Chapter 3
“I don’t know what to do,” Alyssa said as she hung her head in her hands at her desk. On top of everything else, it was Monday morning.
The chat with Sasha had gone as expected. Keeping her out of their apartment that night she’d spent with Grayson had been the last straw. Now she needed to find a new place to live.
“It will be okay. We’ll figure something out,” Freddie said as he gave her the most non-sexual shoulder rub she ever had. “You can stay with Link and me for a little while.”
“You can crash on my sofa but only until it gets hot,” Mia offered. “In a few weeks, my bedroom will be sweltering so I’ll need to sleep in my living room next to the air conditioner.”
“Thanks guys,” Alyssa said with a forced smile. “I’ll figure something out.” As desperate as she was, she didn’t want to impose on her friends. That was what had gotten her into this mess. She couldn’t imagine losing Mia or Freddie because they didn’t work out as roommates. Besides, it was important she find a way to make it on her own.
“How long did she give you?”
“Two weeks, but I don’t know if I want to take her up on it for fear she’ll stab me in my sleep,” Alyssa explained.
“You really pissed her off when you kept her out of the apartment.” Freddie winced.
“I know, but if you had been with the guy I was with, you would have done the same thing. Besides, how many times have I needed to crash with one of you because she’s done the same thing to me? It should go both ways.”
“Everyone knows the roommate rules. It’s the reason I don’t usually have a roommate. I don’t want to miss an opportunity if someone gets there first,” Mia said with a chuckle.
“Unfortunately, the rules don’t apply to her.”
“Did you put a sock on the door?”
“I might have forgotten the sock.” Alyssa laughed while they both hugged her.
“We’ll take you out to lunch today,” Mia offered as she and Freddie went off to their desks.
“Thanks.” Alyssa appreciated her friends immensely, but lunch was not going to help in this situation.
The only apartments she found that she could afford on her own and wouldn’t run a credit check weren’t fit to live in or were in Jersey. Any money she saved on rent would go for transportation. Not to mention how early she would need to get up to get to work.
Thanks to her previous stupidity, she had bills that made it nearly impossible to support herself. She was haunted by her past every month when her credit card statement came.
With great reluctance, she sent her mother an email.
She would never ask her mother for money, mainly because she knew how tight things had always been for them when she was growing up. Her mom wasn’t sitting on a huge savings that allowed her to just shell out a security deposit for an apartment.
What her mother could offer was Alyssa’s old room. The thought of moving back to Albany made Alyssa’s latte twist in her stomach.
If she didn’t have to work late some nights at the office, she could get a second job, but even that might not get her on her feet.
“This sucks,” she said to herself as she deleted the email and shook her head. She knew what she needed to do. Apologize to Sasha.
That night when Sasha got home from work at two, Alyssa was waiting.
“Hey, can we talk?” Alyssa asked.
“About when you’re leaving?” Sasha said in a curt tone.
“Kind of. I was wondering if we might be able to work this out.”
“You locked me out.”
“You lock me out all the time.” Alyssa worked hard not to raise her voice.
“Please.” She put up her hand in a stop gesture. “I just think it would be better if I had the place to myself. There’s really not room for both of us here.”
That was true. There was hardly enough room for one person let alone two.
“Okay. I guess I’ll work it out,” Alyssa said with a sigh and fell back against her pillow on the love seat.
The next morning, she was determined to do something. She waited the hour after her supervisor came in to approach her about the possibility of a raise or overtime.
“As you know I have a degree in business. Would it be possible for me to take on a client instead of just doing clerical work?”
“You knew when we hired you that you would have to work your way up.”
“Yes. I understand that. I have no problem with that. Except I’ve been here for almost two years and I haven’t moved anywhere at all.”
“It takes time. We don’t have any openings at the moment. I’ll keep you in mind when the next one comes available.”
“Sure. Thanks.”
Alyssa took a deep breath and went back to her desk, defeated.
On Wednesday, she finally sent the email to her mother about the possibility of moving back home.
There was no answer.
Thursday she sent another email and a text telling her mother to look at her emails.
No answer.
Friday afternoon she finally received an email:
Hi Sweetie,
I’m sorry you are having trouble in New York. Of course you can come home if you need to. It just breaks my heart to see you giving up on what you wanted. How much money do you need? Maybe I can help a little.
Love, Mom
“Ah, shit,” Alyssa said while rubbing her forehead. It might have been better if her mother had told Alyssa she couldn’t move home instead of offering to help when she wasn’t in a position to do so. The guilt was worse than being homeless.
“You know what you need?” Mia said when she stopped by Alyssa’s desk. “You need another serving of that guy you had last week when you came in here all smiling on a Thursday.”
“No.” Alyssa shook her head.
“He took the stress away for a good day and a half,” Mia added while Freddie nodded in agreement.
“Everything looks better with a hot guy lying next to you,” he purred.
Alyssa shook her head again and the friendly advice dispersed, but it was too late. Alyssa was already thinking about Grayson Hollinger.
The next morning, Freddie was waiting when she came in.
“You are going to name your first born after me,” he said holding up a sticky note.
“What have you done?”
“I’ve set up an appointment for you to see a room in an apartment close by.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. The place sounds perfect. You’d have a roommate, but you’d also have your own room so even if he is a dick, you can stay away from him.”
“A guy?” Alyssa’s brows creased. “What is this guy’s name?”
“Um. I didn’t write it down. It started with a D. Dave or Drew or something. Doug, maybe. He seemed like a nice guy. He went on and on about the kitchen. So I’m thinking gay.”
“How many times have I told you? Straight men like to cook too.”
“I guess. I told him you’d stop by after work. Here are the directions.”
“Thank-you.” She took the note and nodded. At least it would keep her from hunting down Grayson. She’d been thinking about his offer for days. She needed a new place to live more than she needed a two-night stand.
After work, she walked to the building where the room was for rent. It would be nice to be able to walk to work. She put that on the pros side of her list. Being able to afford it was already on the plus side. Basically, pest free and a roommate who wears clothes at all times, were the last boxes to be checked. Everything else was workable.
She took the elevator, smiling at her wavy reflection in the stainless steel walls. It was a very nice elevator. No pestilence and it didn’t even smell of urine.
Stepping off the elevator, she smoothed down her shirt and rang the bell, taking in the trendy carpet in the hall. She was halfway home.
“Please let the guy be wearing pants. Please, even sweatpants will do.” She crossed her fingers for good measure until she heard the sound of locks and the door opened.
“What the hell?” she stared at the man who was wearing pants. Nice pants. Pants that didn’t really matter because she’d seen him without his pants. “Grayson?”
“Hi.” He looked down the hall and tilted his head. “How did you know where I live?”
“I didn’t. I was given this address about a room for rent.”
His eyes went wide.
“You’re here about my spare room?”
“Your name doesn’t start with a D,” she pointed out.
“No. My friend Doug was helping me out.”
“My friend Freddie was helping me find a new place.”
“Hmm. Are you sure you don’t believe in fate?” he asked with a smile.
At this point maybe she did believe in fate, and Fate was a sadistic bastard.
* * * *
“Come in. Let me show you around,” Grayson offered, opening the door wider. He made a valiant attempt to keep his smile at a normal level. He knew how skittish she was about things like fate and friendship.
“No need. I won’t be moving in.”
“Hold on. You didn’t even see it.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m not moving in with you.”
“But you were willing to move in with a complete stranger?” So they had history—a very satisfying history. Not to mention short. “Wait. What happened to your roommate?”
“She’s kicking me out.”
“Because of what happened the night I came over?”
She turned to head back to the elevator, but he jumped in front of her, blocking her path. It seemed like it was the only way to hold a conversation with the woman.
“It wasn’t working out anyway.” She shrugged it off, but he could tell she was worried.
“But that means it’s partly my fault.”
“It isn’t.” She ducked around him, but he cut her off.
“Come inside. Let me show you my place. We can pretend I’m a stranger.”
“Pretend?” She gave him a doubtful look, but she stopped her retreat.
“I know you have a thing against being friends with someone you’ve slept with, but a roommate is in another category altogether. There’s nothing more than common courtesy and sharing some household chores.”
“And if I were to bring other men home?” She squinted as if watching for him to hide an untruth.
“It’s none of my business. Unless you were to yell out my name from memory. That might be awkward.” That got a laugh. “We’ve already established that we are able to reach a common goal. It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to assume we’d be successful roommates.”
Her shoulders sagged and she let out a breath.
“Fine. I’ll take a look. Just a look.”
He ran back and held the door, giving a little bow as she entered. She paused inside the door and looked up at the high ceilings, then down at the wood floors. He imagined she was comparing his place to her own. Her old apartment could probably fit inside his living room and kitchen. There were still two bedrooms and a bathroom to go.
“This is really nice.”
“Thanks. I’ve been here for six years. My sister was dating one of those guys who flips properties and he got stuck with it. I was able to rent it for a bargain.” But he still needed a roommate.
While he didn’t know Alyssa that well, he knew the basics. She wasn’t crazy. Or if she was, she was able to hide it well and was a functioning kind of crazy.
She walked through the kitchen, her fingertips trailing along the granite countertop. He shivered at the memory of having those fingertips trail down his chest and lower.
“Your room would be down the hall to the left.”
“And this is your room?” She pointed to the door directly to the right.
“Yes.”
He waited as she inspected the empty room. He heard the closet door open and close. It was a small closet, but it was still a closet.
“And the bathroom.” He pointed to the last door. The bathroom had all the necessities— tub, shower, toilet, and sink.
“Did you clean before I got here?”
He stepped closer, wondering if something was amiss.
“No. Why?”
“Because it’s clean.”
“Oh. No. I like things clean. Would that be a problem?”
“No. I like things neat too.” He would have guessed that from the way she’d put fresh sheets on the bed before they had sex.
“Good.”
“Not good.” She shook her head and looked up at him, hands on her hips. “It’s not going to work out.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re in it.”
“Do you have a problem living with a guy, or is it me personally?”
“It’s you.”
The noise that came out of him sounded like a snort.
“You could have pretended it wasn’t me.”
“It’s not that you’re not great. It more that you are great.”
“I’m great?” He couldn’t help the smile that crossed his lips. No doubt it looked smug. He couldn’t help it. He was apparently too great not to be smug.
“Not that great. A little great.”
“I’ll take it.” His joke made her smile at least.
“We’ve had sex, and we work in the same building. For both those reasons, this won’t work.” She moved through the apartment toward the door and he knew she wasn’t going to budge. “Thank-you for your time.”
“If you change your mind, let me know.”
“I don’t have your number.”
“I’m aware.” He held out his hand for her phone and she laughed.
“Thanks, but I’m going to pass. Take care.”
She opened the door and with a wave, she stepped out in the hall.
“You’re kind of stubborn,” he called as she hit the button to summon the elevator to his floor.
“I’m aware.”