5

{Ayah}

"So, what do you think about Mason's roommate?"

Ivory asks casually the minute he leaves.

I frown.

"Hm. Nothing, why?"

She shares a look with India.

"You don't think he's cute or anything?"

She prompts.

I roll my eyes.

"Mason said you guys didn't only talk about men."

I complain, folding my arms.

"We don't, we talk about other things too. Like space themed boxers."

Ivory snickers.

I can't help but giggle as well.

Theo's boxers were pretty cute.

"I don't know anything about him."

I say reluctantly when they don't say anything else.

"Wasn't he in the army? That's hot."

India says.

"Yeah, sure."

I am very distracted.

Mason left to go grab a few supplies that he coincidentally forgot at the store.

It was his idea to do something spontaneous and join this lame arts and crafts group, I can't believe he flaked on me like that!

"You and him would make a cute couple, you know."

Ivory hints.

I immediately scoff.

"No way. Why would you even say that?"

I lean forward and hiss.

Damnit, now the thought is in my head.

It is true that I don't know anything about Theo except that he's kind of weird. More like....stoic.

But he has a few great qualities. I think.

Mason sure does talk about him a lot so I'm guessing that he's a good friend.

Definitely so because Mason has a high bar when it comes to levels of friendship and Theo's at the top.

"What? It's just a thought."

India snickers.

I immediately narrow my eyes.

"Did Mason's weird ass put you guys up to this? I can't believe it!"

I fold my arms.

"Calm down, all he did was mention that you were single and Theo's single so..."

She trails off.

"All things considered, I didn't lie. You guys would look cute together."

Ivory shrugs, leaning back in her chair.

I sip my mimosa absentmindedly, cringing at the memory of the last man I let into my head.

Yeah, that didn't end well.

"Yeah, I don't think I'm going to get caught up in...that."

Yet I've already allowed myself to start thinking about it.

I think Theo has great potential to at least be a good guy. Not that I think he's a bad guy or anything, he's just...Theo. There's no other way to explain it.

"So if he walked in here right now and kissed you, how would you react?"

Ivory asks.

I hesitate.

"It wouldn't happen-"

Mason chooses that moment to walk in.

"Hey ladies. Sorry it took so long, there was a line circling the store."

He smiles sheepishly.

I narrow my eyes at a certain hickey that he didn't leave with.

A long line, my ass.

He probably went to go kiss up on the daycare teacher while I was left with the task that's a lot less fun.

"Yeah, whatever. Let's paint so I can hurry up and go to sleep."

I grumble.

Sleeping is my favorite thing to do, after all.

I run into Theo in the kitchen again.

The minute I see him, I can't help but blush.

Damnit, I should have never entertained Ivory and India.

Or should I call them snakes?

How dare they point out how attractive he is?

It was easy to look past at first but now it's hard not to notice how cute his nose is.

And how sexy he looks with his little stubble.

Wait a minute, he actually looks a little different with his hair cut-

"What, you never seen a man eat an orange before?"

He side eyes me suspiciously from by the fridge.

He's all sweaty.

Oh no. Triple combo.

He must have just came back from the gym.

I catch my breath, more ice the last thing on my mind.

"Leave me alone."

I grumble, averting my eyes.

"What's wrong, tired of Molly and Polly already?"

He snickers, digging around in the fridge.

"It's India and Ivory, smartass."

I roll my eyes.

"Isn't that what I said?"

"Don't you have something better to do than be annoying?"

I huff, folding my arms.

"You're one to talk."

He grumbles, not making a move to get out of the way.

I glare.

"Me? How dare you!?....Ooh, let me calm down. I'm not tryna pitch a hissy fit. Just move."

I take a deep breath.

He turns and stares.

I pause.

"A hissy fit?"

He snickers.

I glare, feeling my face get all hot.

I know he's not laughing in my face!

"Stop it."

I warn.

"What's worse than a hissy fit? A pouty fight?"

He narrows his eyes.

"You're an asshole."

I huff, turning.

Forget the ice.

I feel like an idiot now, why would I like him even for a second?

I knew that was unreasonable thinking, he's annoying and an asshole.

The hot ones always are.

"Ayah, it was a joke."

He calls after me.

I ignore him completely, my pace quickening.

Yeah, I think I'll just start ignoring him completely. I think that's for the best.

.

.

.

{Theo}

I grumble to myself, enjoying my cup of beer while Mason sneaks off with his most recent fling.

I knew I shouldn't have come, everybody here looks sketchy.

Then again, most of the bars downtown town are filled with sketchy people.

"Hey, Theo. What's up, buddy?"

I look up as Gary Wills, an old friend of Mason's, plops down in the stool next to mine.

"Oh, hey Gary. What's up?"

I ask even though I could care less.

"What's up with me? Dude, I heard that you got your diploma and you finally got your own place. How's that been?"

He asks conversationally.

"Oh, yeah it's been pretty nice. Mason's a pretty good roommate, I didn't expect things to be going so well."

I sigh, finishing off my drink.

"Uh huh."

He hums, watching the bartender refill.

"Apparently so, I heard that he always has his hot friends over there."

I raise an eyebrow.

"Oh my God yeah, one day I woke up looking an absolutely mess and then I go downstairs to get some breakfast and then boom. Just...girls."

I try not to roll my eyes at just the thought.

We talked about it but of course he just acted like he didn't know what the problem was.

What an idiot.

"No way. Maybe I should start coming over more."

Yeah, that's an immediate no.

"Yeah, we should do something one of these days."

I say just like I always do.

I have no intention on hanging out with him, all he does is go around town chasing girls.

"Oh man. You don't know how lucky you are to see Ayah so often. She's so cool."

He takes a sip of his drink.

I scoff.

Of course.

Ayah isn't even here yet she's the topic of focus.

"Cool. Yeah, right."

I grumble.

"You don't think so?"

He questions.

I just shrug.

I don't know what to think about Ayah, interactions with her are weird.

But I guess she is pretty cool since almost every one of Mason's friends think so and they rarely agree on anything.

Plus Mason thinks so.

Maybe she's just the best and I'm the only one not seeing it.

...Well, I can kind of see it.

She is rather pretty.

And funny, sometimes.

Okay, I can see it.

But that doesn't mean I like it.

"That's rare. Almost all the guys like her. Even Ruben and he has a kid on the way."

He says absentmindedly.

"Now that's just wrong."

I grumble.

"I don't know, I think there's just something about a woman who turns guys down that makes him go crazy."

He snickers.

"Hey, guys. Whatcha talking about?"

I roll my eyes as Mason comes staggering up, reeking of beer and cheap perfume.

"Wow, how sleazy could you get? In a public bathroom, really?"

I hiss, reluctantly standing up.

"I better get him home."

I sigh, already dreading the walk to the car.

More like me dragging him to the car.

"I'll catch up with you guys later!"

Mason is basically friends with everybody he runs into but for some miraculous reason, I am easily able to keep up with all of them.

"So since you're drunk, why don't you tell me what you're planning on getting me for Christmas?"

I mutter on the drive to the grocery store.

Mason shops reasonably when he's drunk. I knew the minute we got drunk for the first time in 8th grade and ended up at the corner store with 30 dollars and came back with twice as many snacks.

I wasn't too surprised though, he's a genius.

"PlayStation 5."

He says immediately.

I grin.

He also has no filter. Which means he's an open book when he's wasted.

I'll give it to him though, not a lot of people stay in their right mind when they are hammered. All he does is sit there, calculating and spilling secrets.

I don't know though, I like that side of him. It's very interesting to watch.

"That is very thoughtful but you shouldn't. I wouldn't even have anybody to play with, almost nobody has one of those."

I say quietly.

"Mike does."

I roll my eyes.

Of course he already met our only neighbor. I don't like Mike, he comes off as very self centered and snobby.

"Yeah, I'm fine with just some socks or something. Or 2K21."

I sigh, parking.

"Ayah is getting you something too but I promised her I wouldn't tell you."

He doesn't blink.

I pause.

How on Earth did she get him to keep a secret even when he's drunk like that?

I've been trying for years!

"That's too bad. I didn't know she was getting me something, how am I supposed to get her something equally valuable if I don't know?"

I say carefully.

I wouldn't want him to know exactly how much I am panicking.

What if she gets me something really nice? I tend to leave shopping for other people to Mason.

"You could just give her a kiss."

He snickers.

I scowl.

"Stop it."

I warn immediately.

He leans back in his seat and rolls his eyes.

"Fine. You are literally dumb as hell. If I had a girl that fine liking me, I wouldn't just push her away and make fun of her accent."

He grumbles.

"First of all, she doesn't like me. And second of all, it was just a little joke, I wasn't making fun of her!"

"I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this but you make shitty jokes, Theo."

He doesn't blink.

I scowl.

I make great jokes, people are just too dumb to get them.