8

 

Desperation had haunted Cali’s eyes when she looked up at him, but she’d done the right thing. She’d walked away from the scumbag and his easy offer. He’d been right earlier. She could do this if she stayed smart and listened to her instincts. Climbing into the truck he looked over at her. Still standing in the rain with her hand on the door handle, she looked lost. He leaned over to push it open, startling her.

“Come on. Why don’t we go back to my place and see if the power’s back on?”

“I’ve got to figure out what in the hell I’m doing,” she said bleakly.

“Standing in the rain isn’t going to help.”

“And me without my cardboard box,” she snapped.

Rolling his eyes Jarek nudged her with the door. “Don’t be a drama queen. Get in the truck.”

“What the fuck did you just call me?” she asked, ire turning her gray eyes a molten silver.

He winced as the slam of the door shook the truck. At least she was in. Turning the key, he risked another glance at her. Oh, yeah. She was pissed. His lips twitched. Pissed was better than pouting.

“You heard me.”

“Screw you. No one asked you to play hero,” she spat.

“I’m no one’s hero, just a friend.”

“I didn’t ask you to be my friend either.”

“You didn’t have to and now you’re stuck with me,” he said, making a face at her.

Cali rolled her eyes and turned toward the window. He waited until some of the tension seeped out of her shoulders before offering his thoughts.  

“Now isn’t the time to feel sorry for yourself. So you struck out with Nat and the human hairball. There are other options.”

She snickered at the nickname but shuddered. “That was one nasty man-pelt.”

“Good to know you don’t find that attractive.”

“What’s wrong? No hair on your chest and you’re worried I won’t find you manly?”

“I meant women in general, and most men have evolved to the point that you can distinguish them from their ape cousins,” he said, lip curling in disgust. “Either that or they manscape.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Manscape? That is awfully metrosexual for a macho construction worker.”

“I don’t live in a cave.”

“No. In fact, you have really good taste,” she said, drawing the words out in pointed insinuation.  

Jarek rolled his eyes again. “Really? A guy that has worked in construction for eight years has good taste in flooring and countertops and I have to be gay?”

“You don’t have to be.”

He shook his head at her teasing and grinned. “I have no problem with gay people, but I’m not.”

“Okay, but I notice you haven’t denied the manscaping.”

He chuckled. “How about I don’t ask you about your beauty rituals and you don’t ask about mine?”

Her laughter was genuine and infectious. It felt good after the tension of the morning.

“You have yourself a deal, stud,” she said, still giggling. 

“Thank you.”     

Grinning, she turned to the window again. They both checked out the storm damage, pointing things out to the other as he drove. The hits and misses still mystified him. There was no rhyme or reason to the twister’s path. He saw Cali make note of a convenience store with a help-wanted sign. He felt for her. From their conversations, he knew she’d put a lot of thought into preparing to go out on her own, doing everything she could to get a good start. Today had just shit on all of it.

The power was on when they got back. He carried Cali’s duffle bag in and put it in the bedroom. The thing was almost as big as she was. He checked the house again for storm damage, more for something to do than actual worry. She was sitting at the island when he came back, purse open. Deep in thought, she poured over a list of figures. Wandering over he checked the refrigerator and freezer; what was there still looked okay. He scribbled milk on the magnetized grocery list on the door.

“You could stay here.”

The words startled him almost as much as her, but he wasn’t going to take them back. It made sense, but she was staring at him dumbly like he’d suggested something bizarre.

“There’s a lot of mudding, sanding and painting to do. I could use some help. You said you were good at painting,” he said, watching her face for a reaction. “Unlike the assclown earlier, I don’t have any other expectations.”

Her eyes narrowed, lips pursing slightly as she mulled over the offer and her options. It had been less than forty-eight hours. He didn’t blame her for not trusting him.   

“You pointed out that it’s a lot of house for one person. There’s plenty of space for another mattress. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s a roof over your head and good water pressure.”

She smiled at the mention of the shower. “What are we talking for rent and utilities?”

“For now, help with the drywall and painting and chip in on groceries,” he said, glad she was at least considering it. “When we’re done with the reno work, and you’ve found another job, we’ll talk about rent.”

“That is awfully generous.”

“I can’t expect you to pay rent on a place that’s under construction and covered in drywall dust,” he said waving a hand toward the plastic-covered dining and living room.

“I would be able to use the kitchen and laundry?” she asked, pushing to see how serious he was.

“Full rein of the place.”

She sucked her bottom lip in between her teeth, nerves and uncertainty showing.

“I’m not asking anything more of you than the other day. We worked well together. It was good to have someone to talk to. Nothing’s going to happen that you don’t want. Think about it. We slept side-by-side last night and all that happened was sleep,” he said, trying to ease her fear. “We’re already becoming friends, now we’ll just be roommates too.”  

She nodded, releasing her lip and running her tongue over it. “That sounds good.”

He let his breath out and grinned. “Great. Problem solved.”

Cali’s laugh was a little shaky. “I’m afraid to be relieved.”

“Looking at your last couple of days I can see why,” he said with a chuckle.

“Are you sure you’re not afraid to be around me? I might be cursed,” she said with a self-deprecating smirk.

“I’ll risk it. We all go through shit. We can either sit down and cry, self-medicate, or let it roll off and keep trying.”

“I’m pretty sure I considered the first two while standing at the apartment door earlier,” she admitted.

“I’m sure you did, but you didn’t. That’s what matters.”

“That almost makes sense.”

“Stick around, you’ll get me sooner or later.”

 

 

After a run to Walmart to pick up bedding for Cali and a few groceries, he moved his things up to the master bedroom, giving her the room downstairs. Dropping the last box, he looked around. He didn’t have hangers to make use of the walk-in closet, but the room worked as well as any other at the moment. It was out of the order he’d planned, but working on it next would be the smart move. As soon as money allowed he’d pick up the materials to finish the room and outfit the master bath as well. With a woman sharing the house it’d be good to have a second bathroom.

Picking up the wad of sheets and blankets, he remade the bed with practiced ease. Whether it was the comfort or convenience, Cali had chosen to go the air mattress route as well. Besides paying for her blowup bed, sheets and blankets, she had given him cash for half the groceries. As much as he’d like to help her, it was also comforting to see her determination to stand on her own two feet. It not only distinguished her from Alyssa, it would serve her well in life.

Jogging downstairs, he found her bed inflated and made with the bright blue and white bedding she’d chosen. It looked good with the pale gray walls. Cali was stacking her clothes on the shelves lining the small closet.

“Sorry. I envisioned using this as more of an office with some sort of pullout bed for guests so I outfitted the closet for storage.”

“No problem. Most of my clothes will be just fine folded.”

“I can put a tension rod at the top easy enough.”

“Then I’d just have to buy hangers,” she said, her smile embarrassed.

“I ran into that problem myself upstairs,” he admitted. “I’ll have to pick some up when I buy the shelving for the walk-in.”

“You don’t realize all of the stuff that you use until you get ready to move out on your own and you don’t have it.”

“It’s true,” he said, nodding in agreement. “And you’ll run into something new every day that you’re just used to being in a drawer or cupboard somewhere. I remember the first time I cut myself in my apartment I stood there bleeding, staring at the medicine cabinet like Band-Aids were supposed to have magically appeared.”

“I’ll have to add them to my list,” Cali said laughing at the image. “One more thing I hadn’t even thought of.”

“Some of the first-aid kits aren’t that expensive and have a lot of the things that you only need once in a while.”

“Good idea. Thanks for the suggestion,” she said rooting in her backpack for a notebook.

“You weren’t kidding about a list,” he said as she wrote it down.

Her cheeks pinkened but she joked it off. “I might be a little obsessive about certain things, but don’t worry. You’re still my go-to guy in case of a blizzard, tornado or zombie apocalypse.”

“Thanks for letting me feel manly even if I don’t look like a silverback gorilla.”

“Now you’re giving the hairball too much credit. Silverbacks are majestic. He was more like a fat orangutan,” she said trying to stifle her laughter.

“If he would’ve started throwing shit through the bars I’d have been out of there.”

She lost it and they laughed until she was leaning against him, clutching her ribs.

“Oh my God. I’ve laughed more with you than I have in months. Thanks for making a shitty day better.”

A little taken aback by the honesty of her words he nodded. “No problem. Right-back-at-cha.” Giving her a grin, he left her to finish settling in.