Mr. Roommate: Single Dad & Virgin Romance

“I guess I could live here…” Hannah arched her eyebrow as if her opinion didn’t seem to matter.

“You don’t have a choice. I’m paying your way.” He motioned for her to follow.

“Yes, you keep reminding me of that.” Hannah emitted a light grumble between

her lips and shook her head.

Hannah

I was shocked that my father had abruptly decided to trust Brent. There was definitely something about him that seemed fairly trustworthy; I just didn’t expect my father to agree to let me live with a random guy he didn’t know. We spent the rest of the day touring the campus and then we caught our flight back home. The next time I saw California again, I would be moving in with Brent and rushing off to class five days a week. When we got back home, I found out that my father still wasn’t entirely trusting of the man he shook hands with. He went online and bought background checks, criminal histories—the works. He seemed satisfied by what he found. Brent wasn’t a serial killer or a psychopath. He was just a guy down on his luck following his divorce. My father even got his hands-on Brent’s court case and scoured every detail of testimony from his ex-wife.

“She didn’t have anything bad to say about him.” He nodded and closed his laptop. “That’s a good sign.”

“So, I’m definitely living with him?” I picked up my cup of tea and took a sip.

“Am I over the moon about it, no.” He shook his head. “If I could hire a bodyguard to protect you and put you in a tower somewhere, I would. This gets you away from Anthony, the price is reasonable, and you have a scholarship to go to college. As much as it pains me to admit it, I think this is for the best.”

“Well, okay then.” I shrugged and sipped my tea again.

Everything seemed to be moving in fast forward once I officially had a place in California. My father rented a U-Haul that my car could be towed behind and we started packing what I would need for four years of college. I wasn’t sure if I would end up staying with Brent the entire time. Four years was a long time and if he ended up finding someone new and wanted to get married, I would definitely be out on the curb. I also wasn’t sure how dating would work. Would I get the house to myself on the weekend if I had someone I wanted to bring back? Would I need to run for the hills if I saw a sock on a doorknob? I assumed we would figure all of that out once I was moved in, but things would have been a lot easier if I just lived with a group of girls. I understood why my father was nervous about that, but some of his fears were misplaced. Anthony definitely wasn’t going to follow me to California and the arrangement was going to make my life more complicated than it needed to be. Still, my father’s peace of mind was what I had to deal with, so I didn’t have much choice.

“I think we’re ready…” I stared at the U-Haul as he closed the door.

“One cross country trip, coming right up.” He climbed into my car and drove it over to the trailer so he could attach it to the U-Haul.

I hated that Anthony had soured my hometown for me. Agreeing to our first date was the worst mistake I had ever made. If I hadn’t met him, I would be going to school somewhere close enough to drive back home on the weekends. Part of me was also worried about what would happen to my father if I stayed. If Anthony came near me again, I was certain he would make good on his threat to put him in the ground. I couldn’t stand the thought of him doing something stupid, so if I had to run, I had to go as far as I could get. California was definitely that—it was the other side of the world as far as I was concerned. We climbed into the U-Haul and started our journey. It would be a long one and we would have to stay in a couple of motels along the way, but it was the cheapest way to get me there with all of my things.

Brent

A couple of week later, I got the call that they were on their way. My mother agreed to watch Melody for the day and while I didn’t like being away from her, I also knew she would be in the way if we tried to move Hannah in while she was there. Word had gotten back to my ex-wife that a woman was moving in with me—likely from one of my nosy neighbors. She had questions, but I kept her in the dark outside of letting her know that Melody would not be in any danger. It wasn’t like she lived alone and I had to completely trust hot-dad without having a say in the matter. I waited outside when I saw the U-Haul approaching and then started helping Mr. Smith load all of her things into the bedroom at the end of the hall. She definitely had a lot of stuff—I wasn’t sure how it was all going to fit b

ut I was glad I never really bothered to furnish the bedroom outside of a bed and dresser.

“This should just about do it…” I picked up a large box and started towards the house.

“I’m going to grab a glass of water.” Mr. Smith wiped sweat off of his brow and followed me into the house.

“I’ll start unpacking.” Melody walked ahead of me and dropped her purse on the bed when she entered the room.

“You’ll be unpacking for weeks…” I laughed as I sat the box on the ground by her feet.

“Yeah, I guess so.” She let out a sigh. “It didn’t look like so much stuff when it was in my room at home.”

“I can help you unpack after your father is gone if you want.” I leaned against the door frame as she opened her purse. My eyes were quickly drawn to a pack of cigarettes peeking out from underneath her makeup. “If you’re going to smoke, you’ll have to do it outside—don’t even think about smoking in the house. I would also appreciate it if just took a walk if Melody is here and you need to do it.”

“Keep your voice down.” She closed her purse quickly and glared at me. “My father doesn’t know about that—I’ll make sure your daughter never sees me.”

“Thank you.” I nodded and walked back towards the living room. “Mr. Smith, what time is your flight?”

“It’s late.” He sipped the glass of water in his hand. “Maybe I can get an earlier one if I get to the airport and they have something available.”

“Why don’t you stay for dinner and then I can drive you?” I motioned to the kitchen. “I can make a mean pot of spaghetti.”

“Sure, that would be nice.” He smiled.

“This is delicious!” Hannah chewed on her first bite of spaghetti and her eyes lit up. “I don’t even like carbs!”

“She’s kidding.” Mr. Smith rolled his eyes. “You should see her with a bowl of ice cream.”