Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 36482 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 182(@200wpm)___ 146(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36482 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 182(@200wpm)___ 146(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
There are notifications from the app, but there’s also a text from my landlord and friend.
Reid: Me and Cole are going for a run in the morning. Now that you gave up the smokes, you coming with us? Great stress reliever.
He’s been trying to get me out of my townhouse ever since I moved in a couple of weeks ago. I always find an excuse, but I can only put him off for so long. Eventually he’ll drag me out of my house by my collar.
Me: Sure, man.
I know they go really fucking early, but that works with my job. There’s no way I could do it after work. By the time I drive all around in my big brown truck and deliver packages to the entire damn town, I’m beat with exhaustion.
All that work and you still don’t make enough to make ends meet…
Sourness churns in my gut. I’m on the final countdown to get a roommate. Two more weeks and I’ll owe rent again. I’d saved enough to get through the first month’s rent, but I’m going to need assistance going forward.
So far, no serious bites on my ad.
The roommate search continues.
A knock on my door startles me and I nearly drop my phone. Frowning, I stride over to the door and peek out through the peephole. Reid grins back at me and holds up a case of beer.
I’m not in an entertaining mood, tired as fuck from work, but I open the door anyway.
“Hey,” I mutter as I step away so he can come through.
“Thought I’d come hang out with you for a bit.”
“Your girl’s busy?”
“Off baby shopping with her mom.”
It’s weird as fuck Reid dumped his girlfriend to hook up with her daughter, but he’s happy, so that’s all that matters, I guess. He’s a grandpa now and is about to have another child. I’d be stressed over that shit, but he’s more relaxed than I’ve ever seen him. I guess all he needed was some young pussy.
I’m thankful he can’t see inside my brain. It’s a fucking mess up there and I’m a dick. Reid has been nothing but good to me. Who am I to judge who he has sex with?
After shutting the door, I saunter over to the couch to sit. He plops down on the love seat. After popping off the bottle cap from a beer bottle, he passes it over to me.
“Good shit or experimental shit?”
He snorts out a laugh. “Experimental. Beer bros brought it by earlier.”
The beer bros are actual brothers who room together in another townhouse at Moonlit Gables. They’re irresponsible as fuck and are always late on rent. They also think they can stay in the good graces of their landlord if they bribe him with beer all the time. Sometimes they make it or one of their friends do, but they always share the loot with Reid. As Reid’s friend, I’ve benefited a time or two from their payments. Not all of them have tasted good, though.
Luckily, this bottle is some good shit and I gulp half of it down in two seconds flat. I’m glad he only brought six with him. I could probably polish off the entire six-pack alone, but then I wouldn’t be able to run at the ass crack of dawn tomorrow.
“Settling in okay?” he asks, pinning me with a searching gaze. “I know it’s probably not easy seeing Casey all the time.”
My wince is subtle but he notices, flashing me a sympathetic smile. I hate feeling fucking pitiful. It’s just everything in my life has been shaken up and spilled out all around me. I’m doing my best to gather the pieces in order to turn it into something decent to look at.
“It’s fine. I’m happy for her,” I tell him honestly, “and I know Brayden is so good to her…”
“But?”
“But, I’m a little fucked in the head that I’m no longer a part of her life or future. It’s weird seeing her do those things with someone else.”
He’s quiet for a moment and then nods. “I get that. We both know you weren’t happy, though. At the end, you were stressed the hell out. You started chain-smoking because of it.”
My mouth waters for a cigarette. I down the rest of my beer bottle to make it stop. Thankfully, it does.
“You’re right,” I agree with a sigh. “Losing the baby and then Casey was hard. Not sure the sting will ever go away.”
“It will,” he assures me, leaning forward to hand me another beer. “We just need to find you a distraction.”
I grunt and gesture toward my phone that buzzes again as if on cue. “I joined the dating app. They’re coming out of the woodwork.”
Reid chuckles. “Man, you’re stacked with muscles, and your face isn’t too bad to look at.” He laughs harder when I flip him off. “I’m glad you’re putting yourself out there. If you have lots of interest, why are you hanging with me instead of in some hot woman’s bed?”