Roomies (A Standalone Novel) (New York City Bad Boy Romance) by Claire Adams Read Free Book Online

the off position. Besides, I think people stopped saying
that like ten years ago.”
    “Whatever,” Annabeth
says. “I have the perfect guy for you.”
    This is the other problem
with Annabeth. She’s always trying to hook me up with someone, and she has the
worst taste in men.
    “My cousin just got into
town and he’s looking for someone to take out to a nice dinner. He’s a really
funny guy, and people tell me that he’s pretty handsome, too. He’s my cousin
and all, so I don’t really look at him like that, but I think you two would
really hit it off.”
    “And now tell me what’s
wrong with him.”
    “Nothing,” she says,
taking another drag. “Nothing’s wrong with him.”
    Wait for it.
    “Okay, I guess he can be
a little impulsive, but girl, you know spontaneity’s the spice of life.”
    “You said he just got
into town. Where was he?”
    “Upstate,” Annabeth
answers, looking at her feet.
    I really hope I’m not
that bad at hiding things.
    “Where upstate?” I ask.
    And here it comes.
    “Okay, he was kind of
locked up for a little while, but the whole thing was just a total misunderstanding.
He was drunk and thought the car was his!”
    “Yeah,” I say. “I’m
sorry, but I do have a no-felons rule in my dating life.”
    “Oh, like you’re going to
find a good-looking single man in this city without a record,” she scoffs.
    “I’ll take my chances,” I
tell her.
    “I’m done. You wanna play hooky?”
    “I still have to go
downstairs and help Atkinson write a speech for his son’s career day.”
    Annabeth groans.
    “I know,” I tell her.
“Maybe next time.”
    “You always say that, but
you’ve never slipped out with me longer than a smoke break,” she complains.
“Who’s even going to know that we’re gone?”
    “Everyone!” I snap.
“Every time you leave in the middle of the day, I have to pick up your crap
just to make sure no one wonders why you’re not here. Nobody’s going to do that for me, and they’re certainly not going to
do that for both of us. Maybe, with your summa cum laude, you might have better luck landing something if you ever did any
damn work around here!”
    I don’t know what exactly
she said that pushed me over the edge, but here I am on my way down.
    “Easy, girl,” she says,
holding her palms up and toward me. “I didn’t know it was such a burden for
you.”
    “I’m sorry,” I say, not
knowing why I’m crying. “I just hate this stupid job and I hate this stupid
city, but I can’t leave or else I’ll always be the one who couldn’t make it in
the real world.”
    “You think New York is
the real world?” she asks. “Hell, you think there is something called the real world? Lei-Lei, you gotta calm down and realize everyone out there’s going
through the same shit as you. None of us are going to land half what Kidman
would pull down with his golden parachute and that man hasn’t done a hard day’s
work in thirty years. What you’ve gotta do is learn
to find some kind of happiness for yourself. That’s the only way you’re going
to make it.”
    “I’m sick of the
platitudes,” I tell her. “I get what you’re saying, but going out there and
hooking up with a car thief isn’t going to make my life any better.”
    She laughs. “Fine, you
don’t have to go out with my cousin. Actually, he’s not really my cousin. Joe
just wants us to double with someone. Can you believe it? He says that when we
go out alone, I just dominate the conversation and never let him get a word in.
He tells me that I’m always trying to tell people what to do…”
    She starts to trail off
as I roll my eyes.
    “Listen,” she says,
“things aren’t that bad, okay? Yeah, we’ve got shitty jobs, but we’re working
for a company that moves millions of dollars around every day. The whole
economy can rise or fall depending on what mood the boss is in—yeah, that’s
terrible planning on a societal level, but this is where it all happens and