The Flat

1

He looked over his shoulder and said, "Sorry?"

Flushed, I stammered my explanation, letting him know it was just a common phrase I was accustomed to, not an invitation.

He immediately dashed to his room and closed the door. I went into the bath and stripped off my wet running clothes, struggling to maintain my composure after seeing him partly naked.

Once we were both clean and dressed, Harry and I walked the few blocks to the pub. The cool interior was a relief as were the tall draft Sam Adams we had. We sat at the pub and paid a little attention to the game on the telly, but mostly drank, ate peanuts and didn't talk. That was unusual for us, because we talked to each other all the time.

Finally I broke the ice. "Harry, this is awkward. I didn't expect you to be naked. I didn't see anything if I'm being honest."

He had a wide grin that lit up his entire handsome face, and turned it on full blast. "Vivian, you said 'Fuck me'. So I'm pretty sure you noticed my arse."

"I was frankly surprised. Sorry."

"It's alright."he answered as he sipped his jug of lager. "I've come to the understand that living with the opposite sex flatmate has its challenges."

"Challenges?" I asked.

He nodded and said, "Don't think about this in some crude perverse way but before I moved in, I was sort of a let it all hang out guy. My former flatmate was perfect about it too. We'd get home and feel really grubby from working late nights, so we'd just about get in the door and start stripping."

I didn't know where this conversation was going so I did what would be best, kept my mouth shut and drank some more.

"We'd throw our stuff in a big laundry basket and walk around absolutely naked drinking until we each had our showers. Most days, it was boxers around the house—at the most. When his fiancé moved in, we discussed it and said we weren't going to alter our habits. I can guarantee you he never complained." He offered that bit with a grin. "I guess what I'm saying is, I should've checked with you before baring it all out. Not all flatmates are the same."

"You didn't exactly bare it all out," I teased and he laughed.

At least this conversation broke the ice and we started chatting normally. We ended up splitting fish and chips at the pub and drank more.

•••

I didn't see Harry for the rest of the week. He had two night meetings and went out with some of his mates. The next time I saw him was Sunday morning. I was being visited by my lovely friend, Natasha.

"Viv, he's far too bloody hot for his own good." She whispered as Harry walked, shirtless, back to his room.

He was in a pair of low slung gym shorts, showing off his sculpted abs and strong back. The usual. That was the typical effect Harry had on women. He was like catnip for pussy. Was I immune now? After living with him for a few months I had seen him posed drunk, crazy high he thought the walls were velvet and we had definitely farted in front of each other. So yeah. He was just Harry to me. Of course he was a handsome guy, but, he slept around like one.

"So...have you both...?" Natasha asked after he retreated to his room.

"No! No. Of course not." I responded.

"Why not! He's right across the hall!"

"I know but he's probably the best flatmate I've ever had and I'm not about to complicate that."