Under One Roof (The STEMinist Novellas, #1)

by Ali Hazelwood

I’m only a humble beginner at this whole pining thing, but I can safely state that living with some guy you used to hate and somehow ended up slipping in love with is not a wise move. Trust me, I have a doctorate. (In a totally unrelated field, but still.)

Shes so real for this 😭

See, that’s the thing I hate the most about adulting: at some point, one has to start doing it.

It sucks ngl

“Helena’s funeral was . . . interesting.” I lean back against the seat. “I guess that’s the upside of knowing that you’re about to die. You get to bully people a bit. Tell them that if they don’t play ‘Karma Chameleon’ while lowering your casket your ghost will haunt their progeny for generations.”

He’s so tall, I have to consciously lift up my chin to meet his eyes.

Ali and her fetish for tall men

He lifts me up till I’m hovering above the floor, then effortlessly moves me a few inches to the side of the refrigerator. Like I’m as light as an Amazon delivery box, the giant ones that for some reason have only a single stick of deodorant packed inside.

“Like global warming and capitalism had a love child who’s going through a bodybuilding phase.”

“He doesn’t really acknowledge my existence. Well, except to occasionally stare like I’m some roach infesting his pristine living space.

I lean my forehead against the chilly glass of the window, feeling an odd sense of isolation, as though I’m disconnected from the entire world, swaddled in a muffled white cocoon.

I should start dating again. Should I start dating again? Yeah. I should. Except that . . . men. No, thank you.

LMAO 😭😭

“What I don’t understand is, why is someone as smart as you watching this shit?”

He extends his arm and turns the other way while I wrap the towel (his towel; Liam’s towel) around myself. It’s fluffy and clean and it smells good and—who uses black towels, anyway? Who produces them? Where does he even buy them, Bloodbath and Beyond?

I step out with a small wave and notice two things: he’s staring hard at his feet, and his left hand is a tight fist at his side.

THIS RIGHT HERE I DIED

“Please don’t build an atomic bomb.” “Don’t tell me what to do.” He sighs. “I’ll make room for the plutonium in the cheese drawer.”

Rain is my favorite kind of weather.

“Cheer up, buddy. I don’t think you’re as doomed to a lifetime of pining as you think. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“What?” I tease him. “You afraid you can’t afford to buy your own creamer?” What does he even use it for? I still don’t know.

“I can’t believe you commented ‘delete your account.’ It’s cyberbullying, Liam.”

He is now smiling, and there is something warm unfurling in my chest now.

They are so cute

For the life of me, I can’t remember a better activity than staying at home in my pj’s and hanging out with my roommate.

Then he hugs me back. He lifts me up like he’s too happy for me to even consider stopping himself, like this phone call I just had that changed my life changed his, too, like he’s been wanting this as much and as intensely as I have. And when he spins me around the room, one single, perfect whirl of pure happiness, that’s when I realize it. How incredibly, utterly gone for this man I am.

“Sometimes they’re useful,” Sadie points out. “Like that guy with a Korn T-shirt who helped me open a jar of pickled radishes in 2018.” “Oh yeah.” I nod. “I remember that.” “Hands down my most profound experience with a man.” “In hindsight, you should have asked him to marry you.” “A missed opportunity.”

“You guys are shit friends and I’m not sure why I love you so much.” I hang up on them, laughing despite myself.

Thats so me 😭

I am catastrophically, ruinously in love with you.

BYEE

“I love kissing you,” I sigh in his mouth. “Mara.” His lips. His voice. “I want to kiss you everywhere.”

“How hard it’s been, to—fuck—to keep my hands off you. How much I’ve wanted this, almost since the very beginning.”

“Please, let me fuck you. Let me give you what you need. Let me try, at least.” He kisses a spot under my jaw. “Hard and fast.”

“I like you very much, Mara. I like talking to you. I like watching you do yoga. I like the way you always smell like sunscreen. I like how you manage to say pretty much whatever you want while still being unbelievably kind. I like being in this house with you, and everything we do in here.” His throat bobs. “I don’t think it’s a surprise that I really, really like the idea of fucking you.”

Hes such a goner for her

I love you, I think. And I suspect that you love me, too. And I cannot wait for us to admit it to each other. I cannot wait to see what happens next.

“Who puts coffee creamer in their smoothies, anyway?” “People.” “No way.” “Plenty of people.” “Name one.” “Me.”

Lmao me too

I stick my tongue out at him. My hand falls to my side, until it’s brushing against his. He starts pushing the shopping cart and twines our fingers together. “Ready to go?” he asks. “Yeah.” I beam. “Let’s go home.”