at me, and I wished I had a pillow to covertly rest on my lap because boing.

“Uh…” My brain went blank from lack of blood. But I managed to redirect enough of it to cobble together some sort of answer. “I’m 28, Pisces, newly single, and I teach middle school band. If you find a criminal record for me, let me know, because I don’t know anything about it.”

Jordan smirked and shook his head slowly. “Pisces, huh? I dunno, that might be a dealbreaker.” He let a moment of silence linger, then chuckled. “I’ll have to ask someone who knows anything about horoscopes if I’m supposed to not get along with fish people. I think I’m a Scorpio. Possibly.”

I barely stopped myself from blurting out that we should be a perfect match, then. “Not a horoscope guy, got it. More of a…” I looked around the room, my eyes settling on the shelf of games, “Madden guy?”

“Yeah. When I manage to find any spare time. A teacher, huh? That’s good. Stable. Younger than me, but as long as you can pay your rent and won’t end up with the cops at the door, you pass.”

“Hell yeah!” I pumped my fist dramatically. “How about you? What do you do for a living?”

Jordan’s eyes never left me, sending warm shivers through my body. He watched me so intently that I felt like the most interesting thing in the room. It made me warm all over. “I work for the car dealership. I’m the guy who takes care of the titling and loan stuff. Super boring.” He picked at the cuff of his pants absently, trailing off as he continued to look me over.

I couldn’t help looking at him, too. His shirt rode up a little in the back, caught on the couch cushion as he sat. It revealed toned abs that matched his large biceps. Definitely a gym bro in his spare time. He could probably break me in half, honestly.

No, Ethan, get yourself together.

He finally glanced away to his watch, and his lips tightened. “Crap. I don’t mean to rush you out, but I’ve got somewhere to be in like fifteen minutes. Last-minute nonsense. It was great to meet you, Ethan. I’ll let you know tomorrow what I’ve decided.” He rose from the couch and offered me a hand to get up.

You can bet your ass I took it. His skin was warm and rough, and his grip was nothing short of powerful. He pulled me off the couch like I weighed no more than a feather. “I look forward to hearing back.” I followed him to the front door, wishing I could linger just a little longer.

But I’d have plenty of time to stare at him when we were roommates, right? I say when not if because I had to get those good vibes out there. For once in my dang life, something was going to go right.