Room For One by Cooper West

Author:Cooper West [West, Cooper]
Language: eng
Format: epub

TOBY was no stranger to one-night stands, although admittedly he’d only had a few over the years since the fallout with Alan. Still, he knew that the morning after was always awkward enough that it was better to be long gone before morning hit the situation. He had never hooked up with someone at his own house before, though, much less one of his own tenants, so he figured he was in for some first class denial-avoidance behavior from David that day.

He was not prepared for the loud noise.

“What the fuck…” He stumbled into the hall where Steff was standing, looking shell shocked, her coffee mug sloshing in her hands.

“I’m not going back in there,” Steff said, pointing at the kitchen then disappearing like a ghost into her room, slamming the door behind her. Toby cringed at that, shuddering as another loud bang came from the kitchen along with nerve-wracking noises of dishes being… well, he was not sure, actually. Tortured, maybe.

Pulling his robe tight, he took a deep breath and went to face the music.

“You’re waking up the whole house.”

David did not even look at him as he practically tossed the stew pot into the cabinet. “Oh? I woke you? Sorry.”

Toby blinked and tried to process what was going on. David continued to clean the kitchen with extreme prejudice.

“Did I miss something?”

David stopped, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. “Apparently not.”

“I’m getting coffee.” Toby shouldered past him to the coffee pot, ignoring David’s tantrum as he poured a cup and took a deep, painful swallow of the steaming hot liquid. “So this is about last night.”

“I’m surprised you even brought it up.” David started scouring the countertop.

“Well, you are kind of making it into an issue.”

“Sorry.” David gritted his teeth. Sighing, Toby walked out and went back to bed. It was his basic defense mechanism when things went to hell and he didn’t know why, but he also knew it was only a short-term reprieve.

It was not as if he regretted having sex, or even having sex with David. Toby liked him a lot, and he seemed to put a lot of effort into being a good tenant and a nice guy. He sat on the edge of his bed considering this, when there was a knock on the door.

“Go ’way!”

“Toby, open.” Steff sighed. Toby mumbled at her to come in. It was rare that anyone tried to cross the sacred boundary of his bedroom door, and Toby respected Steff for putting forth the effort.

Steff closed the door behind her and sat down on the bed. She was still clutching her coffee cup, so they drank in silence for a bit as the kitchen noises started dying down.

“David’s a nice guy,” Steff said finally, giving Toby a studied look.

“Yes yes yes, we had sex. I was tired and we were drinking and he made dinner and we had sex.”

Steff nodded. “I figured. I’ve lived with you for three years. I knew something was up when the couch was a disaster and your boxers were on the rocking chair.

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