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Whoops.
He was about 75 percent sure he hadn’t banged her and that she was just a “spank bank” follow, but better to be safe.
He set his phone down, cracked open a beer, and got back to unpacking his bags. Some of the uneasiness he’d been struggling with started to lift, although the jury was still out on Tyler Hayes.
The Meeting (4)
“So, this will cover both of us, the other tenant Ryan and me, until January. I am gonna need that in writing from you though,” Amara said, adjusting her glasses as she signed the lease paperwork for the apartment and cut a check for almost $11,000.
“Of course. Give me just a moment.” The building clerk took the check and left to grab some paperwork from the printer.
Nick nudged her. “Are you sure? That’s like, a ridiculous chunk of change, Mar.”
“Yes. And it’s fine. It’s from my car anyway. I’ve still got a good amount from the house, not to mention that I’m gonna have alimony rolling in for two years. It’s the least I can do for the poor kid since he’s getting stuck living with some decrepit old lady.” She shrugged. “Honestly, it’s cool that he’s cool with this. We’ll call it compensation for the fact that he’s about to have random pairs of reading glasses stashed in every crevice of his apartment.”
Amara was far from a decrepit old lady; she knew that. Though 41, she didn’t feel it and was probably in the best shape of her life. Having your entire world ripped out from under your feet and your heart shattered into a million irreparable pieces, as it turned out, was pretty dope motivation to work out.
It took her a while to get there, though. The crippling depression and anxiety that followed her ex-husband’s cheating almost a year ago and their divorce five months ago wasn’t pretty. There had been days-long stretches when she literally didn’t get out of bed, shower, or even eat.
It was exacerbated by the fact that all her friends were also his friends and thus disappeared quickly after everything went down between them. Pair that with the fact that she didn’t talk to almost anyone in her family: the loneliness had been downright unbearable at times, and she surprised even herself that she’d made it out alive.
Nick had been her rock. Her cousin on her late father’s side, he was the only person related to her that she kept in contact with. He would constantly check up on her, even though in Connecticut, he was on the opposite side of the country from where she was living just outside of Seattle. He’d spent countless hours on the phone with her, sometimes just listening to her cry, scream, or whatever she needed to do.
When she told him about a week ago that she felt like she was suffocating and needed a fresh start, he offered to help her figure things out and invited her to move to Connecticut, where she’d at least be close to him and his fiancée, Mark. She’d have been welcome to stay with them, but their place was a studio, and there was literally nowhere for her to go.
“I promise you, Mar, I will hook you up with something amazing.”
Now, bags in hand, she and Nick were in the elevator headed there.
“Hey. It’s all good. He’s very easy to get along with. Honestly? He’s kind of a dork.”
“I can’t help it. I haven’t lived with another human being besides my ex since my parents, Nick. And even when I was married, I was alone most of the time. I don’t know how the hell to be someone’s roommate, let alone a 23-year-old kid. What if I constantly get in his way? What if I’m like,” she gasped, “an unintentional cockblock? Girls are probably gonna think he lives with his mother! Or, what if he gets a girlfriend and she’s weirded out by all this? You know, I didn’t think this through. This might be a bad idea.”
The elevator dinged, and the doors opened to the sixth floor. “Welp, it’s a little too late now, bitch. Now grab your bags and let’s go.” She did as Nick instructed, and it felt like the longest walk of her life. She literally had no idea what she was doing or why she’d thought this was a good idea. As they approached the door, she put her bags down and went to knock, but Nick stopped her.
“Get your key. This is your place, too. You don’t need to knock.”
“Right,” she said, as she fumbled with the lock. She finally got it and pushed the door open into the kitchen, which was beautifully upgraded with all newer, stainless-steel appliances, mahogany cabinetry, and white marble countertops. “Nick. Oh my God,” she whispered.
“What’d you think, I was gonna put you up in some slum? I got you, girl.”
“This is unbelievable,” she gasped, rounding the corner to the living room, which was just as beautiful. She set her bags down and looked around, taking it all in. It even had a gray leather sectional with a chaise; she’d always wanted a chaise. She envisioned herself curled up with a blanket while writing and watching the Connecticut snowfall through the sliding glass balcony doors. “This is just…”
“Really nice, isn’t it?” An unfamiliar voice startled her, causing her to jump and spin around. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“No, it’s...fine,” she managed to get out as her eyes immediately locked with his. They were blue with the slightest hint of gray, and they were guarded by a curious sadness. The feeling she got throughout her body served as a warning that they were a place in which she could get into trouble if she wasn’t careful.
She lowered her gaze just enough to see that he had on a pair of black sweatpants and a gray undershirt that clung to his body for dear life, revealing part of a large chest tattoo that spilled over into a half-sleeved upper right arm, all of it done entirely in jet black ink. His blonde hair was a wet, matted-down mess, and she could smell that he’d just gotten out of the shower, picking up on a mixture of fresh cologne and deodorant.
She gulped.
“Baylor, what’s up?” Nick said, patting him on the shoulder with one hand and reaching in for a handshake with the other.
Ryan shook Nick’s hand, but his eyes stayed right with Amara’s. “Good seeing you, Nick.”
“So, I found this lady on the way over here and she looked like she needed a home. Ryan Baylor, meet your new roommate...”
“Amara,” Ryan cut him off, his eyes still locked with hers. “That’s a beautiful name.”
