roommates at best

T W E N T Y F I V E

"What's this place called again?" I leaned across the table towards him, tits on full display, purposefully. I had worn a brown, cropped, deep v tank top with a pair of light wash jeans and platform high top converse.

We were in the city at a pizza place that also had its own brewery. It was in a nice, high end area but had the vibe I always went for. The floor was checkered black and white with plants strategically placed around the room. Vintage photos and vinyl records were hung along the walls amongst other decor and there was a merch section displaying shirts, hats, and dinnerware. We were tucked away in a booth in the back corner so I couldn't make out the logo from where we were sitting.

After taking a moment to scan over the room again, my eyes landed back on Alex. I noticed his eyes quickly flash up from my chest before matching my eye contact with a suspicious grin.

"It's called Boone and Barrel. I used to come here a lot." He looked down at the menu but had piqued my interest.

"Used to?" I asked, not letting up.

"Yeahhh," he sighed, "I stopped. Didn't want to run into anyone i was trying to avoid."

Ah yes. The ex. Bailey.

I dropped the subject. Knowing I was developing feelings, I didn't want to talk about what might be the one thing keeping Alex from truly opening up to me. Plus I didn't want to ruin his mood for the rest of the day.

We talked on and off while we ate. Alex was looking forward to going on tour, he was excited to release the album. I was waiting to hear if merch designs for the tour were finalized and ready to order.

"What are you going to do about the social media thing?" He asked next.

"Honestly," I covered my mouth as I had been in the middle of a bite. I swallowed, "I don't know. Maybe if I make a post you can share it? We need like a cute picture together and then I'll just like do a little photo dump or something."

I watched him process what I said while finishing his slice. He downed the rest of his beer and proceeded to get up.

"Alright scoot over."

I didn't respond, I was so dumbfounded. He was standing by my seat and motioned for me to move over so I did, promptly sitting down once there was enough space. We hadn't been this close since the other night and it was exciting but nerve wracking at the same time. He must have noticed my confusion because he finally explained,

"Let's take some photos. You need to post something."

I watched him pick my phone up off the table, open the camera app, and hand it to me. Our legs were pressed against each other while he put his arm around me and posed. He leaned into me and I could smell his cologne with the undertone of the beer he'd been drinking.

"Alright what should we do?" I asked feeling totally awkward.

"You must not take a lot of pictures?" He side eyed me.

"I mean not really..."

"Hmm," he looked me up and down, "we should change that." He winked and instinctively I shoved him, trying to hide the blush creeping onto my cheeks. I sent nudes back in my day, but hadn't done it for a while. I was flattered at the thought of them being well received on his end.

"I'll pose and you just do what comes naturally, okay? You look good so don't stress."

First we took one smiling, then he made a dumb face so I did too. Next he made the hand horn symbol and held it up in front of his face while I held up a finger heart. I still felt a little awkward but he insisted so I snapped away, hoping something would turn out cute.

"Anything else? I asked, setting the zoom to 0.5 and turning the phone around. I held it away from us and pressed the volume button right as he kissed me on the cheek. I turned to him, confused, but before I could process what was going on, his lips were on mine.

After pulling away, he slipped back to his side of the booth, swiping my phone from my hand. I was still processing that entire experience as he reviewed the shots.

"These are good, for sure. You look so cute." He tapped away on the phone for a minute before setting mine down and pulling his from his pocket.

"And... done. Take a look."

I leaned forward, scared to see what he had done. Peering down at my phone, I found a new post uploaded by me. It was our photos with the caption,

"might be dating the lalala guy"

Alex slid his phone next to mine and into my view. On it was his latest story; he had shared my post and left his own caption.

"my girlfriend's hotter than yours"

I was low key mortified. He had over a million followers and he just shared my face to all of their feeds.

As his girlfriend.

Not sure if my feelings were showing on my face, I looked up to see him with the cheesiest grin.

"Now everyone knows who you are," he gestured to our phones, "but rest in peace to your notifications." He snatched his phone off the table, shoved it in his pocket, and stood up. He held his arm out for me,

"Let's get out of here."