Chapter One
Merc
“And… check out the bathroom,” the guy says, and winks. “You’ll love this.”
“Why are you winking at me?” I fold my arms over my chest. “Throughout the whole apartment tour, you didn’t wink at me once.”
He blinks at me. “Uh, what? Look, Merc…”
“Mercury for you, buddy.” I lean sideways until I can see inside the bathroom without actually stepping inside, because this guy—by the name of JC, apparently—is acting weird about it. Then I straighten again, and it’s my turn to blink at him. “You serious?”
“What, man? It’s a bathtub. And it’s awesome. Ever tried tub sex?”
I roll my eyes and ignore the question, because yeah… no, I haven’t, and the images that spring to my mind...
“It’s not just a bathtub. It’s a clawfoot tub. And this whole apartment…” I glare at him, then across the hallway at the huge living room. “Check the rent you quoted to me, man. I bet you made a mistake, and I can’t afford it.”
“The rent is right, Merc…” He starts after me when I stride down the hallway, ready to get out of this high-end apartment before the guy tries to draw me into an agreement with fine print for a place I can’t pay for. “Mercury, wait!”
I need to find an affordable place. As in cheap. Sleeping in my car ain’t my style.
My car being a second-hand, beaten-up Mazda I spent every penny I had on and every spare minute fixing its misfiring engine.
Maybe I could live in it, anyway, for a while?
“Hey.” He comes after me as I yank the apartment door open. “Just wait a second. Jesus fucking Christ.”
“I’m a student, dude. Got a part-time job, and that’s it. No money to spend on… on walnut floors or whatever that wood is, and marble countertops.”
“The rent,” JC says patiently in the face of my little freak out, “is low because the apartment belongs to my family. It’s furnished, bills are included in the price. All you need to do is bring your clothes, and you’re set.” He chews on the inside of his cheek. “You came recommended from my buddy Simon. Not a troublemaker, he said. I just want a roommate I can…” He thrusts a hand through his dark hair, and a frustrated look crosses his face. “Shit.”
“You can… what?” I prompt, curious despite myself, and roll my stiff shoulders. Apartment-hunting is fucking exhausting. I’ve lost count of the number of places I visited this past week, and I’m still going to classes and working part-time in the afternoons. But he shakes his head and grunts under his breath. “The room is yours if you want it, at the price quoted. No hidden clauses, I swear.”
I lean against the door frame and cock my head at him. “I won’t have to do the dishes and mop the floors?”
He chuckles and ducks his head. “Nope.”
Simon is a customer at the garage I work part-time, and he did say that JC is a good guy.
But I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop. I mean, look, the guy is tall, almost as tall as me, and obviously a gym rat, all bulging muscles. With his pretty face and the money backing him up, I bet he’s a hit with the chicks. He can’t be short on friends, either, friends with pockets as deep as his.
Rich kids.
And I don’t trust rich kids. I see them walking around at college sometimes, bul
lying some girl or boy for shits and laughs, and it gets my hackles up. That they feel so entitled. So worthy of the world when the rest of us scrape at the bottom, hoping for a chance to breathe.
So I have a few hang-ups, growing up poor. So sue me.
He lifts his head and looks right back at me. We stare at each other, both of us waiting for something. I’m waiting for him to tell me what the catch is. He’s waiting… fuck knows for what.
Why does he want me as a roommate? Can’t be my sparkling personality. I’m not normally this short and grumpy with people, but I’m tired and suspicious of unexpectedly good deals. They usually come with a fucking nuclear payload that’ll blow in your face.
“Dude,” he finally says, “just take the fucking room.”
“You know nothing about me.”
He rocks back on his heels, jams his hands into his pockets. “Is that a yes?”
I draw a deep breath. After all, this is a great deal, and I need a place to crash ASAP, before my sister Gigi kicks me out of her apartment, the one she shares with her boyfriend, Jarett. If this rich kid wants me moving in with him for whatever mysterious reason, who am I to kick a gift horse in the mouth?
Can you kick a gift apartment in the mouth?
“Sure.” I nod, open the door. “Yes.”
Fingers crossed I haven’t made a big mistake. I hope he won’t turn out to be a douchebag, that he won’t throw me out when he realizes I’m not one of his asshole buddies, or when he finds out about my habit of playing my music loud, or even worse, the nightmares…
Let’s just say I hope he’s a damn heavy sleeper.
I’m kneeling on the carpet and stuffing books into my duffel bag when Gigi unlocks the door and walks into the apartment later that evening. Jarett is right behind her, and he’s whispering something in her ear as I look up, something that makes her blush and giggle prettily.
Hiding a smile, I push my Bose earphones back to hang around my neck and think how happy I am for her. For them both. Jarett’s a great guy, almost worthy of my sister. I mean, nobody’s fucking worthy of her, but Jarett might just prove to be, if he continues loving her the way he seems to be. It’s the way he looks at her, the way he looks after her, like he can’t breathe when she’s not around.