Room For Rent

Chapter Seven

Connor POV

Today was crap. Lately, every day has been complete crap, but today was especially bad. There wasn’t anything notably different about today besides waking up early and just being in a bad mood. Nothing seemed to help with my mood, not my coffee or my morning workout, and my mood was certainly not helped by going to work.

Since I coded websites and various phone games, I usually loved my job. I could work from home or in the office, I got to set my hours (within reason), and I was damn good at it. Somedays, coding had me questioning all of the choices I made in life that led me to believe that this was a desirable career choice.

I knew why I had chosen this, though. I loved coding, and more than that, I craved the flexibility and solid income. Being raised by a single mom who worked three jobs to barely make ends meet would do that to a person.

I love my mother, and even growing up, I was astonished by her resilience and drive. I wanted a job that would let me take care of her as she had done for me and my sister, Audrey. I also knew that I didn’t want that life for myself. As horrible as I felt for saying that.

My mother had no one to depend on besides her own kids. That sort of life, it does something to you. I watched as it exhausted my mother to her bones. She missed so much of Audrey’s life that it put a significant strain on their relationship.

My father left shortly after Audrey was born. I was seven at the time, only old enough to know that we weren’t missing much when he left. I don’t recall him being a very good man, and my mother refuses to talk about him.

I grew up in defiance of him. Unlike my father, I grew up wanting the white picket fence, kids playing in the yard, and a wife that I loved like crazy. This made for some ribbing from other boys that I grew up with.

The worse part of it is, most of those boys who teased me endlessly are now working to achieve exactly that. Some of them even have their own kids already. The thought makes me want to punt kick a trash can.

With my mood now impossibly darker, I start working on the project that my team was assigned today.

I try to lose myself in the code, but as the saying goes, when it rains, it pours. Today, it is f*****g pouring. Everything is going wrong with the code, nothing is communicating correctly, and everyone I am working with is on the explosive side of their own short fuses.

We all stay late at work trying to get this code operational. When Logan, who is usually the calmest and most level-headed of us, storms out after flipping each of us and his computer off, we know that we made a mistake.

The whole ride home, I think of the dinner that I will order. I need soak-the-bag greasy eggrolls and punch-you-in-the-face Kung Pao chicken. Maybe if I am really lucky, I will also get a glimpse of- my delicious Kung Pao chicken. Yeah, that was absolutely where I was going with that.

You lie so good, Connor. The raspy voice that resounds in my head steals all thoughts of dinner and, right, dinner out of my mind. Pain spears me straight through the chest, right where her hand rested when she said those words to me.

Evelyn.

Her very name still steals my breath away, just like everything else about her did. Only it is different now. There is a rage that lives with her memory, one that I have never felt before.

If everything had gone to plan, she would have been my wife now. I would be planning on going home to her and telling her all about my shitty day. Instead, I am going home alone.

That is not exactly true.

After everything that happened with Evelyn, I was left with an insane amount of debt and an empty house. That isn’t even factoring in what she did to me or the gaping hole that left behind.

A month ago, things came to a head with the debt. I knew something had to give.

While talking to Audrey about what was happening, I told her I would have to sell the house.

"Connor! This is practically your dream home! You can't sell it. I won't let you," her usual melodic voice replaced with steel.

"I may not have a choice. I held off too long on calling the venue and vendors. I also have the credit card debt she left and the hospital bills from the accident."

"Send her the bill for the credit cards! You aren't a f*****g Rockefeller. She never should ha-"

"Audrey, she wouldn't pay them even if she had the money she wouldn't. I did send them to her. I tried to work out a way p*****t plan," I rubbed my hand down my face trying to scrub away the memory. "She isn't who I thought she was. I want to stick it to her, but short of going into more debt, there isn't anything to be done."

"What if you got a roommate?"

I glared at her over the beer bottle I held.

"I was supposed to live here with my wife, start a family. Now, I'm going back to the roommate stage? No."

"Well, what if you called them a housemate? You could even adopt an Australian accent when you say it."

I snorted. Though after a few weeks, I relented and began holding interviews for the applicants.

All of them sucked—all except Natalie.

She had walked into the house and my life as if she belonged there. Maybe she did, but being around her felt like flying and free-falling all at the same time.

Natalie clearly carried her own pain, but despite that, she handed out smiles as if they were free candy. I wanted to cherish each one.

God, renting my room out to a tiny blonde bombshell may have been a colossal mistake. Especially with those intelligent eyes of hers. I can almost see the pro/con lists she is must be forming.

I want to be on that pro list.

Despite all the attraction that I feel and the draw to be around her, I also feel this intense pain when I'm around her.

I'm not sure what to make of all that, but it is best just to avoid her.

When I finally get home, the plan to avoid her flies out the window.

Natalie's ass is the first thing I see when I get out of my car. I can also hear loud swears coming from her.

How she didn't hear me pull up is beyond me, but I am grateful for it.

She is...exquisite.

My jeans feel tighter, and yup, that was definitely my d**k twitching. Grrreeeat.

“Well, that is not what I expected to see tonight,” the words escape my mouth before I have a chance to pull them back. I'm drawn towards her as if we are magnets. I really want to feel that ass under my hands.

My words must have startled her because she jumps, bangs her head, and falls face-first into the seat.

I move towards her as she exclaims, "f**k!"

Ah yes, f**k indeed.