Chapter 4

FOUR

RORY

A couple of hours later I'm almost completely unpacked, including the sheets and comforter for the twin sized bed and getting my toiletries in the bathroom down the hall. I haven't heard or seen Parker since he left my room, but when I make my way out to the kitchen to grab a chair so I can hang my curtains, I see him sitting on the couch in the living room with a book in one hand and an apple in the other. He takes a huge bite, and I flinch when I hear him crunching loudly.

As I reach for the chair I second guess myself and turn to him instead. Maybe I should extend an olive branch. "Hey, you busy?" I ask, and he looks up at me so fast I wonder if he was waiting for me to talk to him.

"Nope. You need something?" God, he's so eager it's kind of adorable.

"I uh," I clear my throat as he sits on the edge of the sofa, his book and apple discarded on the coffee table as he stares at me, waiting. Jesus, if he was a dog his tail would be wagging and his tongue would be sticking out. "I could use some help getting the curtains up in my room. I can't reach."

His eyes light up as he stands. "You got it, little dude." He claps me on the shoulder and heads down the hall. The rod was already up. I just need to get the curtains on it and put it back up.

He spies the navy blue curtains on the bed and gestures. "This them?"

I nod, hands in my pockets. He takes the rod off without even stretching and my dick twitches when I get a really nice view of both his strong back and his tight ass. Jesus, how does he eat all those cupcakes and stay in the kind of shape he's in?

I'm hating myself for not finishing that blow job. His cock was delicious and felt so good in my mouth. Damn Zach.

I hold one end of the rod and slide a curtain on while he does that same to the other end, then we reattach the knobs at the end, before he slides it back in the slots above the window.

"It's looking good in here," he says, his gaze darting around the small room.

"Thank you," I say, flushing.

"You hungry? I've got dinner in the oven." His eyes are sparkling and I can't believe how excited he is about the idea of something so simple as eating a meal with me. I can't believe he wants to be around me at all after I left him with blue balls.

"Uh, I'll grab something for myself, but thanks, anyway," I tell him. He looks so sad I want to cry but I quickly add, "Thanks for helping me with the curtains. I hate heights, so not having to stand on a chair was really nice."

He beams. "No problem, freckles. Anytime you need something just let me know."

He heads back out to the kitchen, and I follow. I'm tempted to barricade myself in my room for the foreseeable future, but I know I can't. If he's going to be my roommate I'm gonna have to get comfortable around him.

I don't have much of my own food yet, so I remind myself I need to go shopping in the morning. For now I'll survive on instant rice and a banana.

My stomach growls when Parker pulls the pan out of the oven and sets in on top of the stove. There's chicken in it that's dripping with what looks like three different types of cheese and covered in breadcrumbs with parsley sprinkled on top. Damn, it smells amazing.

"You sure you don't want any?" he asks as he watches my instant rice heat up in the microwave. "There's more than enough."

I give a small smile. "Can't," I say, "I'm allergic to good food."

His eyes widen. "Really?"

I chuckle. "I mean, yeah, sort of. I have to stay away from certain foods, and one of them is dairy. Kinda sucks, actually."

He blinks at me with those big hazel eyes. "You can't have dairy?" He seems so upset on my behalf it's almost comical.

I shake my head.

"Dude, that's just sad. I can't imagine my life without ice cream, or milk, or cheese or chocolate. Oh, god, I'm getting depressed just thinking about it."

"Yeah, I'm not a huge fan, but it is what it is." I take my instant rice out of the microwave and dump it into a bowl as he dishes the chicken onto his plate along with some broccoli that is also drenched in cheese. We eat standing for a bit before he speaks again.

"Wait, is that why you didn't want a cupcake?"

I nod and he lets out a breath. "That's a relief. I thought…" He bites his lip.

"What?" I ask when he runs his fingers through his dark hair, showing off his bulging bicep in the process and making my dick twitch again. For fuck's sake. Even if last night did end horribly, my body still knows what it wants, apparently. Those hands on me again. Those arms around me. Those lips on mine. God, my lips are tingling again just at the memory of how he kissed me.

"I thought maybe I'd done or said something to make you uncomfortable."

Now it's my turn to blink. "Like what?"

He shrugs. "I don't know, I was just worried about you after you ran off crying last night, and then you were pretty nervous when you got here and saw who I was. You really didn't want your friend to leave. You seemed so upset and I hated to think I'd caused it somehow or that you wouldn't be happy here."

Fuck. My chest squeezes at how insanely sweet he is. I left him in the middle of a blow job and he was worried about me? Instead of being pissed? Shit, Jackson was right. I should tell him what happened so he knows he isn't to blame. "No, it wasn't you. I promise. I was…I just…I was so embarrassed after running off like I did at the club and then there you were, and I didn't know how to not be mortified."

"You sure?" he says. "I was worried about you."

"God, that's really sweet," I say. "And no, I promise, you didn't do anything wrong. I, uh, I just got out of a bad relationship, like I told you last night and I guess I just wasn't as ready as I thought I was to jump back into the hookup game."

He nods and we eat. "You have other food you have to stay away from?" he asks.

I nod as I swallow my rice. "Gluten and eggs."

His eyes widen. "Jeesh, what's left if you get rid of all of that?"

I chuckle. "Not much. I'll get more food tomorrow and then I can cook for myself. I won't always look this pitiful." I give a small smile and he smiles back. God, he's cute.

"I don't mind cooking for both of us," he says, surprising me. "I mean, unless you want to cook."

"I fucking hate it," I tell him. "I do it because I have to, but I definitely don't enjoy it. But you don't have to do that. It's a pain to find recipes that I can eat, and you probably won't like them." Zach complained all the time about my diet being too restrictive, as if he was the one who had to limit or avoid certain things altogether or he'd be sick in the bathroom all night. I remember him coming home and heating up the food I'd made, only to toss it in the trash with a comment about how disgusting it was and how he didn't know how I could eat like that, like I had a choice. It pissed me off that he wasted my food, too. I didn't mind him having some if he was actually going to eat it, but taking two bites and then tossing it irked me. I wasn't made of money and he didn't seem to care that he had just tossed the food I was planning to eat for lunch or dinner the next day, only to sit down with a bowl of cereal instead.

He'd always complain about my food but never wanted to be bothered to cook for himself, unless we had friends over and then he'd insist on it because no one would want to eat "the garbage I made."

"Why did you say you weren't hungry instead of telling me the truth? About your allergies, I mean?"

I swallow and blink. "Oh, um, I guess it's just easier than explaining everything. It gets tiring explaining a medical condition to every person I meet, and a lot of people don't understand, so I don't bother."

He shrugs. "I get that. It would be frustrating, and they might not understand, but it's still good for them to be educated. Lots of people have food sensitivities or allergies. I think people need to be more aware of how much food affects their bodies. A lot of people feel sick all the time, or tired, or sluggish, or irritable, and don't even consider it might be what they're eating."

I blink again. "Yeah, you're right. I got diagnosed with a gluten sensitivity when I was a kid, but it took longer for the other ones to show up."

"What happened?"

"I started having stomach pain, and trouble swallowing when I was thirteen or so, and after a bunch of tests that didn't detect anything they decided to do an endoscopy. Turns out my esophagus was narrowed and inflamed due to something called eosinophilic esophagitis. I was on meds for a while but they weren't enough so we had to go pretty drastic with the diet."

"Man, you've been on this diet since you were thirteen?"

"I cheat sometimes, but it never ends well."

"Well, I'm gonna find some amazing meals for you to eat that taste good and keep you out of the bathroom."

I flush because I can't believe we've gone from exchanging blow jobs one night to talking about my stomach problems the next. But it's not nearly as weird and awkward as I would expect it to be. Parker is really sweet, and thoughtful. Though I wonder how long that will last before he realizes how frustrating it is to live with me.

When I wake up the next morning it's to the smell of bacon and waffles, and it's delicious. I stumble out of bed and slide my glasses on, before making my way down the hall and to the kitchen, where my eyes go wide at the sight of Parker in nothing but a towel.

"Oh, hey, you're up," he says, voice as cheerful as ever. "I made breakfast." He glances over at me and his eyes widen. Then he's in front of me and gripping my face in his hands. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

I blink, trying to focus on his question and not the fact that he's practically naked, his gorgeous muscled chest inches from my face, and that he smells amazing. His big hands gripping my cheeks brings back memories of our hook up and I'm flushing instantly. "Um, no," I say. "I'm fine." Except that I want to fucking climb you like a tree.

"What happened to your nose?"

I blink again. "My–" Oh, the nasal strip. I reach up and touch the clear band aid-looking apparatus across my nose. "I have allergies. It helps me sleep at night without being congested." I pull it off easily and wiggle my nose, and he sighs in relief. Then I'm standing there speechless when he presses a kiss to the tip of my nose.

"That's good," he says, walking back over to the stove. "You scared me, little rabbit."

Little rabbit? I think that's my favorite one so far. I put the nasal strip in the trash and then grab some coffee, before sitting down at the table. I try to keep from staring at his ass, but it doesn't work very well.

"So what are you allergic to?" he asks as he dishes some bacon onto a plate and sets it down in front of me. I snatch a piece up and take a bite. "Oh, everything," I say. "Trees, grass, mold, dust, you name it."

"Wow, that's rough. You try allergy shots? My mom did those for a while and they seemed to help a lot with her allergies."

"Uh, no, I don't handle needles very well," I say, just the thought making me nauseous.

"Oh, yeah, that would make it harder, huh?" He gives me a grin as he sets a waffle down in front of me with syrup, and my dairy free butter. Then he's back with fresh fruit and dairy free whipped topping.

"I didn't buy that," I tell him. He flushes.

"I did. This morning. There's a King Soopers just down the way. I also picked up some gluten free flour and almond milk."

My cheeks heat. "You did all that for me?"

He shrugs. "It's no big deal. I wanted waffles and I wanted you to be able to eat them. They're gluten, dairy and egg free."

Wow, I think I might cry. "I'll pay you back for the food. You shouldn't have to spend your money on things that are for me."

He shakes his head. "Nope, I wanted to do it, and I'll use it, too. Now eat up. I'm gonna go get dressed. I have class soon."

I gobble down the waffles and fruit, then snatch another piece of bacon, before making my way to the bathroom to shower.

Once I'm dressed in my usual pants, dress shirt and this time a lime green bow tie and suspenders, I head to my morning classes, then my afternoon shift at the bookstore. It's fairly slow so I'm able to get some reading done for one of my classes while I'm there. When my phone buzzes in my pocket I take it out, and can't help the smile that crosses my face when I see a text from Parker.

Parker: hey, take a look at this and let me know if it sounds good for dinner. Then there's a link that I click on and it takes me to a website where I see a gluten and dairy free lasagna. I can't believe this guy is researching meals for me and offering to do the cooking because I told him I hate it. Damn, my heart is fluttering.

Me: it looks great, but I'm buying the ingredients this time. I'll head to the store after I'm finished with work. Probably be home around 7ish?

Parker : you got it, little rabbit! See you then. Smiley face emoji

I'm about to reply with my own emoji when I hear an all too familiar voice and look up to see Zach standing there with his arm around some guy, a wicked grin on his face.

"Hey, Rory, how's it going?" he says. "You haven't been responding to my texts so I thought I would drop by. This is Chad, by the way. He's the guy I was fucking when you walked in on us." My cheeks flame and it only gets worse when he leans closer and says, in a voice that is intentionally not a whisper, "I fucked him every night this week, and he took it so well, Rory. He didn't complain that I was too rough. And he didn't sound like a bitch in heat, either. I came in him so fucking hard every single time. God he milked my cock so well. Better than your ass ever could."

My cheeks are so warm I must look like a tomato and I have to keep the tears from stinging at the corners of my eyes. What has he been telling everyone about me? What has he told Chad about me?

To add insult to injury he leans over the counter and knocks into my coffee cup, making it topple and spill all over the counter and my book, even getting some on my pants as he says, "Oops, so clumsy," and cackles along with Chad as they stroll away.

I do my best to wipe up the mess, but it takes more time than I would like since I have to run to the nearest bathroom for paper towels. I have tears sliding down my cheeks as I dry off my book, but when I try to separate the pages they tear like tissue paper. Fuck. This wasn't a cheap book, either, and now I'll have to buy a new one, and I hate asking Mom and Dad for more money. They aren't poor by any means but they're already doing so much for me. Plus I can't say Zach ruined it. I still haven't told them what happened.

"Hey, freckles, I didn't know you worked here," I hear and look up to see Parker standing there as I wipe my pants off, concern written all over his face. "What happened?"

"My ex happened," I tell him, sniffling. "He's a real sweetheart."

"Really? Sounds kind of like an asshole to me," he replies and I look up at him, his face completely stoic. Is he for real?

"No, he is," I say. "I was being facetious."

His mouth opens in an "O" and I can't help smiling a little at the image of a lightbulb going off over his head. "Right, yeah, that makes sense. You okay?"

"I will be," I tell him, though Zach's words are still running on repeat through my head and I can't get rid of the sick feeling in my stomach.

"Anything I can do?"

"No," I sigh, "but thanks for asking. I'm just gonna finish up here and then go home to change before I head to the store."

"Can I get you to ring this up for me?" he asks, and I realize he is holding a pair of sweats with the school's name on it. Right, of course he came in here for a reason.

"Yeah, sorry," I say. "Just let me wash my hands really quick?" He nods and I scurry off. When I get back he's waiting for me, and I ring his purchase up before he waves goodbye and heads out the door.