Chapter 4

When shit hits the fan, and you see me smiling, you should be scared.

-Note to self

Audrey

It was Valentine’s Day, and I had the house to myself.

What better way to spend it than looking for apartments?

At least, that was what I told myself.

After walking in on my brother and his wife practically doing it on the kitchen counter this morning, I realized two things.

One, I needed a place that didn’t have my brother in it. Although I loved the hell out of him, I was starting to feel like I was cramping his style.

Two, I needed to get a life.

Seeing my sister-in-law happy again, living her life, and spending it with the man that she and I had thought was dead for so long, was truly an eye-opener.

I only did things with my brother and Mina, and lately, Tobias.

Although, I hadn’t seen Tobias since I’d helped his niece sell her cookies.

It’d been four days, and I was getting anxious.

Where was he? What was he doing? Did he miss me like I missed him? Would he want to go apartment hunting with me?

As these thoughts occurred to me, I gathered up what was left of the trash and headed for the door.

Today was trash day, and I’d been tasked with putting it out for the trash collectors to pick up.

Apparently, Mina and I were terrible at emptying the trash and now Tunnel wanted me to get it to the curb on the correct day.

I couldn’t really disagree with him.

I could barely remember what day it was.

Since I hadn’t had a job in well over two months, I rarely ever kept track of the days of the week.

Though, I should.

Muttering under my breath, I headed for the front door, pushing it open only after I peeked through the blinds on either side of it.

Not seeing anything overtly suspicious, I hurried down the walk and headed straight for the trashcan that was already at the curb.

“Jesus, Tun,” I muttered. “You asked me to do it not even fifteen minutes ago. I was going to do it!”

As I muttered to myself, I was unaware that I had a stalker across the street watching every move I made.

So, there I was, heading toward the trashcan while running my hand through the rat’s nest that was my hair. I was wearing a faded t-shirt that was two sizes too big—one that I’d picked up at Goodwill over three years ago—with a pair of yoga pants that rolled over at the waist. Topping off this look, I was picking at a fucking wedgie as I made my way to the curb.

I was two feet from the trashcan when I finally looked up at the sound of laughing.

My body froze at the sound at first, not really registering that the sound was one of mirth. It wasn’t sinister in any way. Not like that laugh.

No, this laugh was full of humor, humor I saw written all over the man’s face.

“Did you find whatever you were searching for?” Tobias teased from his perch on the back of his tailgate, two houses down from mine.

I blinked.

“I’m unsure of what you speak of,” I lied.

His snort also held the same lie.

“Is that right?” he questioned.

I pursed my lips.

“What are you doing here?”

He pointed to some boxes. “My brother bought a bed for Leida and wanted me to pick it up from the store.”

“Oh,” I said. “That was nice of you. What kind of bed is it?”

He shrugged. “A fucking heavy one.”

A thought occurred to me, and instead of questioning it, beating it to death from all angles, I just went with it.

I rolled my eyes. “What are you doing after this?” I asked on a whim.

He looked at his watch.

“I have to be somewhere by four fifteen this afternoon, but nothing until then. Why?”

I pulled at the hem of my shirt.

“Do you want to go look at apartments with me?”

His answering shrug was nonchalant.

“I guess. Do you mind if we ride my bike?” he asked.

I bit my lip thoughtfully.

Did I mind?

The answer was kind of scary.

No. No, I didn’t mind.

I wanted to ride on his bike. I’d been wanting to ride on it again for a very long time now. Longer than I cared to admit.

“That’s fine,” I tried to sound nonchalant.

And by the look he gave me, I’d failed.

“Want to help me bring this into the house?” he asked, gesturing to the boxes.

I looked at them.

“Are they heavy?”

He shrugged. “Not too bad.”

Twenty minutes later, I was covered in a fine sheen of sweat, staring at the hole in my shirt.

“This was one of my favorite shirts!” I informed him. “Do you know how hard it is to find worn, soft shirts?” I asked. “Really, really hard!”

He looked at my shirt, then at me.

Then, without pause, he shrugged his shirt off and handed it to me.

“Same size, it looks like. And it’s soft.” He shook it when I didn’t take it.

My hand came up on autopilot and grasped the soft material.

“Thank you,” I said, pulling it to me. “But what are you going to wear now?”

He winked at me and walked back into the house, coming back out moments later with one of his brother’s t-shirts.

“He won’t even notice,” he explained. “Are you going to go change, or wear that?”

I looked down at the t-shirt that still had a large gaping hole in it. “I’m going to go change really quick.”

That, and I wasn’t wearing a bra. My hair needed brushing, and I didn’t normally wear the yoga pants out, no matter how much I wanted to.

He gestured to the truck. “I’ll go lock up and wait for you.”

That was my cue to go, and after looking both ways, I crossed the street and power walked to the house. The door was still standing wide open, and I went inside. Without, I might add, closing or locking it.

Which was a huge accomplishment.

When I was home alone, doors got locked. Windows were checked to make sure they were locked as well. Blinds were pulled. The bathroom was locked when I was inside it. Clothes were set out on the bathroom counter.

Basically, if it had a way to be locked, I locked it. It didn’t matter how long I was going to be inside of it.

I left nothing to chance.

Nothing.

Not after what had happened to me.

I was super careful and always tried to pay attention to my surroundings.

So yes, leaving that door open was huge.

But I knew that with Tobias there, he’d make sure nothing happened.

And when I came out thirteen minutes later, it was to find Tobias leaning against the front porch beams. Not in the truck where he said he’d be waiting.

Always watching out for me, I thought.

“Ready!”

He grunted and pushed off the pillar, gesturing to his truck.

I started down the steps, but not before I locked the door and checked to make sure it was.

He watched me, not missing a thing.

“Ready when you are,” he rumbled.

***

“Not this one.” Tobias shook his head. “The outdoor lights don’t work. There are no security doors to ensure no one unauthorized gets in, and you don’t have an assigned parking space. That means anyone could park in front of your apartment, and you’d be stuck out there in the boonies walking across a dark fucking parking lot when you got off of work.”

“How do you know I even have a job?” I challenged.

He gave me a look.

“Tommy Tom’s in the MC with me. I knew the moment you were offered a job. Maybe even before you did,” he said.

My lips twitched.

“Hmmph,” I grumped. “Well, we’ve already looked at four complexes, and there’s only one left. If we don’t like that one, what the hell am I supposed to do?”

He looked at me, likely gauging whether I would take what he had to say next the right way. I saw the moment he decided ‘fuck it.’

“I have a guest house,” he offered.

I automatically started to shake my head.

“Negative,” I said. “I’m not moving into your place. I’m trying to get away from the crutch, not swap the crutch for the cane.”

He snorted, tossing me a sideways glance.

“The offer stands if you ever need it,” he promised. “Now let’s go look at this last place. I have roughly an hour and a half before I have to go.”

“Where are you going?”

He turned to stare at me.

“The travel agent,” he answered. “Do you want to go?”

I hesitated, and he grinned. “Come on. You told me you’d go. I guess you should at least have a say so in where our room is.”

I stared at him.

“Okay,” I blurted.

He didn’t gloat. Didn’t laugh. Didn’t wink.

Nothing. He just walked out of what might have been the shittiest apartment complex in the city and held the door open for me to follow.

My eyes strayed to his sexy ass, and I cursed myself when he caught me staring.

His mouth didn’t open, but his eyes said all they needed to. He enjoyed catching me appreciating him.

Duly noted.