Becca: I looked out the peep hole. He’s cute. When do I get to meet him?
Aidan: Whenever, I guess.
Becca: What can you tell me about him so far?
Aidan: That he’s a douche running away from home.
Becca: Shut up. Order food. I want chick & broc. I’ll pick it up in 20 min and then come over.
Aidan: I’ll call now.
“I’m ordering take out. You want anything?” I yell out. If he hears me, fine, if he doesn’t I don’t care. At least I can say I asked.
Josh comes running into the front. “Yeah, from the Chinese place downstairs? Order me chicken and broccoli.”
His mother walks in from the kitchen. “Josh, I was going to make you something before we left. Don’t order food. That’s silly. I’ll make something good for you and Aidan.”
“Helen, let the boy order food. He’s on his own now.” Josh’s father puts his arm around his wife’s thick waist and kisses her cheek. He reaches into his front pocket and pulls out a fifty. Who the hell keeps a fifty in their front pocket? “Here.” He places the bill on the coffee table in front of me. “Dinner is on Josh tonight.”
The couple walks over to their grown son. They each hold out their arms for a big family hug. I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed anything quite like this before. All three of them cling onto each other at once. I need to look away. I’m uncomfortable watching it.
“Goodbye,” his mother says through a sob. His dad nods his head, seemingly too choked up to speak. They exit and Josh stands there, quietly staring at the back of the closed door. I’m scared he’s about to get emotional. Jesus Christ, if he’s crying I’m gonna have to ask him to leave. Boom, second punch. I figure I should say something before he loses it.
“Dude, you gonna be okay wiping your own ass without your parents helping you?” I sit back on the couch and chuckle. He doesn’t say anything and walks into his room. I pick up the phone and place the order. With a quick glance down at the fifty, I tack on three two-liter bottles of soda.
Josh returns from his room a few minutes later, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. At least I didn’t have to see him have his little pussy attack. He walks over to the fridge. “You drink? Want a beer?”
“Sure.” I look over and see our fridge door is now lined with beer bottles. He’s taken over pretty much the entire fridge, but that’s all right since I didn’t have much in there, anyway.
Josh hands me a beer then sits down on the leather recliner that wasn’t here this morning. One of the many deliveries from today. He reclines back and takes his first sip, then lets out a long sigh. “This is fucking awesome. I did it. I’m out.”
He did it? I didn’t see him do shit today. This guy is something else. I’m not sure if he’s ever had a bad day in his life. Some spoiled rich kid who doesn’t know the first thing about life. A pretty boy who’s had everything handed to him. Our lives couldn’t be more different.
Josh chugs back his beer. “You see okay and everything?”
“Both my eyes work just fine.”
“It’s weird. I’m like, used to it, already. It’s not really that bad. I think it’s just seeing it at first throws you off.”
“Yup.” A perfectly timed loud thud on the door ends the conversation.
“Food’s here. I’ll get it.” Josh jumps up and runs to the door.
Becca’s here. I can’t wait to see what she thinks of my pampered new roommate. Knowing Becca…I chuckle. This oughta be good.
Josh
I open the door to a girl with bright pink hair, arms loaded and a snarl on her face. “Take this.” She shoves the bags of food into my arms and goes storming past me. “Three bottles of soda, you ass! You know how heavy that was to carry all the way up here? And you’re lucky I had enough money on me. I almost had to put it on my credit card, which is already maxed out and probably would have been declined. What the hell?” she screams at Aidan, punching him in the arm.
Aidan’s face breaks into a large smile. “What? One of them is diet.”
“Whatever.” She turns her back on Aidan and walk over towards me. “Hi, I’m Becca. I live across the hall.”
Once I make it past the bright pink hair pulled back in a sloppy ponytail, the next things I take in are two big gray eyes and a tiny diamond stud in her nose. Her skin is a dark olive color and her lips are shiny with gloss. She rubs them together, making a popping sound. A tattooed trail of blue stars peeks out from her tank top and travels up her ample cleavage to the base of her neck. She’s wearing a pair of girly pink boxers folded down at the waist and a beat up pair of furry slippers on her feet.
“Are you gonna tell me your name or just stare at me?” she asks, annoyed, with a hand resting on her hip.
“Sorry, I’m Josh,” I stammer out, embarrassed, and bring the bags of food over to the counter in the kitchen. Why did I just stare at her like that? The hair, tattoos, the piercing, it was just a lot to take in. Plus, I’m exhausted from the move.
Aidan and Becca grab their containers from the counter and forks from the dish drainer. Aidan plops down on the sofa. Becca walks over and inspects the new chair in the living room, circling it twice.
“Where did this come from?” She jumps into the chair, wiggling into it, making herself comfortable. She stretches back and her tank top rises revealing another sparkling piercing. Damn, that’s sexy. I wonder what else she has pierced?
“It’s Josh’s,” Aidan supplies. “And actually, Josh is treating us to dinner tonight.” He points his fork at the fifty on the coffee table. “Josh keeps his money in his dad’s pockets.”
Becca looks down at the money, then back up at Aidan. They both laugh.
“Thank you, Josh’s dad.” She bites down on her shiny lips.
The blood rushes to my face. Never before has a simple comment from a girl caused me to feel as stupid as I do right this moment. I take my container of chicken and reach into the fridge to grab another beer. I’m rattled. Before I know it, two hands are perched on my waist. Becca stands on her tiptoes, peering over my shoulder.
“Oh my God, what is all this?” She reaches over me and grabs a beer from the door. A soft powdery scent flows from her skin. “Can I?” she asks.
“Yeah, go ahead.” I’m not sure why her being this close to me is making me feel the way it does. It shouldn’t. Messy pink-haired girls who make fun of me aren’t exactly my type. But I guess soft curves being pressed into me always feel good; doesn’t really matter who does it.
Becca knocks the cap of the beer off against the counter even though it’s a twist off and swills down half the beer fast, followed by a small girly burp. She covers her mouth with her hand. “Excuse me.”
I’m clueless what to think about this girl. Is she really cool or just weird? She goes back to making herself comfortable in my leather chair so I take a seat next to Aidan on the old tan couch.
The three of us finish up our dinner, drink some more beers, and watch a show that Becca informs me she and Aidan are addicted to. The two of them chat throughout the show, finishing off each other’s sentences. It’s evident they spend a lot of time together. I’m guessing Becca must be over here quite a bit. She’s opinionated. Smart. Strange. Bubbly. Real. Having her here often is something I might not mind so much.
Whenever I can, I sneak subtle glances over at her. The chair is reclined but she lies across it the opposite way, letting her legs dangle over the arm. During a commercial she looks back at me and gives me a smile. A sweet shiny lipped smile. I would totally do her.
After the show ends a new one begins. I promised my mom I would call her after I ate. Sneaking back to my room I shut the door, giving her a quick call to let her know I’m okay.
“Hey, Mom, it’s me.” I open up my laptop to check football scores while we talk.
“Sweetheart, I miss you so much already,” she says into the phone. My chest warms just hearing my mom’s voice.
“All right. I just wante
d to tell you I’m okay.” I cough out the little catch in my throat. “And I love you.”
“I love you, too.” She sniffles. “Come over tomorrow and I’ll make you your favorite lunch.”
“Okay.”
“Are you making friends with your roommate?” she asks cautiously. My mom knows my track record making friends. I have one. It’s her.
“Yeah, yeah, he’s a good guy.” From what I can tell so far, he’s all right. I just feel bad for him. It’s gotta be hard with a jacked up face like that.
“Did you meet any of the people in the other apartments?”
“Yeah, um,” I lower my voice down to a whisper. “There’s a girl across the hall that’s over right now.”
“Why are you whispering?”
I have no idea why I’m suddenly whispering. “Mom, I gotta go, love you.”
“Me too, baby boy. I’ll see you tomorrow for lunch.”
When I return to the front room, Becca’s moved from the chair to the couch and is snuggling into Aidan. His arm rests gently over her shoulders and he’s playing with her ponytail, wrapping the pink hair around his finger. I hadn’t realized they were a couple. I assumed because of the way he looked that he didn’t have a girlfriend. Guess that was pretty messed up of me.
Not surprising. I’m kind of a messed up guy.
Aidan
Josh comes back and sinks down into his fancy new chair, looking back every so often, probably trying to get a read on us, wondering if we’re a couple. After a half hour or so he gets up, says goodnight, and heads off to his room. The way Becca is curled into me, I’m sure he thinks we’ve got something romantic going on between us and that’s just fine with me.
When Becca is cuddled up in my arms, everything in my fucked up life seems a little better. If it wasn’t for this girl I’d probably have given up on life a long time ago.
Becca knows about my past, but we don’t discuss it. She never pushes to know anything more than I’m willing to share. My scarred appearance didn’t send her running in the opposite direction. Shortly after I moved in about a year and a half ago, she knocked on the door, introduced herself, and tried her best to act as if she didn’t see a damn thing wrong with my face. It wasn’t easy for her, but she tried.
As soon as Josh’s door is shut, Becca sits up on her knees and begins asking questions. “What’s his deal? Does he work? Did his parents pay for all of this?” She picks up the fifty still sitting on the table. “I’m keeping this, by the way.”
I laugh at all her questions and watch her fold the bill and tuck it into her waistband. “I don’t know. He’s some spoiled kid from the rich part of town looking to prove something to himself or his parents. I’m not sure which. But at least I know he’ll be able to pay his rent every month. Or his parents will.”
“I can’t believe how dressed up he is to move. It looked like his jeans were ironed or something, and that button down shirt, I mean, really? Who’s he trying to impress?” Becca sits back on her heels and chews on a nail. “But he is sort of good looking and I do have to say those streaks of gray hair are kinda hot. How old is he?”
I shift over on the couch. I hadn’t really thought about the ‘what if” that she might be attracted to him. I figured his spoiled rich-boy lifestyle would immediately send her running in the opposite direction. “I think he said he was forty.” I say it but I know I won’t be lucky enough to have her believe me.
“Shut the hell up.” She laughs and takes a swipe at me. “I don’t think he’s any older than you are. What is he? Like twenty-two, twenty-three?”
“Something like that.” I hope to brush off the topic of my new roommate. My arm reaches around and she snuggles back into her place at my side. She drifts off peacefully next to me and I place a small kiss on top of her head. I hold out watching TV on the couch for as long as I can, until my own eyes start falling heavy with sleep. Gently I nudge Becca awake and walk her over to the door, waiting till she’s safely across the hall in her own place before shutting the door.
In bed before closing my eyes, I think back to the loving embrace Josh shared with his parents today. Pretty wild stuff. I can’t remember a time in my life when I was ever hugged like that. Not even after the incident that changed my life forever. The day where a hug, or any form of support for that matter, was needed more than ever before. The day a knife was plunged into my face and my mom sided with the attacker, who left me scarred not only on the outside but on the inside, too.
Chapter Four
Josh
“And this is my room,” I say to the first of what I’m sure will be very many girls to be invited back to ‘my place.’ The blonde is trashed, eyes half closed, leaning on me for support. Perfect. I met her at Twisted, the bar down the road. Walking distance. No worries of drinking and driving. No worries will she or won’t she put out in my car. This is it. I’m living the dream.
“You’re so cute, Joe,” she slurs, stepping out of her shoes and climbing onto my bed.
“I am. I’m adorable,” I say, smiling. Joe is my alias. It sounds close enough to Josh so that if I’m ever busted I can just claim they heard me wrong. The fake name goes well with my fake number. This way I don’t have to deal with needy clingers stalking me once I’m done with them. And I should be done with this one in about an hour.
Clothes come off quickly. She did what I needed her to do. The only thing I had to do was lay back and enjoy. Ah, slutty drunk girls, they really are my favorite. I grab my phone off the nightstand to call a cab and glance at the time. Look at that, I didn’t even need an hour.
She rolls over and grabs a piece of blanket up to her chin, making herself comfortable to go to sleep. Oh no. No, no, no. This was not an overnight invitation.
“Um.” No clue what her name is. “Um, babe. You need to get up. I can’t have ya stay here tonight. I need to get up early and do some things in the morning. I’m gonna call ya a cab.”
She mumbles a few incoherent words and drifts off. No way. A hard shove, yelling the words “get up.” Nothing works. This girl is not budging. She is passed out cold. This isn’t living the dream. This is a nightmare. I rack my brain for a solution but realize I have no choice but to lie down beside her and try to go to sleep myself.
She snores.
I try lifting her up; want to get her to at least stumble into the front so she can sleep on the couch. Not happening. She is nothing but dead weight. Fuck my life. Looks like I’m gonna be the one stuck sleeping on the couch.
Inviting girls back here might not be as great as I first thought. I’m gonna have to set up some rules. Rule number one - drunk but not too drunk, because this is not happening again.
I make a stop in the bathroom for a couple of towels, one towel to bunch up as a pillow and the other to use as a blanket. Un-fuckin-believable. My body contorts to fit on the filthy old couch. This is absolute bullshit. Thirty minutes with some slut isn’t worth this. I adjust the towels a few more times before finally nodding off to a restless night of tossing and turning.
“Hey, you awake?” I feel someone shaking me, a hand on my shoulder rocking me back and forth.
“Mom?” I ask, half asleep, blinking my eyes open.
“Oh, that’s lovely.” A girl’s voice laughs. I open my eyes up and see Becca’s steely eyes and shiny lips perched in a smile. She stands up from her crouched position in front of the couch. “What are you doing out here?” she asks, looking down at me.
It takes a few seconds for why I’m out here to come back to me. I sit up and wipe the back of my hand across my mouth in case there’s any drool. “I have company in there.” I motion towards my room. “Unwanted company. Figured it was easier if I slept out here.”
“Oh, I see.” She raises her eyebrows.
“What are you doing here? Isn’t it early to be up on a Sunday morning?”
“Nah, I always make Aidan breakfast on Sundays. I’m making pancakes, want some?” Her hair is down today. She doesn’t wear it th
at way too often, at least not that I’ve seen. Messy loose strands that she continuously pushes behind her ear fall past her shoulders. She’s wearing a red t-shirt that says the words Bazinga! across it and faded jeans. Her feet are bare and her toenails are painted with bright orange polish. Sloppy, messy … kind of adorable.
A stir comes from my room. I freeze and suck in my breath, listening carefully. “I think she’s up,” I whisper. “Do me a favor. I’m gonna hop in the shower. When she comes out, tell her I had to leave and that I’ll call her.”
“Yeah, sure, no problem.” Becca nods her head, walks into the kitchen, and takes a bowl from a cabinet. “I got ya covered.”
“Thanks, Becks. You’re the best.” I gather the towels off the couch to use for my shower.
“What did you just call me?”
“Sorry, I think I just called you Becks.” Why’d I do that? “It just kinda slipped out.”
She smiles. “It’s cute. I like it. You can call me that if you want.”
“All right.” I grin. Something about that makes me happy. I’ve been given permission to call her my own private little nickname.
Most of the hot water gets used up in order for me to wash off last night’s filth. After wiping down the mirror, I take my time shaving, inspect for more gray hairs, put on deodorant, brush my teeth and I’m almost done. Plenty of time for the hook-up to be bounced out of here. A splash of aftershave finishes me off and with a towel wrapped around my waist; I open up the bathroom door and step out back towards my room.
“Great news. Mindy can stay for breakfast,” Becca calls out to me. The girl from last night is sitting on one of the stools at the counter in front of a plate of pancakes. She waves at me and giggles. I look over at Becca and she does the same thing, mimicking the one-night stand that should have been sent packing by now.
“Yeah, wow, look at that, you’re still here. Good,” I say through clenched teeth. “Let me go throw on some clothes and I’ll be right out.” All right, once more, this is not how this is supposed to go.
Flaw (The Flaw Series) Page 2