Chapter Eight

Chase... the Greek god Chase Ruiz asked Lia to wash his underwear.

Yes, The man who is her almost brand new roommate, the man she barely known for a month, the man with no concept of personal privacy, asked her to wash his dirty underwear. And that is wrong in so many levels for Lia. She is not a housemaid, nor his mother away from home, nor a freaking dry cleaner! She did not sign up for any of this.

But of course, she will confess on thing: she did something bad. She did something very bad... to the man's undergarments; to pretty much of his entire laundry.

But is it her fault that Chase trusted her with his clothes? She is not a professional clothing cleaner. She barely have her own life together. Just because she tuck her shirts in and wear her socks on the correct side does not mean he should dump his house chores on her.

When she started her laundry on Saturday, her intention was not to spend it fretting over wash cycles, she just wanted to wash her dirty clothes quickly so she can have clean things to wear. She did not want to run into the source of her problem.

But she run into him, she did.

She was bent over with her head inside the washing machine - she was checking if all the clothes are clean enough - and suddenly, she looked between her own legs and saw another pair of legs standing right behind her.

The man didn't even bother to announce himself, or clear his throat to make his presence known. He pretty much just sneaked up on her while she was in the laundry nook. So, of course, she got startled and jumped slightly, hitting the back of her head on the interior of the washing machine.

Lia cursed out in pain and cradled the back of her head. And as she was trying to get out of the machine she was halfway in, in her bent over posture, she accidentally, unintentionally... backed into Chase.

Now, it's alright to back into people. It's totally normal. But not like this. Not when she was bent over awkwardly.

As soon as their body made contact, he let out a noise of surprise and went to grab her hips, perhaps to steady her or because it was a self-preservation reflex. Lia immediately straightened her back and jumped up and away as soon as her head was out of the washing machine.

"Oh my heavens!" Lia shouted as she looked at the man, embarrassment slowly wrapping around her like a blanket.

"I'm afraid it's just me," Chase answered with a steady expression, but there was a hint of surprise in his eyes. He did not look too fazed, which was the opposite of what she was sure she looked like. The man was shirtless, of course, and his right hand was still hovering above her waist.

"You freaking scared me!" she felt the need to yell at the man.

Chase looked at her wit contained puzzlement, "What were you doing inside the washing machine?"

Lia ignored his question, "What do you want, Chase?"

And this was the part where he had the audacity to ask her to do his laundry, "I was wondering, can you wash a few of my clothes with yours?"

"W-what? Why?"

"Because you're taking up the washing machine time this morning," Chase answered and shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not! You can wash yours right after I finish mine!"

"Come on, I would do it for you if you asked... I just have a few things."

"You are just being lazy!" she retorted in annoyance.

"So would you rather see me naked?"

At that moment, she imagined what it would be like to live with a nude Chase. As if it's not enough that she have to control her feelings around his almost naked self.

You don't know the struggle. You wouldn't be able to understand her struggle until you come home one day and you remember that you live with a super hot human being who you have to pretend to ignore as he lounge around the apartment in his boxers.

Alright, she would be lying if she said that she didn't get used to it. But the downfall is, she can't bring her friends over.

So, she made up her mind, she was going to wash the man's laundry. She can barely live with him shirtless; a fully naked Chase would just be debilitating.

All of these thoughts obviously caused her face to heat up and she had to clear her throat and mumbled, "No," to not wanting the man go butt-naked.

And Chase smirked.

"Stop it!" Lia warned him with a pointed finger. If this was not teasing, she doesn't know what is.

Chase obviously did not stop smirking. Instead, he walked towards her, in confident strides, closing in on her. Lia found herself backing up against the washing machine, trying to keep distance, but unable to keep their faces more than a few inches apart. The man is taller and larger than her - which is exactly her type - but even if he wasn't, his piercing eyes alone would have made her feel smaller and trapped - two things that she, admittedly, enjoy - She completely backed up against the washing machine, her eyes slightly wider and alert and she was fighting the urge to gulp, hoping that the man would not hear her racing heart.

The man raised his arm to reach for something in the shelf above the washing machine, but he did not break eye contact with her as he did it. Lia blinked when he handed her a box of laundry detergent.

"You can use this," he winked and backed away a couple of steps, giving her a little breathing room.

"I didn't say I was going to wash your laundry," she said feeling flustered and annoyed. She decided it, but she didn't tell him yet!

"Fine, but you might want to wash this," he said and hooked his thumbs around the waistband of his sweatpants.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" she yelled and held up her hand as she try to stop the man from what he was about to do. He was clearly trying to undress in front of her!

"Relax," Chase said, giving her a look of assurance but then proceeded to take his pants off anyway. He stood there, already shirtless and now pant less, but still clad in an underwear.

"Crap!" she cursed and looked away in embarrassment. She still have her self-consciousness and the man has none. And of course, he's well-endowed too.

Very well.

And he knows it.

Lia just rolled her eyes and turned her back away from the man. And because she didn't want to risk it, she gave in, "Fine! I will wash your damn clothes too!"

"Really?" she couldn't see the man's face, but she can tell that he was happy he won, "Thank you, sweetheart."

Sweetheart? Sweetheart?!

Chase had already left by the time she turned her head around to confront him.

He is such a manipulator!

The said that hot people get what they want but this guy was overshooting.

There has to be something she could do about this teasing and new name calling. But what? And does she honestly want it to stop? She does act shocked and all, but she also... like it.

She finally noticed the laundry basket Chase had left on the floor near the drying machine when he first came in and nearly scared her head off. She bent down to grab it and placed it on top of the washing machine, preparing herself to deal with a task she did not sign up for.

And out of curiosity, she leaned forward a little, and took an experimental whiff on one of the man's clothes. Surprisingly, she didn't smell anything appalling. This increased her level of confidence a little and allowed herself to reach into the pile of clothing to start picking out the white ones and throwing them into the washing machine with her clothes.

Accidentally, she dropped a sock of his on the floor and just as she bent down to pick it up, Chase peaked into the laundry nook again, making her jump up again. For a bulky man, his steps are very quiet. And why is he always walking in on her when she was bent over?

Lia noticed that he wasn't wearing anything, except for the small towel that is hanging dangerously around his waist. He was holding another pair of blue underwear in his left hand. "I think you should wash this too," he said with a wink and threw the underwear at her.

She flushed because he's in a fucking towel and he just threw his used undergarments at her and she, for some reason, grabbed it.

As the man turned to leave, he said, probably to himself, "You sure do like to bend over, don't you?"

And because she was thoroughly embarrassed, and out of her damn mind with frustration, she threw the underwear she balled up in her hands into the washing machine.

Together with the white garments...

Imagine the results, forty-five minutes later.

Yes, everything turned fucking blue. Crap! Holy crap!

Because Chase is not a complete jerk, he had previously offered to take the wet clothes out of the washing machine to put them in the dryer. She did not see his face when he first took them out but she can imagine his confusion.

"Lia... was this your creative intention?" the man told her while holding up a ball of clothing in his hand. She was in the kitchen preparing her lunch.

"What? What are you talking about?" she looked up at him and waited for him to elaborate.

Lia wasn't aware yet of what she had done. Chase untangled the piece of fabric in his hands and it turned out to be a pair of his formerly white, now bluish, boxer briefs.

Her jaw dropped open as the realization came crashing down on her.

"Oh... my..." she quickly let go of the chopping knife and ran to the washing machine. He trailed close behind her. She found the culprit very quickly. It was obviously the underwear Chase had thrown at her. "This is your fault!" she blamed him. She then immediately walked away because she was afraid of the man's reaction; she was worried he might ask for compensation or something. And he wouldn't be wrong to.

But the man did not mention it again.

And she couldn't help but smile a little when she later saw him wearing what should have been a white undershirt, that is now blue.

Thanks to her.

*****