His reaction to her lack of clothes was a dead giveaway that he’d been kidding himself. He collapsed onto the living room couch, taking a few minutes to steady himself and reboot his brain. He’d always thought Rose was beautiful, but he’d never considered her sexy. Yet today, her outfit combined with her defiant attitude made her irresistible. He needed to know what was going on to make her act so strangely. As if pulled by an invisible rope, Tyler got to his feet and followed Rose up the stairs.
His phone remained forgotten and lonely on the kitchen table, Georgiana’s face surfacing on the screen yet again.
***
At the top of the stairs, Tyler looked toward Rose’s room. She’d left the door half-open. Was it an invitation?
He approached, padding quietly across the carpet, and peeked inside. Rose was lying on the bed, propped on a mound of pillows with her legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. She was playing with her phone. To his delight, she hadn’t changed, or put on a sweater. His Rose, after being caught in mini shorts, would be covered head-to-toe by now. Something was definitely up with her.
Tyler knocked on the door and stepped inside without waiting for permission.
“Oh,” she said, surprised. “I thought you’d be downstairs making peace with Georgiana.”
“What’s up with the shorts?” he asked.
She looked down at herself. “I was behind with my laundry, and this was the only clean set left.”
“Weren’t you against Victoria’s Secret and their objectification of women?” Tyler retorted.
“I didn’t buy them.” Rose shrugged. “They were a present from Marcus.”
She said it casually, but he knew her well. He could detect the lingering sadness hidden behind that simple response. As a loyal friend, he ought to feel sorry for the abrupt way her relationship with Marcus had ended. Instead, Tyler couldn’t help but be relieved that Marcus had moved to LA and out of their lives for good. But now a new emotion had entered the mix—a fierce jealousy he’d never experienced before. He was jealous that Rose would wear something so not like herself for Marcus.
Tyler sat on the bed next to her. He took her right foot into his left hand, placed it in his lap, and started massaging her ankle. Time to switch on the charm and make Rose talk.
Three
Rose
Rose was extremely aware of Tyler’s thumb swirling around her ankle. How long had it been since he’d tried to sleep with her? Tyler had been “well-behaved” since that stupid night two years ago when she’d refused him in no uncertain terms. She almost flinched at the memory. At the time, she’d been so taken with Marcus that she’d been harsh with her best friend, treating him with contempt—and not in their usual playful way. Rose hoped Tyler had been drunk enough not to remember how badly she’d turned him down. But given that he hadn’t tried anything ever since, not even after her breakup, some of it must’ve sunk in. Before that night, his cute, double-meaning jokes and her constant turning him down had let Rose believe she and Tyler weren’t together by her choice. That if she only wanted, she could be his girlfriend. That he’d be different for her. But not anymore.
A tingle rose up her legs from where Tyler touched her with the tips of his fingers. It had been easier to say no to Tyler when he was hitting on her once a week. But now she was out of practice and vulnerable. Especially when he was standing in her room looking impossibly hot in sweatpants and nothing else. Rose’s gaze traveled over his naked chest and down to his sculpted stomach before she forced herself to adopt a neck-and-above only view policy. Not that staring at his face helped. With messy light brown hair, gray eyes, and lips to die for, Tyler was gorgeous. And he knew it.
“So, what’s up with Georgiana?” Rose put her phone down and looked at Tyler expectantly.
“Oh, nothing,” he replied.
“It must’ve been something if she felt the need to call you ten times on a Saturday morning.”
“I’ve already told you it was nothing.”
“How could she be sorry about nothing?”
“Why do you have to always insist so much when it comes to Georgiana?”
“And why are you so adamant about not telling me? You used to tell me everything!”
“I still do.”
“No, you don’t.”
Tyler’s shoulder tensed and his grip on her feet tightened. “I can’t stand the two of you bickering anymore. I’m always caught in the middle.”
“I’ve never said anything bad about Georgiana,” Rose said, feeling her cheeks warm up. “But apparently she doesn’t have a problem talking behind my back.”
Tyler held her gaze for a few seconds before looking at the floor, embarrassed.
Comprehension dawned. “The argument, it was about me, wasn’t it?” Rose said, leaning forward. She folded her legs, her ankle slipping away from Tyler’s grip. “Why does she hate me so much?”
“Don’t be melodramatic. She’s just jealous, that’s all.”
“Why am I the only friend she’s jealous about? Especially when I’m the only one you haven’t slept with.”
“Well, you’re the only friend who lives with me. And Georgiana has this theory: the fact we haven’t slept together is more meaningful than if we had. She actually said she wished we’d done it before I met her and got over it!”
“And what exactly makes Georgiana think sleeping with me would make you get over us?”
“Would it?” Tyler asked with a hint of flirtation. He raised one eyebrow and smirked, making one of his cutest, mischievous faces.
“It doesn’t matter. We’re not going to test it.” Rose kept her sulky frown. “So, what was she going on about this time?”
Tyler released a breath. “Georgiana asked me when you were planning on moving out.”
Rose shot out of the bed as if it were made of burning coals. “I didn’t know I’d overstayed my welcome,” she spat. It was just like Georgiana to stick her posh nose into Rose’s life, where it didn’t belong.
True, Rose was living in Tyler’s swanky apartment without paying any rent. But only because Tyler didn’t let her pay her share. To compensate, Rose did what she could. She bought most of the groceries and paid all the bills. Even though she and Tyler had never spoken about it, she thought he was fine with their arrangement. Georgiana had already made a snarky comment once to her: “How nice it must be to live rent-free in such a nice neighborhood.” Rose could only imagine what other things along that line she was telling Tyler. The thought made her livid.
“I can start packing immediately.” Rose moved to grab some discarded clothes from a chair.
“Rose, will you calm down?” Tyler said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her onto his lap. “I’ve told Georgiana to piss off.”
“You know I feel guilty about not paying rent,” she protested, trying to ignore the fact that she was sitting on top of him and they were both half-naked.