Blaze & Bind (Surrender to Them 10)

“Yes, that’s right.” I looked towards the chair across from his desk. “Can I sit down?”

“Sure.” He leaned back in his chair. “I hope you’re here about the rent that’s due tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow.” I exhaled sharply. “So, about that…”

“You gotta be shitting me.” He leaned forward suddenly, and his chair squeaked. “I agreed to let him move those other two guys in becaus

e he promised that there wouldn’t be any more late rent! That’s it. I’m done with this.”

“I was actually hoping that would be an option.” I raised an eyebrow, but I could see that the expression on his face wasn’t a reflection of generosity. “If we could just cancel the lease…”

“Right, cancel the lease.” His eyes narrowed, and he chuckled under his breath. “I’ll cancel it alright, just like the contract says I can do if the rent was not paid on time—and the remaining six months are due right now.”

“Six months.” My eyes got wide. “Hold on, that’s a lot of money…”

“It’s normally enough motivation for people to pay their rent on time, and I’ve been more than understanding when it comes to Apartment 2B.” He nodded quickly.

“Well, hold on—the rent isn’t due until tomorrow, right?” I tilted my head to the side.

“Yes.” He put his palms on the desk. “Same day every month.”

“So, if I pay what’s due, then we don’t have to pay the entire six months right now?” I tapped my chin in contemplation.

“That’s—correct.” His words were followed by a light grumble behind his pursed lips.

“You said my brother has roommates?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Yes…” He nodded.

“Okay, I’ll be back in a few minutes.” I grabbed my purse and stood.

I don’t know who my brother has living with him, but they owe two-thirds of the rent, and I’m definitely going to collect it. Surely, I can cover the rest. That will give Dad another month to figure this out.

I hit the button outside of the elevator and waited for it to come down to the lobby. I hoped Billy’s roommates weren’t losers like him. I could only imagine what kind of company he was keeping considering how irresponsible he was. For all I knew, I was about to meet a couple of drug addicts that crashed on his floor. I hoped the landlord at least wouldn’t let someone like that move into the building, regardless of how much he wanted to have the rent paid. Booting my brother out probably didn’t seem like the best option if the rent was eventually getting paid, especially if he was running ads for new tenants.

The landlord probably had no idea that my Dad was Mr. Responsible and would rush in and try to fix everything, even if that meant he had to pay six months of rent to close out the lease. I was kind of glad my Dad wasn’t the one who went to deal with it, because he would have just written a check. I was at least going to collect one month of rent from them—then my Dad could figure out what he was going to do about the rest of the lease when he returned home. My Dad wasn’t hurting for money, but every time my brother came calling, his retirement got further away. I got to the second floor and walked up to Apartment 2B. I knocked several times, but I didn’t hear anything—my next knock was a little louder and I finally listened to what sounded like footsteps approaching the door.

“Just a minute…” The voice sounded annoyed—but it also seemed familiar.

Why do I recognize that voice?

The door opened, and I saw a guy with long brown hair and a beard that looked like it hadn’t seen a razor in a few days. He tilted his head in confusion when he saw me, and I tried to figure out why his voice sounded familiar. Then I saw his eyes—dark brown eyes that looked like they were staring into my soul. It was Liam—one of my brother’s best friends. I hadn’t seen him since high school, and he didn’t look like the pretty-boy jock I remembered, but there was no mistaking those eyes. Seeing them again made my heart skip a beat, and my stomach did a flip. Liam was my first real high school crush—well, as much as he could be in the short time that I knew him. I was a Freshman when he was a Senior, and he had too much attention from the other girls to notice his best friend’s little sister.

“Liam—wow.” I blinked a couple of times.

“Yeah?” His eyebrows shot up. “Can I help you?”

“It’s me—Rachel. I’m Billy’s sister.” I felt dumb introducing myself to him, especially since I had sat across the table from him when he stayed over for dinner.

“Rachel? Whoa. When did you get hot?” The stupidly-sexy grin I remembered formed on the edge of his lips.

Hot?

“I’m here about the rent.” I tried to regain my composure as I mentally stumbled over what he had said. “It’s due tomorrow.”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “I know—that’s why I gave it to Billy yesterday.”

Oh shit—well that’s not good.