AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He’s a little snot.”
“Your girl?” I teased. “How many times have you given out that label before? Ten? A hundred?”
He looked up at the floor numbers.
A flicker of hope bloomed in my chest, but when he didn’t answer, self-doubt extinguished that thought. I giggled to break the tension. “I’ll bet the kid has to change his pants. Maybe you’d fit in on my side of the river after all.”
He cocked his head. “You said it was a guy.” He pointed at my face. “You didn’t tell them about the door.”
“How could I? Running into a door is the excuse every abused woman gives the nurse when she goes into the emergency room to get patched up.”
He nodded. “Smart.”
I relished the compliment. Three floors later, I asked, “You wouldn’t really do that to him, would you? The chandelier?”
Evan shook his head. “A little messy for me.”
The doors opened on the top floor, and he let go of my hand. “I’d have Albert take care of it.”
My skin continued to tingle where our hands had met as I walked the hallway with my guy.
My guyhad a nice ring to it.
* * *
Evan
Alexa walked aheadof me to the door of my unit. “Me and my big mouth. I guess you’re stuck with me now for a while.”
Her ass swayed, and the look of her long legs in those running shorts took my breath away. I unlocked the door and stood aside for her to enter ahead of me.
She looked up at me and babbled a mile a minute. “Is it okay? I didn’t think to ask. If it isn’t—”
I settled a hand on her shoulder. “Of course. I’ve got room.” It was certainly going to complicate things, but the alternative of being labeled an abusive boyfriend by the press was worse. “Besides, you’ll be safer here than your…” I wanted to saydump, but that would have sounded condescending.
“My what? Disaster of an apartment?”
I closed the door behind us. “You never told me why it got that way.”
She made her way toward the kitchen. “I could use some water—you?”
“Evasion isn’t going to work, roomie.”
“Turnaround is fair play, they say. You never told me how many.”
I gave in. “You’re actually the second person I’ve calledmy girl.”
“Who was the first?” she asked.
“Claire. A girl in college.”
Alexa opened the fridge and pulled out two waters. “Was it serious?”
“It seemed so at the time.” I’d expected to propose to Claire until… Even now the memory of that day was too much. “You haven’t answered my question.”
She twisted the cap off her bottle and took a large swallow first. “It’s the super. I put in a note about the leak in my bathroom with the rent check, and he doesn’t like complainers. I’d bet it’s him making sure the message is clear.”
I wiped condensation off my water with a finger. “That sucks. You shouldn’t have to keep complaining. It’s the super’s job to take care of things like that.”
