Page 171 of The Bluffing Game

“It’s not that bad, sis,” Rosie says at my frown and interprets it to mean something else. “Once we start to decorate and—oh my gosh! Arrghhhh, a cockroach!”

She runs quickly toward the front door with a little scream, almost tripping as she reaches the others.

“Sorry.” She stops as Brett, Roman, and Lucia look at her in concern. “I saw a cockroach.”

She whines loudly and shivers, and Brett shifts closer to her in concern.

I look around, hoping what she saw was a piece of dirt, but right by the oven, sitting there like it owns the place, is a huge cockroach. I want to cry as it walks slowly toward me. Izzy and I jump back and head to the front of the apartment.

“I guess I’ll put cockroach spray and traps on the list,” I try to joke as I look over at everyone.

I catch Izzy’s eye, and she nods. But what can she say? Your place is a dump, and a few traps won’t change that.

“I don’t think that …” Lucia starts, but then she pauses. She lowers her eyes and starts playing with her phone.

It’s awkward, and I don’t know what to say. We all know the place is far from the Ritz. I’m surprised when Roman heads over to me and stops by my side. His eyes are kind, and there’s a wry smile on his face.

“You’ve got your own place, and that’s a good thing. We all start somewhere.”

“Yeah.” I don’t know what else to say because, obviously, he’s super rich, and I’m super poor. I’m sure when he goes home tonight, he’ll be thanking God that he doesn’t have to live in a place like this. Or he’ll stare at his Rolex watch. Or count his money. Or clean his Mercedes.

“So, what’s the plan?” Lucia says finally. “What do we do first? Let us help you make this your home.”

“I think maybe I can get cleaning supplies and some furniture. I did speak to someone on Facebook Marketplace about a free sofa, but I can see if I can go tomorrow and …”

“What’s going on?” Dalton walks into the apartment, looking tall and muscular.

I wonder why he was so far behind the rest of us, but I don’t ask. His eyes sweep across the room, and he presses his lips together as his nose sniffs the horrid smell. He looks at me, and his eyes narrow. My heart thuds as he walks over to me.

“So, this is your new home?”

“Yes,” I say, tilting my chin upward in defiance, staring into his eyes, daring him to tell me that my home is not acceptable.

“This is where you want to live?”

I can tell he wants to say something else, but he doesn’t. Maybe because he knows it’s not his place to tell me off or convince me to leave. He’s acting like he has power over my actions, and it’s just not true.

“Mom and Dad wanted me to FaceTime them when we got here,” Rosie says softly as she pulls out her phone. “I guess I can do it now and introduce them to everyone.”

“No,” I say quickly, giving her a look.

Our parents would be horrified to see where we were.

While we never stayed in one place for too long, and we never lived in the best neighborhoods or in fancy houses, we were always in places better than this. I feel like a failure. I feel like maybe I made the wrong decision. Maybe I am being too stubborn. Maybe I am putting myself and Rosie in danger. Because not only is the apartment dingy and small, there are roaches and unsavory characters at the front of the building. And we don’t even live in Santa Capinari.

“So, have we decided on a plan?” Brett asks while looking at his watch like he wants to be anywhere but here.

I want to tell him to leave, but I realize he arrived with Roman. And so, unless he gets an Uber or a cab, it’s unlikely that he can go.

“Maybe we can split up,” I say. “I can give a list to Rosie and then …” And that’s when I see a rat stalking near the front door, peeking in and then hurrying toward the back of the apartment. I scream louder than I’ve ever screamed in my life and run like my life is in danger.

I run outside of the apartment, and Rosie follows me until I stop. I’m close to crying, and I think she senses that because she grabs my shoulders and looks me in the eyes.

“Hey, you okay?” Her voice is soft. And even though I know more than anything that she doesn’t want to be here, she’s still being strong for me. “It’ll be okay, Sage.” The way her voice softens makes me feel even worse because I can sense that she doesn’t want to live here, and I love her and hate it at the same time that she’s sucking it up to comfort me. I know her almost better than I know myself. Her every feeling, even when she doesn’t say it.

“I’m sorry I let you down. We should have stayed in Coconut Beach. We could have stayed with Juniper, and we could have found jobs and⁠—”

“No, this is an adventure. This is fun.” She touches the side of my face and brushes my hair back. “It’ll be fine. We never would have experienced any of this if we’d stayed in Coconut Beach.” She looks back to the apartment, and her face lights up slightly.