Roommates With Benefits [BL]

The moment I stepped around the counter, I understood why she looked so uncomfortable.

There were two people sitting at one of the tables near the window...a man and a woman. Both were impeccably dressed. Not just nice clothes, but the kind of dressed that makes you immediately aware of the coffee stains on your apron and messy hair.

The man’s dark suit looked like it had never seen a washing machine. The woman beside him wore a tailored coat, sitting upright with a composed expression. They both looked like they belonged in a fancy hotel where even the water costs twelve bucks.

Neither seemed particularly happy to be at Joy’s Café, their eyes glancing over the chalkboard menu and mismatched chairs as if they’d wandered into an exhibit.

I approached slowly. ”You two were looking for me?”

The man looked up first, his calm, assessing gaze making me feel like I’d just been put on display.

”Oliver Reyes?”

”Yeah.”

The woman nodded at him. ”My husband and I would like to speak with you.”

Something tightened in my stomach.

”About?”

”Damien.”

I rose an eyebrow, what about Damien?

Of course. Because I wasn’t allowed one peaceful morning.

I glanced toward Maya, who was behind the counter pretending not to eavesdrop, wiping the same spot on the espresso machine for the third time.

I turned back to them.

”May I at least know who the hell you both are before we talk?”

The woman rose her eyebrows as if shocked that anyone would ever speak to them like that, while he man folded his hands neatly on the table.

”My name is William Lockwood.”

The woman chimed in, ”I’m his wife, Evelyn Lockwood.”

My stomach dropped.

I didn’t need her to say anything else. I knew exactly who they were. Damien’s parents.

The same people who had seemly hurt him and pushed him away to the point he never went to see or visit them.

I swallowed hard. ”Right.”

William gestured toward the chair opposite them. ”Could we speak privately?”

I almost laughed. There was something deeply ironic about being asked for privacy in a café where I worked and where half the customers were pretending not to stare.

I nodded. ”Sure, whatever.”

I pulled out a chair and sat down. ”Would you like some coffee or anything?”

Mrs. Lockwood glanced at the counter. ”No, thank you.”

William shook his head. ”No.”

”Great,” I muttered. ”Because I was worried you’d expect me to do my job while you’re looking at me like I was some disgusting pest.”

Mrs. Lockwood’s eyes flared at that. William’s expression didn’t change, which was interesting, he seemed either incredibly patient or just used to people being afraid of him.

”We’re here because of Damien.”

”I figured.”

William leaned back slightly. ”You do know that Damien has made significant changes to his life since becoming involved with you.”

I stared at him. ”I’d like to think that’s because he wanted to.”

”He has taken responsibility for financial obligations that are not his own.”

I could already see where this was going, my jaw tightened. ”My dad’s medical expenses?”

William nodded. ”Among other things.”

There it was, the implication. I leaned back in my chair. ”Damien helped my dad because he wanted to.”

”Did he?”

I frowned. ”What does that mean?”

”It means that a young man in his position does not throw away that amount of money without influence.”

I stared at him, disbelief washing over me. ”Are you really suggesting I manipulated him, Mr. Lockwood?”

Mrs. Lockwood’s cold expression remained unchanged. ”We’re merely suggesting you’ve benefitted significantly from his attachment to you.”

”That’s not the same thing.”

”Isn’t it?”

I looked at her. ”You know what? I’ve worked two jobs while going to university and caring for my father for years. If I wanted Damien’s money, I picked a really stupid way to go about it.”

William’s expression shifted, growing slightly tighter. ”Damien has spent a considerable amount on your father’s treatment.”

”And I’ve never asked him to, he did that because he’s a good and caring person–”

”Perhaps not directly.”

My fingers curled under the table.

”Then what exactly are you accusing me of here?!”

William reached into his briefcase and pulled out a folder. The soft creak of it opening made my stomach twist, he placed several photographs on the table.

I looked down and froze.

The pictures were too private. Pictures of Damien and me that were never meant for anyone else’s eyes...how did they even get these?

What...? How...? Was someone stalking Damien and I?!

Did Damien know?

My face went warm. ”What the hell is this?”

William’s voice remained annoyingly calm. ”These photographs have been used to blackmail our family for the past few minutes months.”

I looked up sharply. ”What?”

”Someone has been demanding money in exchange for keeping them private and of course, we’ve been forced to pay them.”

My eyes returned to the photographs. The realization hit me like a wave, the money, the pressure, everything Damien had been carrying alone.

Damien knew, didn’t he? He had to have known.

”Oh my God.”

”Damien is aware.”

I looked up. ”So he does know”

”Yes.”

”Since when?”

”For some time.”

My heart pounded. ”Then why didn’t he tell me?”

”Because he believed he could resolve it himself, I suppose.”

Of course he did. Damien was still trying to carry every burden alone.

William placed another document on the table. ”You should take a look at this too, while you’re at it.”

I didn’t recognize it at first, then I saw Damien’s familiar signature at the bottom, sharp and familiar, and my eyes started scanning the page.

The words didn’t make sense at first, I read the contract again.

Damien had formally, permanently given up his claim to the Lockwood inheritance as an heir.

Why would he do that? Why would he throw his life away just like that?

And for fuck’s sakes, why would he thinks it was okay to keep this from me?!

My throat constricted. ”...H–he signed this?”

”Yes.”

I stared at the paper like it might change if I looked long enough. ”He actually... gave it up?”

”He did.”

”Because of the blackmail?”

William’s gaze hardened. ”Well...that too, but mostly because of his obsession with you.”

I shook my head slowly, still staring at the signature. ”What? No.”

It couldn’t be that, I wasn’t worth that. I wasn’t worth this amount of sacrifice...

”Mr. Reyes—”

”No.” I pushed the contract away from me like it burned. ”You don’t get to make it sound like he did something stupid because of me.”

”He gave up everything.”

”That was his choice!”

”He has foolishly sacrificed his future, surely you understand.”

I finally looked up and met William’s eyes. ”Maybe he decided his future shouldn’t be what you wanted it to be.”

Silence hung thick between us. For the first time, William’s pleasant demeanor slipped. Mrs. Lockwood looked almost offended.

I leaned back, still reeling. ”You know, I understand why Damien left.”

Her eyes narrowed. ”Do you?”

”Yeah.” I glanced at the contract again. ”Because if this is how you talk to the people you love, I’d leave too.”

William’s jaw tightened. ”You don’t understand the consequences of his decision.”

”Maybe I don’t.” I crossed my arms. ”But I do understand Damien, I don’t need to understand the reasons behind his choices, but I will support him...because I care about him.”

That seemed to rile him more than anything else I’d said.

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a checkbook, the leather well-worn from use. He placed it on the table, then looked right at me.

”You care about Damien, you say?”

My stomach dropped. ”Then leave him.”

I stared at the checkbook as William opened it, pen ready.

”Name your price.”

For several seconds I couldn’t find my voice.

The café buzzed around us. Someone laughed near the counter. The espresso machine hissed. A cup clinked against a saucer. Maya was pretending very hard not to listen.

And in the middle of all that ordinary noise, I felt completely distant.

I looked down at the checkbook.

Then at the photos, then at Damien’s signature on the contract he had never told me about.

The image of him standing in our kitchen last night...arms around me, mouth soft against mine, telling me to rest because I looked worn out, flashed through my mind. That warmth suddenly felt painfully far away.

I looked back at William Lockwood and scoffed.

This was beyond disgusting, did they think I was nothing but just a stupid gold digger?

”You really think you can just buy me?”

His expression didn’t flinch. ”I think everyone has a price.”

I swallowed slowly, then I smiled.

Not because I found it amusing.

But because if there’s one thing Damien taught me, it’s that sometimes the people who seem the most powerful are just the ones who’ve never faced someone willing to say no.

And unfortunately for William Lockwood, I had never been good at knowing when to shut my bitch ass up.