Chapter 7: Roommates

"Hope you're hungry. We grabbed pizza and enough snacks to feed twelve armies." Danny took her hand, lacing their fingers.

"I'm starving," Carissa said and rubbed her empty stomach. She hadn't eaten much today. "So, what're the plans for tonight?"

Garrett shrugged. "Our roommate has a massive collection of party games. We can play some of those or just chill and watch movies."

"Where are these mysterious roommates of yours?" Tiffany took the paper plate Garrett held out to her, flipped open a pizza box, and flopped two slices onto her plate.

"Still sleeping." Danny handed Carissa a plate.

"It's after five," Carissa said.

Danny shrugged. "I don't know, but who cares. If they sleep all day, they'll be easy to live with." He gave Garrett a high five.

Carissa shook her head, grabbed three slices of gooey cheese and pepperoni pizza, and wiped her fingertips on her jeans. She could hear her mother's voice in her head, scolding her for not using a napkin.

"Aw, thanks, sis." Cory snatched the plate from her grasp.

"Hey!" She reached for him, but he dodged her hand and moved into the living room.

He picked up a slice of pizza and took a large bite, taunting her as he did. "Mmm, so good," he said around a mouthful of food. "You should really get yourself some."

"You know I'm going to kill you in your sleep, right?" she said and took another paper plate from the stack on the end of the kitchen island.

"Promises, promises." He sank down into a chair and set his plate on the coffee table that he then proceeded to drag across the floor until it was closer to him. "Hey, waitress." He snapped his fingers. "Drink."

Carissa narrowed her eyes, but she silently went to the fridge and found a can of soda. She turned and hurled it at her brother. Tiffany gasped while Danny and Garrett laughed, their reaction only encouraging her more.

Cory caught the can and cursed. He set the can on the coffee table and gave her an incredulous look.

"Go on. Open it," she taunted. "I dare you."

"No, don't," Garrett said, eyes wide. "I am not cleaning up that mess."

"Yeah, me either," Danny said.

"Good one, sis. Better watch your back," Cory said, a devilish glint in his expression.

Bantering and harassing her brother was so normal, and for the first time since arriving, she relaxed. Maybe tonight would be like old times with all of them hanging out, laughing and teasing one another. She longed for those simpler times, back before she and Danny both made mistakes that forever altered their relationship.

"Do you have any good movies to watch, or are they all shoot 'em up car chases?" Tiffany asked. She loathed action movies, which was a running joke in their group of friends, especially when their group consisted of more guys than girls.

"If we're watching chick flicks, I'm outta here," Cory said.

Carissa sat on the couch and set her plate on the coffee table. Danny sat beside her, Garrett on his other side. Tiffany settled cross-legged on the floor on the opposite side of the coffee table.

"I vote for The Notebook," Carissa said, shooting her brother a mocking grin.

"Of course you do." Cory rolled his eyes.

"What about a comedy?" Garrett suggested.

Carissa took a bite of her pizza and tuned out of the conversation for a moment. She ate an entire slice in record time, then reached for her second. Her stomach no longer felt like it would eat itself, and her mood improved a little more.

"We could always watch a scary movie," Carissa said. She popped the top on her soda and took a sip.

Garrett groaned. "What is your obsession with horror?"

"I don't have an obsession," she said, taking another drink and setting the can back down. "It's fun to turn off all the lights and get scared."

"I have no idea how we're related," Cory grumbled. He hated scary movies almost as much as Tiffany hated action flicks.

Needless to say, movie night was a rare occurrence because they could never agree on what to watch. They'd spend too much time arguing about it, one of them would get frustrated, and then they'd give up on the idea. Looked like tonight wouldn't be any different. That was disappointing. Carissa had been looking forward to curling up next to Danny and not doing much of anything.

One of the bedroom doors opened, and Carissa glanced up. A guy dressed in blue plaid pajama pants and a white T-shirt stood in the doorway. His dark, curly hair was messy from sleep, and the hint of a five o'clock shadow covered his chin.

"I smell food," he said.

Garrett laughed. "Pizza's on the counter. Help yourself."

The guy nodded and shuffled into the kitchen, seemingly oblivious to the fact that there were extra people in his house. Or he simply didn't care. Carissa glanced at Danny, but he was too focused on his food to notice.

Plate piled with what had to be half a pizza, the guy joined them in the living room. "Hey, I'm Jeremy," he said with a wave.

"Shit. Sorry." Garrett shook his head. "That's Jeremy, one of our roommates. Jeremy, this is Cory, Carissa, and Tiffany." He pointed to each of them in turn. "They're good friends of mine."

Danny draped his arm around Carissa's shoulder. "And she's my girlfriend." His tone was friendly, but the way he laid claim to her like that grated on her nerves.

She bit her tongue so she wouldn't say anything that could cause an argument, then stood and gathered her now empty plate. Tiffany held out her empty plate, and Carissa took it. She dumped both into the kitchen trash before washing her hands in the sink.

Maybe she could convince Danny to go up to his room so they could watch TV alone and talk. Though she wasn't really positive what she wanted to talk about. She sure as hell wasn't going to come clean about what she'd done last night.

The fleeting thought of that had her heart fluttering. She ran her fingers over her lips, the memory of Bradley's mouth on hers so vivid in her mind. The perfect amount of pressure, the warmth of his breath, the way his tongue tangled with hers. . .

"You seem a little out of it tonight." Danny came up behind her, slipped his arms around her stomach, and nuzzled her neck. "Everything okay?"

She was already sick of people asking her that question. "Yeah, just tired. It's been a long few days."

"Tell me about it." Danny gently spun her so she was facing him. "If you're not up for hanging with everyone, we can do something else."

Based on the way his voice dropped and his eyes darkened, she knew his definition of "something else" meant sex. Granted, she hadn't been intimate with him, or anyone else, in months, but she really wasn't in the mood tonight.

"I'm pretty sure our friends would be upset if we ditched them," she said and rested her arms on his shoulders, her hands clasped behind his neck.

"They'd get over it." He leaned over and teased her lips with an almost kiss.

That used to drive her wild, but right now, it just annoyed her. What was wrong with her tonight? Maybe there was something more than mere tiredness weighing on her. She had no idea what, though, and her ability for self-reflection was non-existent right now.

"Ah, he is alive," Jeremy said.

Carissa peered around Danny to see who Jeremy was talking to, and her gaze collided with Bradley's. Her heart dropped to her feet, and her stomach wasn't far behind. Oh, shit.