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Sarah’s gaze hardened.

"Someone better start explaining."

Jason looked at Vivian again.

This time, there was no confusion in her expression.

Only calculation.

Not the cold, emotionless kind. More like she was trying to figure out how much of the truth could be spoken without making everything worse.

Jason understood the feeling immediately.

Unfortunately, Sarah understood silence better than either of them.

She leaned forward.

"Why are you both looking at each other?"

"We’re not," Jason said.

"You literally just did."

"I was looking at her because you asked what we talked about."

"And?"

Jason opened his mouth.

Nothing came out.

Sarah’s eyes narrowed.

"Jason."

He hated the way she said his name.

Not because she was angry.

Because she wasn’t.

Her voice was too controlled.

That meant she was thinking.

And Sarah thinking was considerably more dangerous than Sarah getting angry.

Vivian finally spoke.

"We talked about you."

Sarah turned toward her.

"About me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Vivian hesitated.

"Because you’re my roommate."

"That doesn’t answer the question."

"I know."

Sarah waited.

Vivian sighed.

"You’ve talked about your boyfriend before."

"Of course I have."

"Sometimes I asked questions."

"About him?"

"About the relationship."

Jason felt his stomach tighten.

Sarah’s eyes shifted toward him.

"And what did you say?"

Vivian’s gaze flicked back to Jason.

"Nothing terrible."

"That’s not what I asked."

"I didn’t say anything that would hurt you."

Sarah gave a short, humorless laugh.

"You’re making this sound worse."

"It probably is worse than I thought it would be."

"Vivian."

"Okay."

Vivian sat down on the other side of the couch.

She looked uncomfortable now.

Actually uncomfortable.

Jason had seen Vivian nervous before.

He had seen her embarrassed.

He had seen her excited, annoyed, playful, and even angry.

He had never seen her like this.

Like every possible answer in front of her led somewhere she didn’t want to go.

"We talked about him," Vivian admitted.

Sarah stared at her.

"How much?"

"A little."

Jason closed his eyes briefly.

That was a terrible answer.

Sarah immediately caught it.

"A little?"

Vivian rubbed her palms together.

"Okay. More than a little."

Sarah looked at Jason.

"And you?"

Jason knew there was no point pretending.

"I talked about you too."

"With her?"

"Yes."

Sarah’s expression remained still.

"How often?"

"Not often."

"Jason."

"Sometimes."

"How many times?"

He hesitated.

"I don’t know."

"You don’t know?"

"We never exactly sat down and made a schedule for it."

Vivian snorted despite herself.

Sarah looked at her.

The tiny sound died immediately.

"Sorry."

"No. Don’t apologize." Sarah looked between them. "This is actually helpful."

Jason frowned.

"Helpful?"

"Yes."

She stood up.

Then she began pacing.

"Because now I know that while I’ve been talking to my boyfriend about my life, and you’ve been talking to your roommate about yours, somehow you two were separately discussing the exact same people without realizing it."

"That sounds worse when you put it that way," Jason said.

"It is worse."

"Fair."

Sarah stopped pacing.

"What did you tell her about me?"

Jason considered lying.

He really did.

For approximately two seconds.

Then he realized that if he lied now, Sarah would eventually discover it, and whatever damage this situation caused would become significantly worse.

"I told her I liked you."

Sarah blinked.

"That’s it?"

"Mostly."

"Mostly?"

"I said you were important to me."

Her expression softened slightly.

"Okay."

Jason exhaled.

Then Sarah turned toward Vivian.

"What did you tell him about me?"

Vivian stared at the floor.

"That you were a good roommate."

Sarah waited.

"And?"

"That you were stubborn."

"Excuse me?"

"You are."

"I am not."

"You absolutely are."

Jason rubbed his forehead.

The conversation had somehow become absurd.

Sarah glared at Vivian.

Vivian stared back.

For a second, the tension between them changed.

It wasn’t about him anymore.

It was two roommates having an argument that apparently existed completely independently of the current disaster.

Sarah crossed her arms.

"What else?"

Vivian sighed.

"That you overthink things."

"I do not."

"You reorganized the kitchen shelves three times last month because you decided the mugs were in the wrong place."

"They were."

"You made a spreadsheet."

"It was efficient."

Jason looked between them.

"You made a spreadsheet for mugs?"

Sarah turned toward him.

"Do not involve yourself."

"Understood."

Vivian smiled faintly.

The smile disappeared almost immediately.

Because Sarah’s attention returned to the real problem.

"What did you tell him about me and our relationship?"

Vivian’s expression tightened.

"Not much."

"That’s the second time you’ve said that."

"Because it’s true."

"Then tell me the specific things."

Vivian remained silent.

Jason could see the moment she decided.

"I told him you were happy."

Sarah’s eyes narrowed.

"That’s all?"

"I told him you seemed serious about him."

Jason’s chest tightened.

"And?"

Vivian looked at him.

Then back at Sarah.

"I told him you talked about him a lot."

Sarah froze.

Jason froze too.

Vivian immediately realized she’d stepped into something dangerous.

Sarah’s voice became quieter.

"I talked about him a lot?"

"Yes."

"How much?"

Vivian hesitated.

"A normal amount."

"Vivian."

"More than a normal amount."

Jason felt warmth creep into his face.

Sarah looked at him.

"You knew that?"

"No."

Vivian gave him a strange look.

"You didn’t?"

"No."

Sarah sat back down.

For the first time since the conversation started, some of the suspicion left her face.

Instead, something else appeared.

Embarrassment.

"You told her about me?"

Jason almost laughed.

"Apparently."

"How much?"

"Not much."

Sarah stared at him.

"You’re using her answer."

"I genuinely don’t know what else to say."

Vivian’s lips twitched.

Sarah caught it.

"You’re enjoying this?"

"No."

"You almost smiled."

"I didn’t."

"You did."

"I promise I’m not enjoying watching you interrogate your boyfriend."

"Good."

Sarah leaned back.

Then she looked at Jason.

"So what did you actually tell her?"

Jason thought about it.

"The first time, you came up because she mentioned someone she knew from school. I didn’t know she was talking about you."

Vivian nodded.

"That was the first time."

"You remember?"

"Yes."

Sarah looked between them.

"How did neither of you recognize the other person?"

Jason shrugged.

"You never said her name."

"And she never said yours," Vivian added.

Sarah shook her head slowly.

"That’s ridiculous."

"I agree."

"No, it’s actually ridiculous."

She looked toward Vivian.

"You’ve seen pictures of him?"

"Not really."

"Not really?"

"You showed me a picture once."

Sarah’s head snapped around.

"When?"

"I don’t remember."

"You don’t remember seeing my boyfriend?"

"You showed me a picture while we were eating. You were complaining about something."

"I showed you a picture of him."

"Yes."

"And you didn’t recognize him?"

"I didn’t look closely."

Jason stared at Vivian.

"You saw a picture of me?"

Vivian looked slightly embarrassed.

"I didn’t know it was you."

"How?"

"It was a bad picture."

"What kind of bad picture?"

"You were wearing a hat."

Sarah looked at Jason.

"You wear hats?"

"Sometimes."

"You never wear hats around me."

"I don’t think I own one anymore."

Vivian’s lips curved.

"Exactly."

Sarah stared at both of them.

Then she laughed.

It was short.

Disbelieving.

Almost helpless.

"This is insane."

Jason nodded.

"Completely."

She rubbed her forehead.

"I can’t believe this."

Nobody spoke for several seconds.

The atmosphere gradually became less explosive.

Not comfortable.

Not normal.

But less explosive.

Then Sarah looked at Vivian.

"Wait."

Vivian looked up.

"What?"

"You said you didn’t know he was my boyfriend."

"I didn’t."

"But you’ve known Jason for weeks."

"Yes."

"And I’ve been telling you about my boyfriend for weeks."

"Yes."

"And you never once thought—"

"No."

"Why?"

Vivian gave her an exhausted look.

"Because there are millions of guys named Jason."

Sarah paused.

"Fair."

Jason leaned back.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Then Vivian looked at him.

Something changed in her eyes.

Small.

Almost invisible.

But Jason noticed.

He had spent enough time around her to recognize it.

She was remembering something.

Something specific.

Jason’s stomach tightened.

"What?"

Vivian shook her head.

"Nothing."

"That’s not a nothing face."

Sarah looked between them.

"What?"

Vivian hesitated.

"Nothing."

Jason stared at her.

She looked away.

Sarah noticed.

"What are you two hiding now?"

"We’re not hiding anything," Jason said.

Vivian remained silent.

Sarah sighed.

"Vivian."

Vivian finally looked at her.

"I just remembered something."

"What?"

"A conversation."

"Between you and Jason?"

"Yes."

Sarah’s eyes sharpened.

"What conversation?"

Vivian looked at Jason.

He already knew.

She was remembering the conversation they’d had at the gym.

The one where she had complained about Sarah’s boyfriend.

About Sarah being hopelessly attached.

About how she thought the guy was probably better than he realized.

Jason had listened.

He had offered advice.

He had defended Sarah without knowing he was defending her.

And Vivian had laughed.

A lot.

She had even told him that whoever Sarah was dating was lucky.

Jason hadn’t understood why the words had stayed with him.

Now he did.

Vivian swallowed.

"I once told Jason that Sarah really liked her boyfriend."

Sarah stared.

"That’s what you’re remembering?"

"No."

"Then what?"

Vivian’s gaze dropped.

"I told him that Sarah was probably serious about him."

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