I eyed her skeptically. “The place that’ll take me to court for the rent money when I can’t pay it, or…”
I let my question go unfinished as I took in my surroundings: light marble tile, a pool table, a small sign that pointed toward a fitness center and outdoor pool.
“Yeah, there’s no way we can afford this,” I said. “Did you even look at the prices online? This is a waste of our time.”
“Of course I looked. But there’s always room to negotiate. You should learn that if you plan to open a real business.”
I resisted telling her that Nite Bites was a real business, because I knew Aamee well enough to know that she didn’t mean the comment as an insult. It was just a suggestion she thought would help.
“This is a high-end apartment building, not a used car lot,” I pointed out. “I don’t think there’s going to be room to negotiate.”
“Well, we’re here now, and I wanna see the place.” Before opening the door, she lowered her voice. “Now don’t say anything embarrassing like we can’t afford this.”
I gave her an eye roll, even though I wasn’t as annoyed as I let on. I kind of wanted to see the place too.
We were greeted immediately by a man wearing a nametag that said Jon, who was surprisingly younger than I’d expected. If he was older than we were, it couldn’t have been by much. He dressed in a way that most guys in their mid-twenties couldn’t come close to pulling off: fitted dark jeans, a button-down shirt, a bow tie, and a tweed blazer. He looked like some sort of hipster college professor, but somehow all of it worked.
“Drew Nolan,” I said as I shook his hand. I was just about to introduce Aamee when she spoke.
“Aamee Allen. We spoke on the phone yesterday, I believe?”
“Yes,” he said at her reminder. “I’m glad you could make it in. Why don’t you have a seat, and I can review the floor plans with you? Can I get either of you something to drink? Coffee? Tea? Water?”
When we both declined, Jon took a seat behind a desk and slid a folder toward us. He went through the handouts one by one, pointing out the various locations and amenities.
I knew the rent would be astronomical. I just didn’t know how astronomical. Still, I was surprised when he revealed the cost of their smallest two-bedroom.
I felt my eyes bug out of their sockets, and I whipped my head toward Aamee. “Are you insane?” I asked. At her blank look, I added, “Yup, you’re insane.”
“Drew,” she scolded. “Stop it.”
“This isn’t even remotely in our price range.” I’d wanted to see the place, but now that we were actually here, I felt guilty about asking to see an apartment we couldn’t come close to affording. Or at least I couldn’t. I felt like I was pretending to be someone I wasn’t. And I’d had enough of that to last me a lifetime.
Starting to stand, I said, “Sorry for wasting your time.”
Aamee put her hand on my wrist to stop me, squeezing me like a boa constrictor might its next meal. It took everything in me not to yank my hand away and look like a complete asshole. So against my instincts, I sat back down.
Jon smiled. “We have several spacious one-bedroom models. There’s plenty of storage in each of them, so you may not feel you need the second bedroom. The master is larger than most, and there is a his and hers closet.” He pointed to a floor plan on the paper between us. “This one has a small office area that could easily fit a daybed or another compact sleeping option.”
“Oh, we’re not together, so a one-bedroom wouldn’t work for us.” I was eager to clarify, and I’m sure it showed.
“My apologies,” Jon said.
“We’re not together now,” Aamee answered. “It’s complicated.” She turned toward me. “The one-bedroom with office space might be enough for us.”
Jon pulled open one of his desk drawers and withdrew a set of keys. He looked them over to find the right one before standing and heading toward the door.
“Come on,” he said with a wave to follow him. “I’ll give you a tour.”
And as I reluctantly followed Jon and Aamee, who was already by Jon’s side, I wondered if the unit had a balcony I could throw her off.
The unit was gorgeous. Modern neutral gray decor, crisp paint, and hardwood floors. It was a shame I’d probably never get to live here.
I took my time, noticing each detail, from the crown molding to the built-in shelves that provided extra storage. There was even a small laundry room off the kitchen.
Aamee, on the other hand, was eager to see all of it as quickly as possible. She tore through the apartment with such speed and excitement, I wondered if she was going to roll into a ball like Sonic the Hedgehog so she could more easily move from room to room.
Jon followed closely behind, attempting to point out things she might have missed.
Finally, she stopped at the balcony doors and pulled them open. Stepping outside, she leaned against the black railing and looked out at the view.
Jon remained inside but said very few words to me. He probably knew there was no changing my mind on this.
I was thankful when my phone rang and I saw Sophia’s face on the screen. “Hey, Soph.”
“Hey, how’s it going?”
“Eh, it’s okay. I’m working on dragging Aamee out of this luxury apartment that’s way out of our price range.”
“Oooh, you’re there now? Let me see. Now I’m curious. Why don’t you give me a tour?”
When I was showing Sophia the small area that would be my “room,” I heard Aamee come back in. By the time I made it back into the main area, Jon was nowhere to be found.
“Where’s Jon?” I asked.
“I asked him to give us some time to discuss what we wanted to do.”
“Aamee, be real. We can’t live here. I just showed it to Sophia. Soph, please tell her there’s no way we could get a place like this.”
Aamee grabbed the phone from me so Sophia could see her face instead. “Before you give your opinion, let me show you the view.” She flipped the camera around so Sophia could see what she was looking at as she walked across the living room toward the small balcony that overlooked the pool. “Can’t you see us hanging here all summer? We’re going to be so tan.”
I followed after Aamee just close enough that I could hear Sophia’s response.
“The pool’s definitely nice,” she said.
Aamee moved the phone around so Sophia could see the entire outdoor area, complete with a mini-golf course, two fire pits, an outdoor bar, and some grills. I wondered if she could even see any of it with the speed at which Aamee was moving the phone. Sophia was probably ready to be sick.
“The whole place is nice,” Aamee said.
“Except for my room,” I called from the living room. “It’s a quarter the size of the master and doesn’t have a closet or a full wall.”
The wall was about the height of my chest, leaving about three or four feet of open space between the top of it and the ceiling, apparently to make it feel more open.
“There’s no privacy,” I added. “We’d need a two-bedroom, which is like double our budget.”
“You act like I’m making you sleep on the couch. You’ll have your own bed.” She rolled her eyes like my concern was a ridiculous one.
“If it’s so nice, why don’t you take the spare room and I’ll have the master?”
She chose to ignore my comment entirely. “Oh my God, Sophia, you and Taylor should get a place here too! It’d be so much fun.”
Aamee was really grasping here. She would never admit the idea of hanging out with Sophia could be fun, even if she’d really felt that way. And she’d already said it twice.
“It is tempting,” Sophia admitted.
“Perfect. Now you just need to talk some sense into your boyfriend.”
There was a knock at the door, and Jon’s voice followed. “Would you like to see anything else, or…do you need some more time?”
I walked over to the door and pulled it
open. “Sorry, come on in. I think we’re done. We can’t possibly take—”
“We can’t take the unfurnished unit.”
“Or the furnished one,” I added. “It’s beautiful, but it’s just not financially doable for me.”
“Sophia, this is Jon. Jon, this is Sophia. She and her friend Taylor are thinking of getting a place here for the summer. I’m sure they’ll be in soon to check it out.”
“Aamee,” she said. “It’s nice, and I’m sure Drew would love it, but it’s so expensive. You can’t expect him to pay that.”
Jon headed awkwardly toward the door again, like he’d been interrupting some sort of family squabble he didn’t want to be a part of. “I’ll give you some more time.”
“No thanks,” Aamee said. “We don’t need it.”
That was one thing we could agree on. “Nope. Thank you for your time, Jon.”
“Drew, this is one of the only places that allows short-term leases, and the amenities justify the extra cost. You can use the gym for some of your rehab exercises. Or the pool,” she added as an afterthought. “Water therapy is supposed to be amazing for rehabilitation.”
“Thank you, Doctor, but I can barely pay half the rent. I’m definitely not paying that to live in a room that’s not much bigger than a closet.”
“I’m gonna step outside,” Jon said again.
“No,” we both fired back.
Aamee and I stared at each other, each silently daring the other one to speak. In our own minds, we were each right. Aamee was right about the place being beautiful and perfect in the sense that even though it was pricey, we could get a short-term furnished apartment with access to a gym and a pool. They even had events in the main building with free food and drinks frequently.
I had to admit, though not out loud, that sounded amazing for the summer.
More intense glaring at one another.
But those perks didn’t change the fact that if I had to pay half the rent, I’d never get to enjoy any of the amenities anyway because I’d be working ninety percent of the time. To let her know I wasn’t backing down, I crossed my arms and refused to drop my gaze from hers.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jon backing away toward the door.
“I’ll pay two-thirds of the rent,” Aamee offered reluctantly.
“Three-quarters.”
“You’re insane.”
“I could say the same about you,” I told her.
“You already did.” It took until she heard the click of the heavy door unlatching before she said, “Fine. Three-quarters.”
I could almost hear her teeth gritting, which was oddly satisfying.
“Jon,” I said with a smile he couldn’t see because my back was to him. “We’ll take it.”
Chapter Six
D R E W
“You gonna miss this place?” Brody asked me as he handed me another beer and plopped back down in his chair.
Laughing, I said, “Is that a trick question? You’ve seen what we’re moving into, right?”
“I have,” Brody said with a serious nod. “I definitely drew the short end of the stick on this one. I have to live with someone I barely know, and you get to—”
Raising an eyebrow at him, I said, “Live with Aamee?”
Brody laughed. “I was gonna say live in some luxury apartment for the summer.”
“With Aamee.”
“Dude, that’s my girlfriend you’re talking about,” he joked. “Watch it.”
“You better not let your wife hear you talking about your girlfriend.”
Breathing in deeply, Brody rolled his eyes. “Fuuuuccckkk,” he said. “What did I get myself into?”
“You say it like this just happened. You’ve known for like two months that you’re gonna have to live with Vee. And you have yourself to blame for that.”
“I know, but it’s just now sinking in. You’ll be gone soon.” He tapped his finger on the side of his beer bottle. “Hey, maybe my dad’ll let me get an apartment where you are.”
He was still so dense sometimes.
“I feel like you probably shouldn’t ask him about that.”
Brody’s lips twisted as if heavily considering my recommendation. “Yeah, probably not,” he finally said. “Oh well. I guess I’ll just have to accept the fact that I’ll be spending my summer living here with a virtual stranger.”
“To be fair, I lived with an actual stranger while you were pretending you were Vasco da Gama.”
“Who’s Vasco?” Brody asked. “Wait! Is that the long-haired kid we used to deliver to at the Latino frat?”
I shook my head slowly and tried not to laugh directly at him. “He was a famous explorer.”
“Oh. Right.”
“You still don’t know who I’m talking about, do you?”
We both laughed.
“Not a clue,” Brody said. “Give me another, though. One’s gotta ring a bell. I remember having to learn about some of these guys in middle school.”
“Okay.” I thought for a moment as I picked at the label on my bottle. “Magellan.”
“Name sounds kinda familiar, but I wouldn’t have known he was an explorer.”
“Ponce de León? He was the one who discovered the Fountain of Youth.”
His eyes lit up. “Is that a real fountain?”
If this fucker thought he was taking off to find the Fountain of Youth, he was crazier than I thought. I figured it’d be best not to answer.
“Guessing you’ve heard of Christopher Columbus.”
“Obviously,” he said, as if he was insulted that I even had to ask.
“Marco Polo?”
“Yes!” He snapped his fingers and pointed at me excitedly. “Yes, I’ve definitely heard of him.”
I stared at him quietly for a moment before saying, “You played the game in the pool, didn’t you?”
“Oh. Shit. Yeah, that’s probably why I know the name.” He looked like he was processing all the information in a way that seemed too intense for the topic. “That game makes so much more sense to me now that I know he was an explorer.” When I didn’t respond, he explained further. “Because you’re calling ‘Polo’ and the person looking for you says ‘Marco.’”
“Oh yeah,” I said dryly, but Brody was too caught up in his own thoughts to pick up on my sarcasm.
He was staring off, like the nostalgia of it brought back happy memories. “I used to love that game.”
After a few moments, I said, “You’re gonna play it in our pool this summer, aren’t you?”
S O P H I A
I stood from my seat in my sociology class and stretched before putting away my things. I only had one more class until finals, and I was freaking out. Carter had helped me study for most of the semester because he was some sort of sociology dark horse, but my nerves were still frayed. My GPA had never dipped below a three point five, and I wanted to keep it that way.
As I headed out of the building toward my next class, I spotted Xander and Aniyah sitting on a bench. I had about a half hour to kill, so I took a seat next to them.
“What are you guys up to?”
“Not a whole lot,” Xander replied, offering his bag of popcorn to me so I could have some. “Just killing time.”
“And innocent animals,” Aniyah added.
Before I could get too concerned, Xander said, “Not animals. It was a spider. She’s freaking out because I killed a spider.”
“It’s still a living creature.”
“Not anymore,” he replied dryly. “Oh, come on, it’s a spider. And it was about to move from the bench to your arm.”
“I could’ve moved.”
“I’m so glad I stopped to say hi,” I said to them. “I’m gonna go now.”
I rose, but Aniyah grabbed my hand. “Don’t go,” she said. “Aamee’s coming this way. Don’t leave us.”
Looking over my shoulder, I could see her blond hair bouncing, loose curls flowing around her face.
�
��Have you talked to Brody today?” she yelled because the question was too important for her to wait another five seconds so I could hear her without shouting.
When she got close enough for me to talk at a normal range, I answered. “No. He was asleep when I left this morning. I think he was supposed to go to Rafferty’s with Drew this afternoon so he could meet with Sean.”
“Who’s Sean?”
“Drew’s boss.”
I figured she would’ve known that, but she seemed completely confused.
“Why’s he meeting with Drew’s boss?”
“Um…to talk to him about working there,” I answered slowly.
“Brody’s working at Rafferty’s? Since when?”
“I don’t think he’s working there yet. But if the guys wanna open a bar eventually, Brody needs some experience. Drew mentioned Sean needing extra help for the summer because they just put on a deck out back for an extra bar. He doesn’t have the people to staff that big of a place, so they haven’t been able to open it yet.”
“Okay. That’s a lot of information that I don’t care about,” she said. “I was just asking because he didn’t mention going over there to me, and I know VD’s supposed to start moving some of her stuff in today.”
“VD?”
“VD. Veronica Diaz. I can’t call her Vee. It’s too cute. VD seems more fitting.”
Xander laughed. “Because it’s short for venereal disease.” He didn’t state it as a question because I’m sure it wasn’t one.
“It is?” Aamee feigned surprise. Poorly.
I told Aniyah and Xander I’d talk to them later and began heading toward my next class, Aamee following in stride beside me.
“You gonna call her VD to her face when she moves in?” I asked.
“I thought you knew me better than that,” she said, sounding almost disappointed.
“I mean, I don’t know. You never know with you. It’s not really that far-fetched of an idea for you to call this girl a nickname synonymous with an STD.”
Aamee laughed softly at first, but the sound rose in intensity as she seemed to let whatever was developing in her mind form a complete thought.
Two Truths & a Lime (The Love Game Book 3) Page 4
