Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 63741 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63741 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
I take another sip. “My apartment building has been condemned. I’m homeless.”
“Condemned?” In my peripheral vision, I catch the emotions that flash across his face in rapid succession: surprise, concern, anger. But then he gets himself under control and smooths out his features. “Well, that’s not good. But there’s an easy solution. You can stay with us.”
EMBER
That shocks me out of my numbness. My head jerks around and I stare at him. “With you? The three of you?”
“Sure. We have room, we’re not far from the shop, and we can give you a lift to and from work, so it solves all your scheduling issues.”
“But—”
“It’s really no problem. I know the guys won’t mind.” He cocks his head. “Unless you know someone else who lives nearby? Do you have family here?”
I shake my head. “My family lives out of town.” And I can’t ask my mom for help getting a new place; she doesn’t have any money to spare. “It’ll probably take forever to get my deposit back,” I say, trying to get my brain in gear and think through the logistics of finding another place to live.
“Yeah, that’ll take a while.” Frank’s tone is sympathetic, but matter of fact. “So you can save up your money while you’re with us.”
I shake my head. “I can’t stay with you. It’s really nice of you to offer, but—”
I’m interrupted by Zeb coming up to the counter with his client, who’s done and ready to check out. She’s happy to let me photograph her tattoo, and the routine of doing that and taking her payment settles me a bit more.
As soon as she’s gone, Zeb demands, “What’s going on?” I guess Frank sitting next to me was his first big clue.
Frank answers before I can say anything. “Ember’s apartment building got condemned.”
“Condemned? What the fuck?” Zeb’s scowl is fierce. “What kind of shitty landlord do you have, anyway?”
“Pretty bad,” I say calmly.
He shakes his head. “So you need a place to stay.” He looks at Frank. “I hope you told her she could stay with us.”
“Of course I did.”
“Good. Will they let us in to pick up any of your stuff?” Zeb asks me.
Now I know what being railroaded feels like. “I can’t stay with you,” I repeat, though my protest sounds feeble.
“Sure you can. It makes perfect sense.”
Except that I had hot wild sex with your housemate and work colleague last night, and I’m attracted to you and Frank, too. “I really don’t want to impose.”
“It’s no biggie.”
My mind scrambles for a convincing counterargument and comes up short. Besides telling them the truth—which is absolutely, positively not an option—I don’t know what I can say to convince them this is a bad idea.
“I can ask Lexy about staying with her,” I offer up. “Or Ava.”
“Lexy and her guys don’t live anywhere near here,” Frank says. “Where does Ava live?”
I press my lips together. “Not close.”
“And you don’t have a car.” Unspoken is his Do you really want to ask them to shuttle you back and forth across the city every day?
He doesn’t have to say it. I really, really don’t.
I’m out of options—good ones, anyway. “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. I really do appreciate the offer.”
Zeb nods once. “So it’s settled. What about your stuff?”
“My roommate is coming by later to drop off some of my clothes. They won’t let us in to get anything else.”
“Where’s your roommate going?” Frank asks.
“To her boyfriend’s.”
He nods, crossing her neatly off his mental list, and moves on. “We can help out with anything you need while you’re getting back on your feet.”
I take another sip of my water, still partly in shock at how fast my circumstances have changed. “I’ll save up money for a new place as fast as I can.”
“No rush.” He looks out the door. “Here comes my next client.” Standing up, he returns the chair to its place and goes to his station.
Zeb goes back to his, too, and that’s that. My life is all sorted out. As if.
The afternoon goes by without incident, apart from Abby stopping by with my backpack and my plant. I want to cry at the thought that this is, for practical purposes, all I have in the world.
I go through the motions of doing my job well enough, but I feel the men watching me. Despite my efforts to think of alternatives to staying with them, there don’t seem to be any feasible options.
When Griffin comes back just before closing time, Frank and Zeb explain the situation. Griffin’s face is closed off, completely unlike his usual expression, so I can’t tell what he’s thinking, but I know it can’t be anything good.
“Of course she can stay with us,” he says quietly.
Zeb claps him on the shoulder, and I suspect he’s congratulating Griffin for taking the situation seriously and not cracking any inappropriate jokes.