Fell In Love With My Roomy Chapter 141

"Did you want to stay longer?" Kent asks as we step into his car, and I smile, closing the door and putting my seatbelt on.

"No, we've been there for hours," I mumble, safely tucking my birthday card into my coat's inner pocket. "If we stay longer, we're staying for dinner."

Time with my family was amazing, it meant the world to me, and I was thankful I had it so close to my birthday.

"Your parents are really cool," he admits, turning on the car and shifting it into drive.

"No, they really aren't," I snort. "Did you miss the part where mom pulled out my baby album and sang my favorite lullaby? To all of us?" I ask, and he chuckles. "Or my dad talking about his Master's thesis? His theoretical chemistry Master's thesis?"

"You know what I mean," he defends. "They're...people. Like real, normal, kind people who care about everyone."

"I guess they have that going for them, huh?" I laugh, and he smiles. "I can't believe that check, that's not like them. They don't just hand out money to me, they never have."

"That was nice," he nods. "You...you think you'll keep working at the pool then?"

"Yeah, I'll need to work somewhere come the summer anyway," I shrug. "Probably just one shift casually here or there...but they have me as a supervisor so I don't know how that's going to work," I mumble.

At the end of February, my leave was over, and my requested time was done. I was supposed to go back to work, but I was debating what to do about that.

"Do you want to go back?"

"Fuck no, who wants to work somewhere that's always hot and smells like chlorine," I answer, and he smirks a bit. "But the money's good, and I know how to do it."

In truth, I still wasn't sure I was over what had happened in the fall. Doing a big rescue like that and watching someone's life flash in and out of their eyes had stuck with me. It made me consider changing my role at the pool or not going back altogether.

"Take it as it comes, don't stress over it," he whispers, reaching for my hand, and I sigh, lacing my fingers through his.

He was right, I had some time to decide. Besides, this wasn't the time to get all worked up about stupid things.

"Was it nice to see them?" He asks, changing the subject, and I nod.

"It was," I whisper. "I love them, and I like being near my family, it's...it's the biggest reason I want to stay at Brown," I shrug. "Or, at least it used to be. Now you're tied."

"I moved up a spot?" He laughs, and I nudge him. "I'm sure you'll get it; they fucking love you in that building, Juls. Every time I walk you there or back, some teacher is eating out of your hand."

"Do you really think that?" I laugh, and he nods.

"I do," he shrugs. "It's the weekend; don't think about grad school right now."

"Alright, you've talked me into it," I chuckle, and he smiles. We're about ten minutes from our place, and I sigh, knowing there was lots of opportunity. "What if we went to a bar for dinner?" I suggest. "You and me, live music, a beer?"

This look crosses his face, almost a nervous one, and I blink, furrowing my eyebrows. What was the matter with that?

"S-sure... I just... I don't have my wallet. Let's stop by the house."

"Okay," I snort, rolling my eyes at his strange behavior.

We pull into the driveway shortly after, and I pull out my phone, waiting for him to open his door and go inside. But he just sits there, looking at me.

"What?" I ask. "I'll wait here, no use in us both going in there if you just need to get one thing."

"No-um, you...you should come in," he explains.

"Why?"

"So you can put on a different outfit to go out," he counters, and I narrow my eyes.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" I ask carefully, and his eyes shoot wide. "I don't have to put on some low-cut, tight outfit for a bar."

"No, no. I just meant if you want to," he says, putting his hands out. "You look great, you always look great."

"Is there something wrong?" I ask, and he clears his throat, shaking his head. "So then what is it?"

"Would you just come inside with me? I'm going to be a few minutes anyway; this way you could be in the warm apartment."

"Okay!" I surrender, undoing my seatbelt. When did he get clingy like this? "I'll come! Would that make you happy?"

"Yes, that would make me extremely happy," he says, opening his door, and I roll my eyes, getting out of the Jeep.

I don't know what he's talking about; I'm way colder out here than in the car. And what was that comment on changing my clothes? Does he not like the way I'm dressed?

He unlocks the door, and I sigh, stepping into the dark apartment with him. I'm still not sure what we're doing here, and when I glance down, I see his wallet in his back jeans pocket.

"Baby, you have your wallet," I sigh, running a hand through my hair. "Look, if you don't want to go out."

"Surprise!" I hear a chorus of people yell, and all at once the apartment goes crazy. The lights turn on, music starts to play, and people run out from all sorts of hiding places. I just stand in shock, looking at the well-decorated apartment.

"Happy birthday," Kent whispers, leaning in next to my ear and breaking my trance. I look up at him, and he has a smug grin, one that almost said, 'you and your stubbornness weren't going to ruin this one!' "Did you do this?" I whisper, and he shrugs.

"Actually, I just helped," he admits. "It was all-"

"Happy Birthday!!" Abby yells, running over and crushing me with a hug, and I laugh. "A Taylor Swift birthday can never go uncelebrated."

"Thank you," I sigh. "This is so nice."

There were a few people, not way too many for it to be fun, but it was my roommates, Abby, Ellis, and Sydney, some of my friends from my classes.

"I seriously thought you had more friends than this, Juls; I was planning an all-out rager," Abby explains, and I roll my eyes. "But, this is pretty good too," she shrugs, and I chuckle.

"I have you; how many more friends do I really need?" I ask, and she pouts out her bottom lip.

"Did we really surprise you?" She asks. "Or did Kent give it all away," she sighs, looking up at him, and he scoffs.

"No, but it was pretty damn hard to get her in here," he mumbles, and I laugh a bit to myself. "Juls is tough to pull the rug out from under."

"I like to nail down all of my rugs, thank you very much," I counter, crossing my arms, and he chuckles, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. I'd never had a surprise party before; I hadn't even really celebrated my birthday in recent years. But this was a welcome change. "Hey, Juls!" Kyle calls. "We're getting a beer; you want one?"

"Sure!" I call, and I watch Mark and Kyle grab a few cans from the fridge. This was almost an overwhelming surprise; I can't believe I had no idea.

"We're doing gifts and cake here, then we'll all grab late dinner and go to a bar," Abby says, informing me of her schedule.

"She even bought you a trashy 'birthday girl' tiara at the store today," Mark chuckles, passing Kent and me a beer.

"Great," I mumble, pulling open the tab on top of my can.

"This is going to be so fun; you know how many people will buy you a drink just because it's your birthday?"

"You realize my birthday's tomorrow, right?"

"It's also a Sunday tomorrow; we're not doing a bender on that," Abby insists, shaking her head. "There's a science here, Juls."

And a science it was, there was a correct time for every single step of my birthday. Eating cake, opening gifts from people, including Kyle's gift, which was a Smirnoff Ice that he claimed I had to drink right there on the spot.

It was gross.

Then people started to clear out who weren't my close friends. That was when I realized that for the first time in years... I had new close friends. These weren't just my roommates; they were my friends and boyfriend. In just a few months my life had changed completely. My twenty-first birthday was me and mom drinking a bottle of wine on our couch, now I had this. Real friends my own age. And that was pretty damn cool. "Okay, let's get ready to head out in say...twenty minutes?" Abby says. "I'll tidy up a bit, give you time to grab your purse and stuff if you want."

Kent goes to pick up some garbage from the living room when I catch his wrist, dragging him down the hall to my room.

"What? What's up?" He asks, keeping up with my fast walking. I bring him into my room, pushing him to sit down on my desk chair, and he raises his eyebrows. "If you're thinking sex–"

"I'm not," I laugh, rolling my eyes and shutting my door. "Twenty minutes? For sex?" I chuckle, shaking my head. "Ambitious."

"Well, you seemed like you were on a mission." He shrugs. "What's up then?"

"Thought you could give input on an outfit," I whisper, and he blinks. "Wouldn't you rather have Abby? I'll go get her if you want."

"No," I sigh, shaking my head and walking to the chair. "I want yours," I whisper, pressing my lips to his slowly, and he sits up a bit straighter. "You had all sorts of tips in the car."

"Oh come on, you know I was just messing around to get you to come inside," he mumbles, and I shrug.

"I'll wear whatever you want," I whisper, and I watch the Adam's apple bob in his throat.

"It's your birthday, wear what you want."

"No, I want you to tell me," I shrug. "Because you'll be the one taking it off later," I add, pressing another ghost of a kiss over his lips, and then I walk back to my closet, watching him nearly fall out of the chair after me.

"I don't know what I've done to you," he mumbles. "But I think it's a good thing."

"I think so, too," I admit, feeling my cheeks flush.

"Then I only want you to wear one thing for me," he whispers, slowly rising from the chair and walking over to the top drawer of my dresser. I immediately get nervous when I realize he's going through my underwear drawer.

He pulls out the ones we bought in New York, closing the drawer again and passing me the black lacy garments.

"What you put on top of that is up to you," he whispers, kissing my cheek, and my eyes widen. "Surprise me with the rest," he tells me and cups my face, leaning down to give me a proper kiss. My knees nearly buckle, and he pulls back, giving me a smug grin and leaves quietly like he didn't just choose my underwear for me.

I roll my eyes and select a short black skirt from the rail of my closet. It was hard to choose something that went with this bra; it was dark, and a lot of my tops didn't need a bra. After a while, I dig a deep-cut brown tank top out of my closet and put it on, not thinking much about it.

I get some last-minute makeup on and then hustle back to the main room. "I'm ready, we can go whenever," I sigh, watching Mark toss the last few cans into a trash bag.

"I'll get us a car," Kent announces, getting out his phone, but I quickly watch his eyes skirt down my legs before they focus on the task at hand.