The Roommate (Shameless #1)

by Rosie Danan

“You look terrible,” she said, in that soft, gentle way that only mothers can get away with. That tone when it’s not judgment so much as reproach. How dare you not take care of my child? She ran her thumbs gently across the bags under his eyes.

God, he felt like shit. To have parents as good as his and leave them voluntarily, when so many people were robbed of the singular security of having their mother hold them.

“If you want to yell at me, just yell at me.” His mother pulled ingredients out of the fridge and carried them to the counter. Josh had a feeling she was trying to avoid looking at him. “I’m not going to yell at you. Though I can tell by that look on your face it would make you feel better.”

“That’s the worst part. You gave me and your father zero credit. You cut us off before we even got a chance to respond. I felt like a bad mother, not because you chose to have sex on camera, but because you didn’t trust me enough to love you while you did it.”

“You really don’t care that I’ve been performing?” “Look, I’ve had two years to process this information and for me, it always comes down to this: I care about you being safe and happy. And about the blockers your father put on my computer so I never accidentally see you mounting anyone. As long as those three things hold up, you’re an adult and I respect your choices.”

The moment she stepped outside the airport in Las Vegas—the last leg on Everett’s band’s tour—all moisture drained from her body. Well, at least what remained following an onboard crying jag that had drawn concerned whispers from several passengers.

Up close, it was stupidly obvious that Everett was never going to want her. He was never going to look back on their friendship and wish for more. Never going to lie awake in bed wondering where he’d gone wrong. Never going to see her name in the Sunday wedding section and taste regret. Hollywood had promised her that if she loved hard enough, pined long enough, threw herself in his path, again and again, eventually, her childhood best friend would fall for her. But real life didn’t account for free will. It didn’t matter how many reasons she could list why Everett should love her. He didn’t. Not in the way she’d always wanted. And until she stopped waiting for a love she felt she was due, she’d never be able to imagine the future with anyone else.

Maybe it was her Wheaton blood, or falling head over heels for the last person she’d expected, but somehow, some way, Clara had finally developed a taste for scandal.

Josh didn’t know in that moment if he wanted to laugh or cry. Clara’s soda-can metaphor finally made sense. The emotion inside him had nowhere to go, so it all lodged behind his rib cage.

“Do I love that you ran back to that dude the first chance you got? No.” Josh broke into a grin. “But at the same time, I love the visual of you demanding that chump’s keys to make a beeline back to me.”

“Do you regret it?” His voice came out unnaturally neutral. “Absolutely not. If other people don’t like it, they can take a hike.” Josh shook his head. “We gotta get you a millennial phrase book or something. Phrases like that are why telemarketers are always trying to sell you osteoporosis medication.”

Naomi strolled in from the den. The smoke detector chose that moment to start wailing. “There’s a joke on the tip of my tongue about how you two sure know how to heat up a room.” The redhead grabbed a chair and stood on it to wave a dish towel at the incessant siren. “I’m used to putting out your fires at work every day, Connecticut, but when I accepted your offer to come over for a holiday meal, I didn’t know I’d have to battle a literal blaze.”