Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 62811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
“You always did have a spying problem,” he says, pulling my attention. I blink and find him looking over his shoulder at me. He smiles, but it disappears just as quickly, his face turning back to stone. I swallow the uncomfortable knot in my throat and take a couple of steps forward.
“Sorry. I didn’t want to disturb you.” I wring my hands in front of me, not sure what to say. After the passionate exchange in the basement yesterday, I thought today would be a little easier and less awkward. But sex has only seemed to make things more tense and uncomfortable between us.
“Talon is on his way over here to pick you up,” he says.
“Pick me up? To go where?” I ask with a raised brow. “I thought the hotel was—”
“Your new apartment,” he interrupts.
My mouth opens and closes for a few moments in shock. My new apartment? Is this their way of trying to trap me here with them? I want to pick my own place. I don’t need them to pay for anything else for me as some kind of bribe to keep me around. But considering Tristan goes back to his workout as if I’m not even standing here, I swallow the words that are dying to fall out of my mouth. I’ll just ask Talon; he’s easier to talk to anyway.
I sit and wait in the living room, relieved when Talon walks through the door. His soft smile is a major comfort when he lays eyes on me, lifting his hand in a small wave.
“Good, you’re already ready,” he says with an approving smile.
“You guys didn’t have to get me an apartment,” I start. “I would’ve chosen one when I was ready. I haven’t even had the money for a full twenty-four hours yet.”
“We’re not trying to rush you or anything. Just wanted to help.” His smile disarms me a bit. “We had a one bedroom open up in one of our buildings, and you’re more than welcome to have it if you’d like it. We can go check it out, and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to take it.” He gestures to my bag. “Unless you want to buy a house in cash, you’ll have a hard time proving income for most places around here. We just wanted to make things a little easier for you.”
I sigh softly. He’s right. It’s one of the many things I didn’t even consider when I was thinking about my next steps. Of course I’d have to prove income, and most places would also like to know where I got this amount of money in such a short time span. At least staying in an apartment that the guys’ own will buy me some time to improve my income so that I’m better prepared whenever I’m ready to move again.
“Okay then,” I say, expelling a breath. “I think that’s a good idea. Thank you.”
“Sure.” He holds the door open for me. “We can go to your apartment and get some of your stuff to take to your new place.”
I nod and walk through the door, pausing momentarily to ponder whether I should tell Tristan that I’m leaving. Talon puts a hand on the small of my back and shakes his head a little.
“He knows we’re leaving. Just give him time,” he says. I sigh inwardly and nod, making my way out of the house. I wonder what Tristan said to Talon, as it seems as if Talon knows something that I don’t. I keep my questions to myself because I know my questions will only open up the door to him firing back his own.
The ride is relatively silent aside from the radio playing soft country music. I’m not sure what I expected my life to look like once I got my money, but I didn’t think it would leave me feeling indifferent. I try to muster up some excitement when we get to my apartment. The landlord is in front of my door, with a box of tools at his feet. When he notices our presence, he scowls at me.
“Unless you have the money to pay me what you owe, I’m changing the locks, and you’re not allowed to come back in here,” he snaps.
Talon frowns and steps in front of me. “She’s here to get her belongings out of this dump,” he fires back. “You can either let her do that peacefully, or I can make a few phone calls to get this place shut down.” He cocks his head to the side. “And I don’t think you want the police to know how you treat young girls who can’t pay their rent on time.”
My landlord glares at him for a long while before he snatches his toolbox from the ground. “You have an hour to get your shit and get lost,” he mumbles and stomps away.