“You mean Blaise and his brother?”
“Course.” He was a little smug as he was maneuvering us past the kitchen, past the other room where a bar was set up, and down the back hall into his primary bedroom.
A couple was kissing on the bed.
Zeke ordered, “Out. Now.”
“What?”
The woman scrambled up, hurrying out with the guy moving slower.
Zeke’s smile was polite as he said, “Have a nice time, just not in here.” The guy threw him a glare, but Zeke dropped the act, letting him see a hardness in him, and the guy hurried out. Zeke glanced my way. “Sorry. I’m all for people enjoying themselves, but one of the rules of partying, you don’t take shit when you want shit to happen.”
“I know how to handle drunk people.”
Zeke was shutting the door, locking it before he looked back, another eyebrow raising up. “I’m sure you do.”
“Those people weren’t drunk.”
“True, but sometimes I like being a dick to people who deserve it. Those two people, they deserved it.” He went to a bar that he had in his own room and poured me a drink. “Blaise informed me that maybe I shouldn’t have thrown a roommate-warming party on your first night here. Was he right?”
I opened my mouth to tell him no, of course Blaise wasn’t right, of course I’d love any party Zeke would throw at his own house, and then realized this was now my home too. Or where I’d be living until something changed, and I relaxed, maybe for the first time since our quickie in my bedroom. I took the glass he handed and went over to his patio door. He had his own sitting area. It was connected to the rest of the backyard, but it was behind a corner. Unless people wandered all the way over to a far corner of the yard, no one would know we were outside.
I opened the door, hearing the sounds of the party already muted from our little area and sat down on one of the lounge chairs. “Is this a party where I need to lock my room?”
Everything I owned was upstairs, still in boxes.
Zeke shook his head. “I went up and locked your door when people started arriving. Most will stick to the basement, main floor, outside, and garage. I’ve had parties before. Not many venture upstairs, and if they do, usually they see the cameras I have in place.”
“You have cameras?”
“Security. I meant to tell you, but we just haven’t gotten around to it. It’s in the main rooms and hallways. There’s none in the bedrooms or bathrooms.”
“Good to know.”
He was studying me again. Some of the party-Zeke was fading, and I was getting some of my Zeke. He said softly, “I can turn them off when you’re here. Turn them on at night or when we’re gone, if you want. I’ll give you the controls so you can do it yourself, if you want. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable. With the size of the house and because I travel a lot, it seemed smart to have them installed.”
That made me feel more comfortable. “You travel a lot?”
He nodded. “At times, or when I want. I can do stocks anywhere.”
That was true, and also, a whole new way of living that I wasn’t used to. “That’s nice.”
He frowned a little, and I knew he heard a note in my voice that I wished hadn’t slipped out. There was some envy, I couldn’t lie about that. Being wealthy had perks. Living was easier, or it seemed that way.
“Wha—” He laughed, a little hitch in there. “I’m sorry. I…” He got all the way serious. “I don’t know how to respond to that.”
“You don’t need to say anything. That’s a nice thing you can do, traveling anywhere and whenever you want. But it is a reminder of how different we are. I can’t do that. I have to stay where I have a job.” I took a sip of my drink, hissing from the vodka’s burn.
He nodded, still watching me in his way. “I remember that you were supposed to go to grad school at one point. What happened? Can I ask?”
I needed another drink for that conversation. “Life happened. That’s all.”
“Ava—”
I looked away, taking a long draw from the drink now. The burn was getting less and less. Thoughts were starting to come in, piling in, but the basic bottom line was: what was I doing? Moving into this giant house? Sleeping with my roommate? He was not in my league. He was so far out of it, skyrocketing out of it, and I knew, even though I’d been fooling myself out in the party, that there would be actual mean girls coming in at some point. Kit. There were others. There had to be. For Zeke to be who Zeke was, of course there’d be bitchy women coming into our lives. My new life? And they’d be there, looking down at me, because who were we all kidding here? I was the help.
I’d be more comfortable being hired to either tend bar at this party or be waitstaff.
A hard laugh rippled up my throat. “What are we doing here?”
“Oh Jesus. Are you serious?” he bit out.
I did a double take, not expecting that from him, and seeing my look, he leaned forward. His own face was hard. “Is this the part of our story where you realize you’re poor and I’m not and you decide this is going to go nowhere so you should move right back out?”
His words pierced me, but there was some truth in them. “It would make sense. Yeah…”
He cursed. “Fucking please.” He stood up, going back into the room and added to his drink.
“You’re mad? At me?”
He didn’t answer, but his eyes were trained right on me as he came back outside, sitting down in the chair beside me.
I asked, “Is this our first fight?” I was in the twilight zone. We’d only fucked twi—more than twice, more than three, four actually, but this was happening too fast. Way too fast. I should’ve known. I began to stand up.
“Where are you going?”
“Leaving. You’re right. I shouldn’t be here.”
His eyes were angry, blazing. “I didn’t say that. I said that’s what you were going to say.”
I couldn’t deny that. “It’s true. I mean, what is this? What are we doing? I didn’t even ask about rent. I have no idea if I can pay for it.”
“You really think I’d make you pay me rent?”
I flushed. “You better! I’m not a freeloader. I have never been one.”
“Maybe that’s part of the problem.”
I fell silent. My whole insides were twisted up. “What does that mean?”
He half-glared at me, taking a pull from his drink.
“Zeke. What does that mean?”
He still didn’t answer, taking another draw from his drink. Still glowering too.
“Zeke Allen, answer me right now.” I would’ve folded my arms over my chest if I didn’t have a drink, so I folded one arm across my chest and tried to look intimidating.
“I want you with me, and I’ll keep saying it as many times as you need me to hear it.” He sighed. “You look at me like that, and all I’m thinking is how I want to throw you on the bed, peel off your pants, and sink so far inside of you that you forget everything we were just talking about.”
My body got insta-hot. Like, heated to boiling hot.
And, well, damn.