Hot and Dangerous, page 2
part #1 of Fraternity Brothers Series Series
When I open the door, the cool air is refreshing, but after about fifteen minutes, I’m digging in my duffle for a hoodie to put on. There are about thirty-five people in line ahead of me when they open the doors. Thirty-five isn’t bad I think to myself until the narrow hallway opens up to a massive room where at least sixty people are already sitting in chairs with numbers in hand.
“I thought you just opened,” I say to the woman unlocking the door.
“Those are lottery winners. You can enter online for an early spot,” she says.
“Oh.” Wow, a lottery. Well, since I am California’s newest resident, I couldn’t have known that. Now I have nearly one hundred people in front of me guaranteeing me a long, boring day.
Finally, I take a number, ninety-six, and settle into a hard, uncomfortable chair next to a boy who is wiping sweat from his brow while flipping through the pages of a book titled Getting Your Learner’s Permit.
I smile when I sit down feeling sorry for him and remembering the day I went to get my permit. My mom didn’t take me, though. My best friend, Renee, her mother was taking her so I went along. I didn’t have an adult who would teach me how to drive, but I liked the idea of it in my wallet, official and grown up.
I place my duffle in the empty seat on my other side and start looking around for something interesting to look at while I waste my day away. There’s a woman with shocking purple hair in the front row pulled up into a high ponytail on top of her head. Her makeup looks like stage makeup, and I imagine her going to a theatre when she is done here to practice her lines with a handsome co-star.
There’s a man with thick glasses, a bald head, and shaky hands holding his paper ticket with his number on it in front of me. Why do people that old keep driving? Why does the state keep giving them a license? At a certain age, you need to give up certain things, especially things that could kill other people like driving.
That’s when I start to wonder who’s worse, the sweaty kid next to me getting his permit or the old guy who can hardly see the road. Maybe I should stick to the bus?
“Number twenty-six,” a robotic voice says over the intercom. Wow, that was quick, they’re already on number twenty-six, and I’ve only been here ten minutes. They do have multiple counters to help people, so maybe it won’t be so bad.
An hour later, my ass is numb, and my stomach is growling, but I’m afraid if I go to get a snack from the vending machine, I’ll lose my seat, and there are no more available. Sweaty boy is still on my left, and now a Rastafarian woman is on my right humming a pretty song in her bright rainbow dress.
I shift in my seat and pull out my phone to find something to read. I don’t know why I didn’t think about this sooner. I have hundreds of books to read on my phone for occasions just like this. When I find the sexy romance novel I’ve been waiting to start, I settle in and zone out.
I don’t even notice when the boy and his mother leave and someone else takes the chair next to me. The book I’m reading is by my favorite author, and she’s the best at sucking you in and making you forget the world around you.
I slide my thumb across the screen when someone nudges me. “Hey, you have number ninety-six, and they just called number ninety. I see you’re really into whatever you’re reading and didn’t want you to miss your turn.”
I look up still in the haze of my story. “I’m sorry, what?” I say to a guy who is about as opposite as he can be from that seat’s last occupant. He’s so tall, he doesn’t look natural sitting in the molded plastic chair. His knees are bumping the chair in front of him, his elbows are on his knees, and his hands are hanging limply between his legs.
He nods toward my paper number slip lying in my lap. “You’re getting close.”
I look down at my number and up at the LED screen glowing number ninety.”
“Oh, thanks. I got lost in my book.”
“No problem, figured you’d been here a while. I’d be pissed if I missed my turn, even if the book was great.” He smiles, and I smile back resting my hand on my phone in my lap.
“You’re not from here, are you?” he asks.
I frown. Is it that obvious? “No, how’d you know that?”
“Your bag.” He points at the bag now on the floor between my feet. I moved it a long time ago when seats started filling up. “You’re lack of a tan,” he gestures at my pale hand. “And you’re KSU sweatshirt,” he says finally with a sly smile.
“Oh, uh, yeah, I guess I’m pretty transparent, huh?”
“It’s cool. Just get here?”
“Yes, this morning.”
“From Kansas?”
“You got me.” I throw up my hands in mock surrender.
“Yeah? And the DMV was your first tourist stop?”
Why does that surprise everybody so much? “Yes, I figured if I were going to make California my home, I’d better get a driver’s license.”
“Oh.” His eyebrows shoot up. “So, you’re not just here on vacation then?”
“Nope, starting over. New place, new life.”
“What are you running from?” he asks, and I choke on my spit. How on earth could he know I’m running away from something? “Whoa, sorry, I was kidding. Are you okay?”
I sputter out a “yes, fine,” and he pats me on the back.
“Hey, I know I’ve only known you for like a minute, but I was wondering if you have a place to live yet? I was going to put out an advertisement for a roommate today, but if you’re looking for a place, you could save me the trouble.”
Can it be possible that I have options when it comes to where I’m staying tonight, and when I arrived this morning, I had none? I think it is.
“Strangely enough, you’re the third person to offer me a place to stay today.”
“Ahh, but a place to stay is different from a place to live. I’m offering you permanence and comfort, a home not a crash pad,” he says with all the enthusiasm of a car salesman making a TV commercial.
“That’s some pitch.”
“Better than the first two, I’ll bet.” He nods his head once as if to agree with himself.
“Actually, yes it was. Still, I don’t know you at all. I don’t even know your name.” I don’t know Bodie or May either, but they were only offering me a place to stay not a place to live as this guy put it.
“Hunter, Hunter Knight, I live at 28116 Swallow Lane. My parents own the house. They let me live in it while I was going to college, and now that I’ve graduated, I have to start paying rent. I can’t afford it alone, so you’d really be helping me out.”
“I don’t even have a job yet.”
“That’s okay, I know a lot of people. I’ll help you find something. The rent’s not too steep when you cut it in half.”
“You don’t know anything about me. Doesn’t that worry you?”
“I know you’re beautiful, you’re from Kansas or somewhere in the Midwest, you’re starting your life over, you’re responsible enough to make the DMV your first stop, and you read trashy romance novels. What else do I need to know?”
He’s a good listener, and I guess he has a point. If he had placed an advertisement, he wouldn’t know as much about an applicant as he knows about me.
“My name maybe?” I say and laugh.
“Okay, what’s your name?”
“Edie.”
“Great, nice to meet you, Edie.”
“Nice to meet you, too, Hunter. So, what do you do?”
“I’m in fire science training.” I look at him with a blank expression. I have no idea what that is. “I’m going to be a firefighter. Well, I already am a volunteer firefighter and an EMT, but I want to make it my career.”
That’s an honorable career choice. He can’t be all bad if he wants to dedicate his life to saving others. “I thought you said you graduated college.”
“It’s a long story. Hey, they just called ninety-five, you’re next. So, do you wanna be roomies?” he asks it like he’s asking me to grab a cone at the Dairy Queen later, so casual.
“Sure, why not?”
“Excellent! Here, I’ll give you my number,” he says taking my phone and entering his number into it like we’re old friends reconnecting after years of separation.
“I’m number two hundred and ten, so I’m going to be here for a while. Can you meet me at my house later?”
“Um, yeah. My friend wants to show me the ocean anyway.”
“Cool, you better go. They just called your number.”
I stand and sling my duffle over my shoulder. I have a place to live. I have new friends. Hello, new California life. Goodbye old Kansas hell life.
3
Hunter
This day just went from shit to shiny all because of a drop-dead gorgeous girl from Kansas. I’m going to get my Class A license and a roommate all before noon. I still have to sit here waiting for my number to be called for another hour or two, but after that, I’m home free.
I hope I’m making the right decision with Edie. What kind of name is Edie anyway? It reminds me of ice cream. I think there’s a brand by that name. I bet she melts in your mouth like a spoonful of ice cream on a hot day.
Dammit, I have to quit thinking about her, or I’ll be sporting major wood when I take my test. I’m pretty sure that’s frowned upon.
Two and a half hours later, I’m walking out the door with my license and a perfect score on my driving test. I take my phone out of my pocket to call my new roomie when I realize I don’t have her number, she has mine. I have to wait for her to contact me.
After stopping at the station to show the chief my shiny new license, I head back to my house. I’m glad I have some time to pick up and clean the bathrooms before she arrives. I spend three nights a week sleeping at the firehouse, and that’s where I’ve been most of this week getting in some extra drills.
There’s no food in the fridge, my room is a mess, and the bathrooms… well, let’s not talk about those. I sort my laundry, and when I’m starting the washing machine, my phone rings.
“Hey, this is Edie, still wanna be roommates?” she asks.
“Hell, yes. Where are you?”
“Outside, but…”
“But what?”
“Well, I wanted to make sure I had the right address. This house doesn’t look like one that I can afford half the rent on.”
“Cobalt blue planters on either side of the front doors?”
“Yes.”
“Range Rover parked in the driveway?”
“Yes.”
“You’re in the right place. Front door is open. Come on in, I’ll be down in a second. I’m just picking up a little bit.”
“Okay,” she says still sounding hesitant.
I race to my bedroom and stuff things under the mattress, in drawers, and in the closet and make my bed. Next, Edie’s room. It’s a second bedroom, but I use it like a den when I study. I wad up all my papers, grab my books and my laptop, take them down to my room and stash them in my closet. Back in her room, I strip the bed and use the edge of one of the sheets to dust off the TV and its stand, the night table, and dresser. “There, good enough,” I say under my breath and shove the sheets down the laundry shoot in the hall.
“I’ll be right there!” I yell down the stairs as I take one more quick look around.
“Okay, no hurry.”
I descend the stairs to find her standing right inside the door in the foyer holding her duffle.
“Hey.”
“Hey, sorry. I was cleaning up a little. I wasn’t expecting to find a roommate so quickly.”
“So, you live here by yourself?”
“Yeah, it was my parents’ first home. They paid it off and let us kids use it when we were in college.”
“Us kids, you have brothers and sisters?”
“Yeah, two brothers and a sister. They’re all older than me, though, so nobody needs the house for school anymore.”
She nods. “So, what’s my half of the rent going to be?”
“Fifteen hundred?” I make it a question in case it’s totally out of her league. That’s half, but I could work with less if she needs me to.
“Wow, that’s steep. I don’t have any skills, and I have no idea what jobs pay out here so…”
“How about a thousand, and I’ll make sure you get a job that pays enough for that and whatever else you need?”
“You can do that?”
“I’ll do my best. What kinds of jobs have you done before?”
“I waited tables, and I worked with animals but working in a bookstore was my favorite.” She smiles shyly. “And I was a lifeguard every summer.”
“Okay, I can work with that. Come on, I’ll show you around. Bring your bag so you can put it in your room.” We step into the living room. “This is the living room. I never use it, though, too formal.” She nods, and I scrunch up my lip and lead on.
She’s not wearing the KU sweatshirt anymore. “No sweatshirt?” I ask pointing at her pink tank top that is hugging her perfect breasts showing them off like two round musk melons from the farmers’ market.
“Um, no, it’s like ninety degrees, and I was at the beach,” she says crossing her arms over her chest to hide herself.
“How was it?”
“The ocean’s amazing, so big and powerful. I had no idea it would make me feel so small.”
“That was your first time seeing it?”
“Uh huh.”
“Wow, I didn’t know. This is the dining room, another room I never use. The kitchen is through here. So, who was your friend?”
“My friend?” She’s looking around taking in the house and its charm. This is the house I grew up in, and it’s insignificant in my parents’ eyes, but to most, it’s pretty fancy.
“Yeah, who took you to see the ocean. You said it was a friend.”
“Oh, Bodhi, yes. He was my Uber driver from the bus station to the DMV.”
“So, you just met him today?”
“Yeah, but he’s really into the ocean. He’s a surfer, and he wanted to be the one to show it to me for the first time. He really got a kick out of it.”
She’s been here half a day, and some surfer is sniffing around already, great. Not that he’s competition for me. I mean I’m going to be living with her, after all. Still, I need to keep my eye on him.
“I need to get groceries. I’m only here four days a week sometimes less.”
“I can buy groceries. Are you allergic to anything?” she asks.
“No, you’ll grocery shop?”
“Sure, no problem. It’s the least I can do.” This is awesome, I loathe grocery shopping.
“Cool. All right, so the laundry room is through here, and the back entrance is here. I open the door, and she follows me out to the yard where the pool sits glimmering in the late afternoon sun.
“Oh my God, you have a pool? That’s so great.” She walks to the side and kicks off her sandal to dip her foot in the water.
“We have a pool. And since you’re a lifeguard, I won’t worry about you drowning out here when I’m not home.”
She chuckles. “No need to worry about that.”
“Let me show you the upstairs,” I say waving my arm toward the door. “We can run to the store and get something to grill when we’re done if you want.”
She slips on her shoe and looks at me carefully. “Hunter, you’re not expecting anything more than the rent money from me, are you?”
“What?”
“I mean, this is just us being friends, right? Nothing else.”
“Oh, yeah, of course.” Unless you want more because I definitely want more.
“Okay, I just wanted to make sure so it’s not weird later on, ya know?”
“Sure.” Inside, I take her upstairs and show her to her room pointing out my mom’s old sewing room and the extra bathroom and bedroom across from hers. I don’t point out my room after the comment she made by the pool. I’m sure she can figure out where to find me by process of elimination if she needs to.
“Are you going to have another roommate since there’s three bedrooms?” she asks.
“Actually, there are four. I forgot to show you the one downstairs, but no, I’d like to keep it down just to the two of us unless things get too difficult. The fewer people living here, the less likely something will get damaged or broken, ya know?”
“Yeah, sure.” I can see the wheels turning in her head. Three thousand divided by three is a lot better than two. Problem is, I didn’t want one roommate let alone two or three. I’d rather get another job to make up the difference.
“I’ll leave you to settle in. You have your own bathroom attached to your bedroom.” I open the en-suite bathroom and show her inside. “Sorry, it needs a little cleaning. No one’s used this bathroom forever.”
“I can do it. Where do you keep your cleaning supplies?”
“In the linen closet out in the hall.”
“Okay, I really need to shower. I’ve been on a bus for two days.”
“Sure, there’re towels in the linen closet, and if you need anything, just holler.”
“Thanks, Hunter, you’ve been so great to me. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
“You’d probably be crashing in a hut on the beach with Bohdi.”
“Oh no, he has a girlfriend. Her name is Star. They’re really cute together, and they live in a really nice house on the beach. He teaches surfing lessons to pay for it, and Star works at a restaurant up the beach. In fact, I was going to ask her if they had any waitress positions open tomorrow.”
A girlfriend, perfect. One less thing to concern myself with. “That’s great, what’s the restaurant called?”
“Billows? Or something like that.”
“I’ve heard of it, supposed to be really nice. I bet they get great tips there.”
“I hope so.”
“All right, I’ll let you rest. I’m going to study for a while. Let me know when you want to go to the store.”
“I will, thanks.”
I shut the door and pad down the hall to my room. Two and a half episodes of Flip this House later, she knocks on my door.
“Hey, is now a good time to go shopping?” she says, and I look up. I blink wondering how another woman got into my house. The one standing before me sounds like Edie but doesn’t look like her one bit.
“I thought you just opened,” I say to the woman unlocking the door.
“Those are lottery winners. You can enter online for an early spot,” she says.
“Oh.” Wow, a lottery. Well, since I am California’s newest resident, I couldn’t have known that. Now I have nearly one hundred people in front of me guaranteeing me a long, boring day.
Finally, I take a number, ninety-six, and settle into a hard, uncomfortable chair next to a boy who is wiping sweat from his brow while flipping through the pages of a book titled Getting Your Learner’s Permit.
I smile when I sit down feeling sorry for him and remembering the day I went to get my permit. My mom didn’t take me, though. My best friend, Renee, her mother was taking her so I went along. I didn’t have an adult who would teach me how to drive, but I liked the idea of it in my wallet, official and grown up.
I place my duffle in the empty seat on my other side and start looking around for something interesting to look at while I waste my day away. There’s a woman with shocking purple hair in the front row pulled up into a high ponytail on top of her head. Her makeup looks like stage makeup, and I imagine her going to a theatre when she is done here to practice her lines with a handsome co-star.
There’s a man with thick glasses, a bald head, and shaky hands holding his paper ticket with his number on it in front of me. Why do people that old keep driving? Why does the state keep giving them a license? At a certain age, you need to give up certain things, especially things that could kill other people like driving.
That’s when I start to wonder who’s worse, the sweaty kid next to me getting his permit or the old guy who can hardly see the road. Maybe I should stick to the bus?
“Number twenty-six,” a robotic voice says over the intercom. Wow, that was quick, they’re already on number twenty-six, and I’ve only been here ten minutes. They do have multiple counters to help people, so maybe it won’t be so bad.
An hour later, my ass is numb, and my stomach is growling, but I’m afraid if I go to get a snack from the vending machine, I’ll lose my seat, and there are no more available. Sweaty boy is still on my left, and now a Rastafarian woman is on my right humming a pretty song in her bright rainbow dress.
I shift in my seat and pull out my phone to find something to read. I don’t know why I didn’t think about this sooner. I have hundreds of books to read on my phone for occasions just like this. When I find the sexy romance novel I’ve been waiting to start, I settle in and zone out.
I don’t even notice when the boy and his mother leave and someone else takes the chair next to me. The book I’m reading is by my favorite author, and she’s the best at sucking you in and making you forget the world around you.
I slide my thumb across the screen when someone nudges me. “Hey, you have number ninety-six, and they just called number ninety. I see you’re really into whatever you’re reading and didn’t want you to miss your turn.”
I look up still in the haze of my story. “I’m sorry, what?” I say to a guy who is about as opposite as he can be from that seat’s last occupant. He’s so tall, he doesn’t look natural sitting in the molded plastic chair. His knees are bumping the chair in front of him, his elbows are on his knees, and his hands are hanging limply between his legs.
He nods toward my paper number slip lying in my lap. “You’re getting close.”
I look down at my number and up at the LED screen glowing number ninety.”
“Oh, thanks. I got lost in my book.”
“No problem, figured you’d been here a while. I’d be pissed if I missed my turn, even if the book was great.” He smiles, and I smile back resting my hand on my phone in my lap.
“You’re not from here, are you?” he asks.
I frown. Is it that obvious? “No, how’d you know that?”
“Your bag.” He points at the bag now on the floor between my feet. I moved it a long time ago when seats started filling up. “You’re lack of a tan,” he gestures at my pale hand. “And you’re KSU sweatshirt,” he says finally with a sly smile.
“Oh, uh, yeah, I guess I’m pretty transparent, huh?”
“It’s cool. Just get here?”
“Yes, this morning.”
“From Kansas?”
“You got me.” I throw up my hands in mock surrender.
“Yeah? And the DMV was your first tourist stop?”
Why does that surprise everybody so much? “Yes, I figured if I were going to make California my home, I’d better get a driver’s license.”
“Oh.” His eyebrows shoot up. “So, you’re not just here on vacation then?”
“Nope, starting over. New place, new life.”
“What are you running from?” he asks, and I choke on my spit. How on earth could he know I’m running away from something? “Whoa, sorry, I was kidding. Are you okay?”
I sputter out a “yes, fine,” and he pats me on the back.
“Hey, I know I’ve only known you for like a minute, but I was wondering if you have a place to live yet? I was going to put out an advertisement for a roommate today, but if you’re looking for a place, you could save me the trouble.”
Can it be possible that I have options when it comes to where I’m staying tonight, and when I arrived this morning, I had none? I think it is.
“Strangely enough, you’re the third person to offer me a place to stay today.”
“Ahh, but a place to stay is different from a place to live. I’m offering you permanence and comfort, a home not a crash pad,” he says with all the enthusiasm of a car salesman making a TV commercial.
“That’s some pitch.”
“Better than the first two, I’ll bet.” He nods his head once as if to agree with himself.
“Actually, yes it was. Still, I don’t know you at all. I don’t even know your name.” I don’t know Bodie or May either, but they were only offering me a place to stay not a place to live as this guy put it.
“Hunter, Hunter Knight, I live at 28116 Swallow Lane. My parents own the house. They let me live in it while I was going to college, and now that I’ve graduated, I have to start paying rent. I can’t afford it alone, so you’d really be helping me out.”
“I don’t even have a job yet.”
“That’s okay, I know a lot of people. I’ll help you find something. The rent’s not too steep when you cut it in half.”
“You don’t know anything about me. Doesn’t that worry you?”
“I know you’re beautiful, you’re from Kansas or somewhere in the Midwest, you’re starting your life over, you’re responsible enough to make the DMV your first stop, and you read trashy romance novels. What else do I need to know?”
He’s a good listener, and I guess he has a point. If he had placed an advertisement, he wouldn’t know as much about an applicant as he knows about me.
“My name maybe?” I say and laugh.
“Okay, what’s your name?”
“Edie.”
“Great, nice to meet you, Edie.”
“Nice to meet you, too, Hunter. So, what do you do?”
“I’m in fire science training.” I look at him with a blank expression. I have no idea what that is. “I’m going to be a firefighter. Well, I already am a volunteer firefighter and an EMT, but I want to make it my career.”
That’s an honorable career choice. He can’t be all bad if he wants to dedicate his life to saving others. “I thought you said you graduated college.”
“It’s a long story. Hey, they just called ninety-five, you’re next. So, do you wanna be roomies?” he asks it like he’s asking me to grab a cone at the Dairy Queen later, so casual.
“Sure, why not?”
“Excellent! Here, I’ll give you my number,” he says taking my phone and entering his number into it like we’re old friends reconnecting after years of separation.
“I’m number two hundred and ten, so I’m going to be here for a while. Can you meet me at my house later?”
“Um, yeah. My friend wants to show me the ocean anyway.”
“Cool, you better go. They just called your number.”
I stand and sling my duffle over my shoulder. I have a place to live. I have new friends. Hello, new California life. Goodbye old Kansas hell life.
3
Hunter
This day just went from shit to shiny all because of a drop-dead gorgeous girl from Kansas. I’m going to get my Class A license and a roommate all before noon. I still have to sit here waiting for my number to be called for another hour or two, but after that, I’m home free.
I hope I’m making the right decision with Edie. What kind of name is Edie anyway? It reminds me of ice cream. I think there’s a brand by that name. I bet she melts in your mouth like a spoonful of ice cream on a hot day.
Dammit, I have to quit thinking about her, or I’ll be sporting major wood when I take my test. I’m pretty sure that’s frowned upon.
Two and a half hours later, I’m walking out the door with my license and a perfect score on my driving test. I take my phone out of my pocket to call my new roomie when I realize I don’t have her number, she has mine. I have to wait for her to contact me.
After stopping at the station to show the chief my shiny new license, I head back to my house. I’m glad I have some time to pick up and clean the bathrooms before she arrives. I spend three nights a week sleeping at the firehouse, and that’s where I’ve been most of this week getting in some extra drills.
There’s no food in the fridge, my room is a mess, and the bathrooms… well, let’s not talk about those. I sort my laundry, and when I’m starting the washing machine, my phone rings.
“Hey, this is Edie, still wanna be roommates?” she asks.
“Hell, yes. Where are you?”
“Outside, but…”
“But what?”
“Well, I wanted to make sure I had the right address. This house doesn’t look like one that I can afford half the rent on.”
“Cobalt blue planters on either side of the front doors?”
“Yes.”
“Range Rover parked in the driveway?”
“Yes.”
“You’re in the right place. Front door is open. Come on in, I’ll be down in a second. I’m just picking up a little bit.”
“Okay,” she says still sounding hesitant.
I race to my bedroom and stuff things under the mattress, in drawers, and in the closet and make my bed. Next, Edie’s room. It’s a second bedroom, but I use it like a den when I study. I wad up all my papers, grab my books and my laptop, take them down to my room and stash them in my closet. Back in her room, I strip the bed and use the edge of one of the sheets to dust off the TV and its stand, the night table, and dresser. “There, good enough,” I say under my breath and shove the sheets down the laundry shoot in the hall.
“I’ll be right there!” I yell down the stairs as I take one more quick look around.
“Okay, no hurry.”
I descend the stairs to find her standing right inside the door in the foyer holding her duffle.
“Hey.”
“Hey, sorry. I was cleaning up a little. I wasn’t expecting to find a roommate so quickly.”
“So, you live here by yourself?”
“Yeah, it was my parents’ first home. They paid it off and let us kids use it when we were in college.”
“Us kids, you have brothers and sisters?”
“Yeah, two brothers and a sister. They’re all older than me, though, so nobody needs the house for school anymore.”
She nods. “So, what’s my half of the rent going to be?”
“Fifteen hundred?” I make it a question in case it’s totally out of her league. That’s half, but I could work with less if she needs me to.
“Wow, that’s steep. I don’t have any skills, and I have no idea what jobs pay out here so…”
“How about a thousand, and I’ll make sure you get a job that pays enough for that and whatever else you need?”
“You can do that?”
“I’ll do my best. What kinds of jobs have you done before?”
“I waited tables, and I worked with animals but working in a bookstore was my favorite.” She smiles shyly. “And I was a lifeguard every summer.”
“Okay, I can work with that. Come on, I’ll show you around. Bring your bag so you can put it in your room.” We step into the living room. “This is the living room. I never use it, though, too formal.” She nods, and I scrunch up my lip and lead on.
She’s not wearing the KU sweatshirt anymore. “No sweatshirt?” I ask pointing at her pink tank top that is hugging her perfect breasts showing them off like two round musk melons from the farmers’ market.
“Um, no, it’s like ninety degrees, and I was at the beach,” she says crossing her arms over her chest to hide herself.
“How was it?”
“The ocean’s amazing, so big and powerful. I had no idea it would make me feel so small.”
“That was your first time seeing it?”
“Uh huh.”
“Wow, I didn’t know. This is the dining room, another room I never use. The kitchen is through here. So, who was your friend?”
“My friend?” She’s looking around taking in the house and its charm. This is the house I grew up in, and it’s insignificant in my parents’ eyes, but to most, it’s pretty fancy.
“Yeah, who took you to see the ocean. You said it was a friend.”
“Oh, Bodhi, yes. He was my Uber driver from the bus station to the DMV.”
“So, you just met him today?”
“Yeah, but he’s really into the ocean. He’s a surfer, and he wanted to be the one to show it to me for the first time. He really got a kick out of it.”
She’s been here half a day, and some surfer is sniffing around already, great. Not that he’s competition for me. I mean I’m going to be living with her, after all. Still, I need to keep my eye on him.
“I need to get groceries. I’m only here four days a week sometimes less.”
“I can buy groceries. Are you allergic to anything?” she asks.
“No, you’ll grocery shop?”
“Sure, no problem. It’s the least I can do.” This is awesome, I loathe grocery shopping.
“Cool. All right, so the laundry room is through here, and the back entrance is here. I open the door, and she follows me out to the yard where the pool sits glimmering in the late afternoon sun.
“Oh my God, you have a pool? That’s so great.” She walks to the side and kicks off her sandal to dip her foot in the water.
“We have a pool. And since you’re a lifeguard, I won’t worry about you drowning out here when I’m not home.”
She chuckles. “No need to worry about that.”
“Let me show you the upstairs,” I say waving my arm toward the door. “We can run to the store and get something to grill when we’re done if you want.”
She slips on her shoe and looks at me carefully. “Hunter, you’re not expecting anything more than the rent money from me, are you?”
“What?”
“I mean, this is just us being friends, right? Nothing else.”
“Oh, yeah, of course.” Unless you want more because I definitely want more.
“Okay, I just wanted to make sure so it’s not weird later on, ya know?”
“Sure.” Inside, I take her upstairs and show her to her room pointing out my mom’s old sewing room and the extra bathroom and bedroom across from hers. I don’t point out my room after the comment she made by the pool. I’m sure she can figure out where to find me by process of elimination if she needs to.
“Are you going to have another roommate since there’s three bedrooms?” she asks.
“Actually, there are four. I forgot to show you the one downstairs, but no, I’d like to keep it down just to the two of us unless things get too difficult. The fewer people living here, the less likely something will get damaged or broken, ya know?”
“Yeah, sure.” I can see the wheels turning in her head. Three thousand divided by three is a lot better than two. Problem is, I didn’t want one roommate let alone two or three. I’d rather get another job to make up the difference.
“I’ll leave you to settle in. You have your own bathroom attached to your bedroom.” I open the en-suite bathroom and show her inside. “Sorry, it needs a little cleaning. No one’s used this bathroom forever.”
“I can do it. Where do you keep your cleaning supplies?”
“In the linen closet out in the hall.”
“Okay, I really need to shower. I’ve been on a bus for two days.”
“Sure, there’re towels in the linen closet, and if you need anything, just holler.”
“Thanks, Hunter, you’ve been so great to me. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
“You’d probably be crashing in a hut on the beach with Bohdi.”
“Oh no, he has a girlfriend. Her name is Star. They’re really cute together, and they live in a really nice house on the beach. He teaches surfing lessons to pay for it, and Star works at a restaurant up the beach. In fact, I was going to ask her if they had any waitress positions open tomorrow.”
A girlfriend, perfect. One less thing to concern myself with. “That’s great, what’s the restaurant called?”
“Billows? Or something like that.”
“I’ve heard of it, supposed to be really nice. I bet they get great tips there.”
“I hope so.”
“All right, I’ll let you rest. I’m going to study for a while. Let me know when you want to go to the store.”
“I will, thanks.”
I shut the door and pad down the hall to my room. Two and a half episodes of Flip this House later, she knocks on my door.
“Hey, is now a good time to go shopping?” she says, and I look up. I blink wondering how another woman got into my house. The one standing before me sounds like Edie but doesn’t look like her one bit.
