My boyfriend and I go to the same college, and one of the things I enjoy most is sharing a room with him. Sharing a bed. I hoped living together would improve our relationship, which has grown rocky as of late. But he's the jealous type, and I always seem to say or do the wrong thing at the wrong time. I don't mean to provoke him; sometimes I just don't think how my actions might hurt him. Unfortunately, our roommate only sees us when we're at our worst, so she thinks things are bad between us. When he's angry enough at me to kick me out of bed and I have to sleep on the couch. When he snaps at me for flirting with her, even though he knows I don't mean anything by it. She never sees how wonderful he is to me sometimes, or how perfect we can be together when we're alone. I hope her misplaced concern won't come between us. Or maybe it'll be my own stupidity that tears us apart.

I'll Take the Rain

I catch his hand before he can make it past the bed. “Wait.”


He shrugs me off. “Was it worth it?” he asks, his deep voice quiet. He always speaks so quietly when it’s just us.


I’m not sure what he means. “Come here,” I say, reaching out to hold him.


He pulls away. “Tonight. The girls.”


There it is. He’s mad at that. “Seriously? You know I’m not interested in them.”


He pulls off his T-shirt and balls it into a fist before tossing it aside. I start to reach for the bare expanse of his back, but I stop myself before my fingers touch him. I know better. I don’t want him to move away from me—I don’t need that rejection, so blatant, so stinging.


“You had to shake up the bottles, didn’t you?” he asks as he unzips his jeans. “Had to get her tits wet, didn’t you?”


Chapter 2