Surrendering (Surrender 1)

Don’t get me wrong, all four of these guys are HOT! Finn is probably one of the best looking guys I know. He is 6’4” with no body fat at all. He has dark blond hair and aqua blue eyes that remind me of the Caribbean Ocean. He purposely keeps a minimal amount of stubble on his face and dresses like a laid-back playboy.

For most of my life, my friends have assumed that Finn and I will end up married and having babies by the age of twenty-five. However, they don’t know that my brother and Finn have a pact. I’m off-limits. At first, I was livid that my brother, Robbie, would make this demand, but I now understand that Finn is a perfect friend to me. He’s also not my type in the romantic department. Finn has promised my dad and my brother that he would be a constant in my campus life, including accompanying me house-hunting. He is a pseudo big brother that is dedicated to keeping me safe.

As we approach the cute ranch style house, I see several things that catch my eye. First, there’s a concrete semi-circle driveway that’s bordered by annuals perfectly placed six inches apart. Second, there is a cobblestone walkway to the front porch that leads up to the front door. Thirdly, the front porch has the cutest bistro set I have ever seen with flower boxes lining the railings. The boxes contain blooming wild flowers in every color. Last, the front door is pink- I mean hot pink.

In other words, I love my first impression.

“Holy shit, Raven, Martha Stewart lives here!”

“Shhh, don’t let anyone hear you.”

As we walk up to the front door and ring the bell, I hear the Rolling Stones. Was that the doorbell tone?

“Well at least we know Martha Stewart has good taste in music.”

I swat Finn just as the door swings open. The cutest girl I have ever seen stands in front of us with a big smile. She has shoulder length auburn hair with green eyes that are mesmerizing. She looks like she could cover for a magazine.

“You must be Raven Hayes. I’m Abigail, but you can call me Abbi.” She looks at me and then turns her attention to Finn. I can see it in her eyes; she’s impressed with what she sees. “And you are?”

“Hi, Abbi, it’s nice to meet you. This is my friend Finn Black. He came with me today to look at the room.” I try my best to emphasize the word friend.

“Oh, I didn’t realize this was a couple’s visit,” she says disappointed.

“Please don’t misread this situation; Finn has his own house on the other side of campus. I assure you he’s just here to help me find somewhere to live.”

She looks at us with relief on her face and invites us in.

As we walk in the house we’re immediately engulfed with the smell of chocolate chip cookies and gingerbread. It’s wonderful. The living room is an addition to the front porch with vibrant colors and welcoming furniture. You can tell it’s inhabited by women with a taste for flair and flamboyance. I love it!

“My sister, Ella, is on the phone, but she’ll be right out. I made some snacks in case we wanted to sit down and talk details after you look at the house. As you know already, we have three full bedrooms and two and a half baths. My sister and I have lived here for a few years and have done everything we can to make this more than a college crash pad. We live here year-round. Our last roommate moved out when she had a small conflict and we now have a room available for rent. We prefer to sign a year’s lease, but would be open to nine months if needed. I’m going to pop back to the kitchen and get some drinks. Please feel free to look around.”

We start with the first room we find and it looks to be the Master bedroom. The room is large and spacious with a walk-in closet and bay window. There is a bathroom with an enclosed shower and separate tub. The room looks freshly painted with cleaned carpet. The view is limited, but you can see the quaint backyard and neighboring home. I immediately get excited, but I can’t help but wonder why this room is vacant.

Off the small dining area is a decent size kitchen and half bath. Abbi hands us a bottle of water and goes back to setting out the cookies. Finn and I proceed out into the hallway and veer to the left. This hallway leads to two bedrooms across the hall from one another and a bathroom at the end. You can tell these girls keep their house clean. There’s a noise on the other end of one of the closed doors and remember the sister is on the phone.

Finn and I turn around and make our way back to the kitchen to talk to Abbi.

“Well, what do you think? Did you get enough time to view the whole house?”

“You and your sister have done a great job with the house. I love your front walk and porch and the decorations are lovely. It doesn’t seem like a college house at all. But I have to ask, why is the Master bedroom vacant? I thought the advertisement said you were renting a room. I would think one of you would take the Master and your new roommate would have one of the other rooms.”

Abbi surprises me by yelling. “Ella, get off the damn phone and come out here now. You need to meet Raven and you aren’t leaving me to explain this by myself!”

The door down the hall opens and a pretty brunette walks out with the phone in her hand. She looks around the room and immediately hones in on Finn. Her eyes widen at him.

“Abbi, you didn’t tell me we were getting a male roommate.” Ella smiles.

“Ella, get your head out of your ass. This is Raven and her friend Finn. He’s helping her look for a place to live. He has his own place.” Abbi tells her and holds out a plate of cookies for us.

“Okay, Raven, we need to be honest with you. Our last roommate moved out because of a conflict of interest and she paid extra for the Master bedroom. Ella and I have argued for months over who deserves to get the room, but we can’t come to a conclusion. Recently, we decided to keep our rooms and

offer the Master to a new roommate. The only condition is that the rent will be a little more since the room has its own bathroom and walk in closet.”

“How much more will this add to the rent?” I ask.

Ella pipes up, “We figured about twenty dollars would be fair. In all honesty, the rent is not the problem, but we thought we could put the extra money towards a house fund. The house fund can pay for pizza night, or wine Wednesdays, etc.”

I looked at Finn and hid my smile. This was exactly what I was looking for. “Finn, can we talk on the front porch? Please excuse us for just a few minutes.”