“Nothing, nothing,” I said quickly. “Can we please not?”
“When did you even meet this new guy with your work… wait a second,” Seth said, as realization dawned. “You haven’t gotten involved with your roommate, have you?”
I gave him a guilty smile, and Seth shook his head at you. “Zo!”
“I’ve got it under control, ok?” I said. “We’re taking things slow.”
“You already live with the man.”
“We have separate rooms,” I said. “It’s not like we’ve taken this major step or anything.”
“Come on, Zo… now I have to meet this guy,” Seth insisted.
“And you will,” I nodded nervously. “Just not just yet.”
“Why not?” mom asked teasingly. “Is he funny looking?”
“He’s very handsome,” I said. “In fact, I’m pretty sure you will both like him.”
“You’re sure I will like him?” Seth asked incredulously.
“Yes I am,” I said. “I just want to make sure I know how I feel about him first… before I introduce him to the family.”
“I need to check this guy out.”
“You need to process your own breakup,” I said. “Instead of fixating on my relationship.”
“I’ve processed it just fine,” Seth said defensively.
“Please… you and Cory just broke up.”
“It’s been a long time coming,” Seth admitted.
“Really?” I asked. “She moved in only a couple of months ago. Why ask her to move in with you if you thought it wouldn’t last?”
“It was her idea to move in,” Seth admitted. “And I just sort of went along with it. In any case, it wasn’t like I knew it for sure. It was just one of those things that you know deep down, but you don’t really let yourself admit it until it’s staring you in the face.”
“Did she tell you what happened between us?” I asked, figuring there was no reason to avoid that topic anymore.
“Not much,” Seth admitted. “But I got the gist. She didn’t like you staying over. I knew she had made that plain to you. Otherwise you never would have left the way you did.”
“Well… yeah.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me?” Seth asked.
“Because I didn’t want to cause problems between you and Cory,” I said. “I didn’t want it to become a choice between her and me.”
“Please… that would have been an easy choice,” Seth said.
“Sure, but at the time I didn’t know that,” I said. “And I wasn’t willing to risk it.”
Seth gave me a wink and patted the top of my head as though I were a child. “I’m sorry she was mean to you.”
I smiled. “It’s ok; I’m a tough chick.”
Seth and mom exchanged a glance and then they both burst out laughing. “Excuse me,” I said, with irritation. “Why is that so damn funny?”
Their response was just to laugh louder, and so I rolled my eyes and dug into the delicious meal on the table in front of us. About a half an hour later, dinner was just winding down when I heard my phone beep, and I glanced down to see who had texted me. It turned out to be none other than Devlin, and I tried not to let my expression change as I read his message.