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“We became roommates, and the rest is history,” Jason said.
I blushed. “We’re not roommates.”
“No,” Mike agreed.
“You can have it,” I said.
“No.” Mike shook his head. “I’ll call the guy back and tell him to give it to you.”
“No,” I insisted. “Congratulations, you were the better candidate.”
“I don’t think I was ‘better,’” he said awkwardly, “just first in line.”
“This is not how I remember our arguments going,” Lindsey murmured to her husband.
Jason kissed her ear, agreeing with a low growl.
I ignored them. “Don’t call him back. Take it. You’re ready to move out on your own. Macy and Dillon can put up with me for another week.”
“Of course,” Macy agreed, “more than another week. We love having you with us.”
I smiled.
“You’re sure?” Mike asked hesitantly.
“Yes, I’m sure. I know you’ve been wanting to get out of your place for a while.” I said firmly. Then a flirtatious thought popped into my head, and I had to voice it. “But maybe you’ll invite me down to the basement after you sign the lease.”
His eyes lit up with a fire that made me sure he was thinking exactly what I was thinking. We probably weren’t the first couple to have sex on a private bar. Everyone around the fire laughed, but no one called us out.
“Absolutely, I will invite you over,” he said.
“Young love,” Jason sighed.
“Wasn’t that long ago,” Dillon agreed.
“Hey, you two,” Macy warned them.
“Just kidding.” Dillon squeezed his wife tight, planting a rough kiss on her temple.
I closed my eyes, leaning against my date. The fire was blazing, and the friendship was strong. I wouldn’t have traded this cozy moment for all the cozy rental cabins in the world.
15
MIKE
Ireclined on the ground beside the fire pit, Tammy’s head on my stomach. Staring up at the night beyond the cabin, I felt small. I could hear Dillon and Jason talking quietly to each other, but I couldn’t hear the women’s voices. Maybe, like Tammy, they were all dozing or lost in thought like I was.
I felt bad for getting the cabin instead of Tammy. Without knowing that she was my competition, I had called the guy back earlier that day. I wanted to explain what would come up on my background check, and he said he had seen it already. He said that he had been considering denying my application, but he would listen to what I had to say. I explained the situation, explained that I wasn’t a drug addict, that I had never been high, never sold anything illegal, and that I had been framed.
I didn’t tell him that I had been the one to frame myself, by stepping in and helping Porter when I could have walked away. But I assured the landlord that I was working a good job now, and I had been taking piss tests every week and passing them. I could tell the guy wanted to give me a break. Sometimes people will surprise you.
The landlord decided to take a chance. He warned me that if I embroiled the property in any drug scandal, he would press charges. I had thought myself lucky, that the stars were finally starting to align. But now I learned that Tammy was the person I had beat out, and I felt awful. She was going to have to continue crashing in her cousin’s laundry room, and she might not even find as nice a place whenever she did.
I knew she’d told me to take it, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the problem. There had to be a solution that wouldn’t leave either of us in the lurch. I slow kissed her good night beside my truck, promising to text her as soon as I got home. That night, I thought about it while brushing my teeth, I thought about it when I was stripping off my clothes and hopping into bed, and I thought about it as I waited for sleep to overtake me. In the morning, I woke up with a plan.
It was obvious. Hadn’t the other couple, Tammy’s boss and her husband, been roommates in their cabin before they were married? I wasn’t ready to propose but sharing the house with a person that I cared for would be even better than living on my own. Maybe it was a little early in our relationship to move in together, but we could be responsible. We could break down the chores and each pay half of the rent. I wouldn’t have to spend my entire savings, and Tammy wouldn’t have to break the bank either.
I couldn’t wait to run the idea by her, but I thought it deserved more than a text message. We were both working, and I was pretty sure she took a one-o’clock lunch break. I scheduled my own lunch for one and hopped in the truck to go see her. There was no one at the front desk when I came in the door, but Lindsey was hard at work on a client in her chair. She pointed to a door in the back.
