by Sam Crescent
Paying up, she got out of the taxi and took a deep breath.
This was to the next stage of her life.
Chapter Two
Jax didn’t know who or what to expect when he opened his apartment door, but it certainly wasn’t a short, full-figured brunette, with huge brown eyes and who wasn’t dressed to kill. She had on a pair of jeans with tears in the knees, a shirt that hung down to mid-thigh, and the strap of her shoulder bag went between the valley of her tits.
She had a nice pair of tits though.
Wore no makeup.
And to make matters worse, she was smiling.
“Morning,” she said.
“There is nothing remotely funny about this morning.” He leaned against the doorframe. “You got a name?”
“Yep, Dani Brooke.” She held her hand out. “What’s yours?”
This was a new experience for him. The past few people he’d interviewed for the room had been less than impressive. They’d wanted him to get rid of his stripper pole, talk about a bathroom schedule. Until tonight, he’d had no intention of having one. Then there was a case of redecorating. His view on parties and curfews. There were three guys that wanted to have a midnight curfew, and if he wasn’t back, they were allowed to lock his door.
That shit wasn’t happening in his time. They each would have keys, and they’d live their life their own way, no curfew or rules. He wasn’t at home with his parents, and he had no intention of ever being told what to do.
“Jax King.”
“That’s your name?”
“Yep. It’s my name.” He stepped away. “Come on in.”
She bounced past him.
“You do know it’s late?”
“Or really early in the morning, depending on how you look at it. Can I see the room?”
“Sure.” Pushing the door closed, he took her into the bedroom that was on the left side of the bathroom. His room was on the right with the bathroom in the middle.
The room was empty. If his friends were over they often crashed on the sofa, and he didn’t see a reason to even bother entering this room.
“Go on in.”
She brushed past him, and he stood in the doorway, watching her. She flicked the light on and stared at the space.
“There’s a closet there.” He pointed toward the door in the far wall.
“Awesome. You don’t have any furniture at all?”
“None. There’s not been any real need for any.”
She stepped into the closet and he waited. “This space is incredible.” She stood in the doorway, and he saw her looking around the room, clearly making notes in her head as she did. “The bathroom is shared?”
“Yes. There’s a bath and a shower as well.” He moved to the bathroom, rubbing at his eyes, trying to wake himself up. He wasn’t a morning person.
This chick though was clearly on something.
She asked a couple more questions about the rent, the facilities, and he told her how much it would cost.
After he’d gone through all the billing details she smiled. “I’ll take it.”
“You want the room?”
“Yes. I love it.”
“You want to see the rest of the apartment?” he asked.
She brushed past him. “Kitchen, your room, living room … stripper pole? Interesting, and we’ve got a little balcony.” She shrugged. “I don’t see a reason for any of this to be a problem.”
“Okay, I’ve got a few conditions first.”
“Shoot, I’m listening.”
She shoved her hands into her back pockets, and he couldn’t help but be distracted by her tits as they thrust out. She had a nice rack on her, that was for sure.
“Wow, eyes are up here, buddy,” she said.
“I don’t like being told what to do.”
“Good for you.”
“I mean it.”
“Are you trying to warn me not to tell you what to do?” She chuckled. “I want to rent the room, not be your momma. I have no interest in what you do. Next.”
He was finding this interesting.
“Are you offended by my stripper pole?”
“Are these questions really necessary?”
“To get the room, yes.”
“The pole doesn’t bother me. It’s an interesting piece, but if you have women over using it and you guys start having sex, either shout or send me a text not to leave my bedroom. Otherwise, I got no problem with that being here. What else?”
“There’s no curfew.”
“Fine. I work two jobs. I’ll be coming and going all hours of the day and night. Also, I can survive on a couple of hours’ sleep, so no biggie there. I’ll have my key. Is that it?”
“I have a lot of lady friends over. Is that going to be a problem?”
“Do what you want. I just want to rent the room, Jax. Seriously. I have no interest in finding out about you or your life or even making judgements about it.”
“Why are you moving apartments?” he asked.
“I’ve got a very shitty landlord. He seems to think it’ll be good to proposition me and I have no interesting in fucking a guy for the place I pay to rent. Moving on seems like a good option. This place is really good,” she said. “I pay my rent on time every single month. I’m hard-working. I’m clean. I also don’t mind doing laundry. Is there a place to do laundry?”
“The basement. They have machines for you to do that.”
“Okay, cool. When can I move in?”
“How long you got your other place?”
“End of the week. If you say yes, I’d like to decorate that room then move everything in that I’ve got. Will that be a problem?”
“No, I don’t think so. Do you need help with your landlord? I could come and help with that.”
“That is really not necessary. Honestly, I can handle him. I’ve been doing that for a couple of months now. Awesome about everything else you said.” She went into her bag, and he watched as she counted off some dollar bills. “If you hand me the keys we can consider this a down payment on the rent, and I’ll give you the rest when I move in?”
He took the money and handed her the keys.
“Thank you. I’ll be back. Thank you so much for this, Jax.” She held her hand out again, and he shook it.
Within the next second, she was gone, walking out of the apartment, and he even heard the click as she locked the door behind her.
Rubbing the back of his head, he glanced around his space, frowning.
What the hell had just happened?
She’d seemed more amused by his questions than actually offended.
He checked the time and saw it was a little after 4:30 in the morning. Sleep wasn’t going to come easy. Making himself a coffee, he took a seat on his sofa and grabbed his cell phone.
Not even caring about the time, he called Ryan, who answered on the third ring.
“Seriously, do you know what time it is?” Ryan asked.
“I have a new roommate.”
“What? I thought you turned down the last guy?”
“I did. I’ve just had another.”
“Now? At four-thirty-five in the morning? Jeez, Jax, don’t you have a life?”
“She called me up at three and asked about the apartment,” Jax said.
“Ryan, what the hell is going on?” Lily asked in the background.
“It’s nothing. Jax has a roommate. It’s a girl.”
“Why would a girl want to be with him?”
“Hey, tell your woman to be nice. I’m a good catch,” Jax said.
“Jax, you give a whole new meaning to being an asshole. Women sleep with you, but they don’t like you.”
He heard movement and the sound of a door closing. “You had to go and wake me up, so now tell me what the hell happened.”
Jax told his friend everything from the call he got woken up to, the woman, and of course the fact she was moving in.
“What’s she like?” Ryan asked.
“I don’t know.”
“What does she look like?”
“She’s a brunette. Kind of small. Her head comes to about my chest. She’s on the fuller side. Big hips and ass, nice rack though.”
“This is not going to last.”
“Stop that shit, Ryan. I need this to work. I like my apartment.”
“Then keep your dick in your pants and don’t come on to your roommate.”
“I won’t. She’s not my type.”
“Yeah, yeah. Your type is anything with a vagina that will have you.”
“That’s just mean. I have standards,” Jax said.
Ryan burst out laughing. “Damn, this could be fun. I’m going to have to bring a few of the guys around. They’re all going to want to watch this.”
“Screw you.”
Jax hung up, no longer interested in talking to anyone.
The money in his hand told him she was good for it. That he’d get his rent paid. He loved partying and having fun, but he always made sure his bills were paid.
He’d either made the biggest mistake of his life renting the room out to Dani or the best. He really hoped it was the best.
****
Dani loved the color pink. In fact, she loved all the pastel colors that seemed to scream summer and freshness. The one thing she never wanted was a dark, dank room again. Her parents had always picked dark, bold colors, which she found on the really boring side. Even in summer the house always seemed a horrible place to be.
Finishing off the last strip of pink in her room, she climbed down off the ladder and stepped back. She wore a pair of dungarees, which had streaks of paint, and her hair was bound up on top of her head. She hadn’t gotten a moving company as she didn’t trust them to not tamper with her stuff. She already had everything else boxed and ready in her closet. Every trip she made this week, she’d brought something with her so that she moved out. Some friends were helping with the rest today.
Her landlord hadn’t been happy, and he’d tried to intimidate her, which hadn’t worked. Being threatened by the belt growing up, that was scary. Her landlord was a sad, lonely old man who liked to scare younger women.
She didn’t scare easily.
Wiping her hands on the cloth, she heard the door, and left her room to answer it only to bump into Jax.
“Sorry,” she said.
He wasn’t wearing any shirt, putting his rather solid, ink-covered chest a little too close to her eyes.
“I had idea you were here,” he said.
“No problem. I’ll just get the door. That could be the guys with my stuff.”
“I’ve got friends coming over. It could be them.”
“Oh, well, do you want to open it or should I?”
Jax smiled. “I’ll let you open it.”
She shrugged and went to answer the door. There were five men, each carrying a six-pack of beer. When they saw her, they checked the apartment door and then frowned.
“I take it you’re Jax’s new roommate,” the one in front with the messy blond hair said.
“That would be me. I’m Dani.”
“I’m Ryan. We’re all Jax’s friends.”
“Good to see you all.”
“I’m Wes.”
“Riley.”
“Sean.”
“Carl.”
“Good to see you all,” she said. Just behind them she spotted the men she’d hired, carrying up her bed. “Jax, you’ve got company.” She yelled for him to hear and stepped out of the way to greet the men she hired. “Hey, thank you so much for this.”
“No problem, Dani, where do you want this?” Stephen asked.
He was a regular at the diner where she worked, and they’d gotten to talking one morning. He was a married man with a couple of kids, and he loved to talk about them all the time. They were friends, and when he found out she was moving, he was more than happy to help. Especially when he discovered her previous landlord was trying to get her to sleep with him.
Ignoring the men that were watching them, she opened the doors, giving Stephen and his friend a chance to bring her bed in.
For the next half an hour, they brought in the few pieces of furniture she owned and placed them in her room.
Stephen lingered as his friend left. “Do you need a hand putting all of this together?”
“Nah, I got this. It should be easy to put together, I hope.” She shrugged. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d done something like this. She rather liked doing something with her hands. It was always a lot of fun to do, especially when she actually got it right. Of course, when she couldn’t read the instructions, those days sucked big time. “Thank you so much for helping me with this.”
“No problem. Let me know if you need anything.”
“I’ve got it covered.” She saw him out and was heading back to her room when Jax stopped her.
“Everything okay?”
“More than fine, thanks.” She took a few more steps then stopped. “I’m ordering pizza later. I’ll let you all know in case you want something.”
“Are you paying?”
“For my pizza, but you can pay for your own.” Entering her bedroom once again, she closed the door, leaning against it, and stared at her room. She could do this. Another step in her life.
She got to work fixing up her bed like she did the last time.
Every now and again she huffed and puffed as she had to move the piece of furniture, but she got it into place, and before long, the mattress was on the frame. She collapsed on top, pushing some of her hair out of her face.
Her stomach grumbled, letting her know she was hungry.
“I better go and tell him.”
She went up onto her elbows, glanced around the room, and then it hit her. She was now sharing an apartment with a guy. In the past week, she hadn’t learned anything about Jax. She’d barely seen him.
He said that she could use the key to come and go as she pleased, and she’d been doing exactly that.
Since leaving home at eighteen, she’d not been playing by anyone’s rules but her own.
This was her life now.
No rules.
Just fun.
Checking the time, she saw in a couple of hours she’d have to be at Arnold’s bar. Getting to her feet, she left her room and the talking once again stopped.
“I’m ordering now. You guys want anything?”
They started giving her their orders, and making a note of everything, she grabbed her cell phone and placed the order.
“So, Dani, how do you like being Jax’s roommate?” Wes, she thought his name was, asked.
“I don’t know. It’s only been a couple of days. We’re roommates. I don’t see what the big deal is.” She grabbed a bottle of water she’d placed in there just the other day, standing in the living room as they all stared at her. “Are they not used to you having a roommate?”
“Not in some time. Believe me. The gawking and weird looks will stop soon.”
“Awesome. Is he a murderer or something?” she asked.
“He’s an asshole. You do know he brings a new woman here, like, every night.”
She laughed. “Why do I care? I’m not his girlfriend.”
“See, that is what I’ve been telling them.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got no illusions about all of this.” She shrugged. “I’m only here, guys, for the apartment. Nothing else.”
“Don’t say we didn’t warn you.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t.”
She drank her water and headed back into her room. She picked some clothes and went to the bathroom. Closing and locking the door, she took a quick shower, scrubbing away the day’s sweat from painting and any remnants in her hair or on her body. Once she finished, she got out, dried her body, and wrapped her hair up in a towel as she finished getting dressed. Rubbing out the extra water, she plugged in her hair dryer and quickly dried her hair, brushing it out so it was long, wavy, and would look
presentable for work. As she finished with her outfit, she heard the doorbell ring.
Dumping her dirty clothes into the laundry basket, finding a spare space in the cupboard for her hairdryer, she left the bathroom. The pizzas were already on the table, the men diving in.
Running fingers through her hair, she opened up her spicy meat pizza, grabbed a slice and a napkin, and took a large bite.
“I paid them,” Jax said.
She reached into her pocket and handed him the money for her portion. “Thank you.”
Finishing off two more slices, she checked the time, and knew she had to head out to work.
“I’ve got to go. Later.”
Getting to her feet, she felt their gazes on her but didn’t stop to think about it. Leaving her apartment, which felt good to say, she headed out into the city. Arnold’s bar was only a twenty-minute walk from her apartment.
Her room was all decorated.
One part of her life was completely closed up, and she was in heaven.
Part of her wished she didn’t have a roommate, but she couldn’t have everything her own way even if she tried. She wasn’t going to let that one part upset her or get her down. This was about moving forward. Enjoying life.
If anything, Jax wouldn’t try to interfere with her life, and she was all over that.
Chapter Three
One week later
“So how is life with a roommate?” Ryan asked.
Jax unscrewed the cap off the beer bottle and handed it to the customer, taking the money held out to him and ringing him up before returning the change.
“What is it with you and finding out everything to do with my new roomie?”
Dani had been his roommate for an entire week. She lived in the room next to the bathroom, and not a lot had changed for him. He rarely saw her.
Sure, he noticed some of her stuff around the apartment. A couple of plates that were clearly hers. She put her bag next to the door, but again it was hung up where he kept his own jackets and she didn’t shove his stuff aside. There was a cup that had some kind of saying on it but had clearly been rubbed off over the years.
Then of course, you have the fact his laundry appeared on his chair cleaned and folded.