Honey, this mirror isn't big enough for the two of us

Chapter 4

Honey, this mirror isn’t big enough for the two of us

Zane had been debating with himself all afternoon, when he finally made up his mind and decided to invite Rome to hang out with his friends on Friday.

“Sure; Hunter is going out with his workmates, so I don’t want to spend the night by myself.” She smiled pleasantly.

“Who’s Hunter?” Zane asked out of curiosity. Did she live with her boyfriend?

“It’s kind of a long story… He’s my brother’s best friend. Sort of. Ex best friend, maybe.” Her brows contorted.

“I get it,” He smiled this time. “You slept with him and your brother doesn’t talk to him anymore.”

Rome began laughing hysterically. “No way! I’ve known him since I was born!” She composed. “He moved here from California eight years ago, and he’s the only person I knew on this side of the country, so I came to crash at his place for a while.”

“Why’s that?” Zane’s curiosity never ended. He had been asking questions about her all day long.

“I… ran away?” Rome smiled sheepishly.

“No shit!” He raised his eyebrows in bewilderment. “That’s huge, baby girl!”

“Baby girl! What the fuck is wrong with you?” She broke into a fit of giggles.

“Well, almost everything.”

Hunter wasn’t very fond of the party. “But you barely know the guy.”

“He is your friend’s cousin or something like that, isn’t he?” She countered once Hunter was sitting at the table to have dinner.

“He’s not my friend,” He corrected her the same way she had when they were talking about Tanner.

“I’m sorry, your boyfriend.” Rome teased and served him Diet Coke. “I’m seriously gonna start buying regular Coke, man. You can’t drink this shit!”

“I like it! Besides, it’s not like you do the grocery shopping, so shut up.”

Rome looked up from her plate and found him smiling. “You’re so weird.”

“You’re so annoying. If you don’t like Diet Coke, then drink water!”

“I don’t like water. I feel like drinking Orange Juice. I will buy some tomorrow,” She decided with a beaming smile.

“Right, because now you have a job and stuff… fuck off!” Hunter teased and sipped his glass. “Seriously, Rome, I don’t want you to go there by yourself.”

“I’m going with Zane. C’mon, daddy, let me go!” She pouted her lip teasingly and rolled her eyes at last. “C’mon, I was escaping my parents and now I have to escape you?”

“That would be good,” He teased again. “You’re just so short you need to be taken care of!”

“Jerk,” She smiled. “I’m going, so leave me alone.”

“Speaking about your parents… have you called them yet?”

Rome grimaced. “No… I’ve got like five thousand missed calls from my mom…”

“You should. I told them you were going to ring them back soon,”

“Well, that was none of your business.” She smirked sufficiently. Everything was about teasing.

“Seriously. Ring them.” He stated at last, leaving no place for more joking.

“I will.”