Stranger Beneath the Covers

Chapter 3

The guy pointed to the door, “Well, now that we’ve determined this is both our place, can y’all leave and let me and her figure it out, before we get evicted? And I’d like to get my shirt on.” He dried his dark hair with a tea towel. His ripped and tattooed body had droplets of water running down it. I tried not to look, but he was incredible to look at, like watching athletes or seeing a celebrity. He had a rough edge but there was so much beauty.

He caught me staring at him. I quickly changed my look of awe to annoyance. He gave me a half-assed grin, shaking his head.

The cop nodded at me, “You guys okay, alone together?” he almost joked, as if he was implying something. I ignored his weird comment and clutched my mace in my hands. I looked at the tall, angry guy next to me and sighed, realizing there was no way out of it. I nodded, “I’m fine.” The guy left the room and came back with a shirt on. He rubbed his eyes, “My eyes are still f*****g burning.”

The cops laughed again and left us standing in the living room, staring at each other. There was a darkness about him that scared me. He was stunningly beautiful but looked angry, like he might not be able to control it.

His murderous stare didn’t lessen when he lifted one side of his lips into a cocky grin, “You want a beer?” He sounded annoyed still but I caught something, a twang in the way he said beer. I could still see the hostility in his eyes. They were beyond expressive.

I nodded and sat on the couch. AngLilyg him wouldn’t help the situation. I pinched the bridge of my nose and took deep breaths. When I felt better, I looked up at him, “Since it’s your house too, I’m really sorry for spraying you with mace.” I really wasn’t though. The girl looked like a hooker. I didn’t want hookers in my house. The thought of it made me want to clean everything. Yuck. My mother would have had a fit.

He gave me the same cocky half smile and pointed at me, “I call bullshit on that. I’m gonna bet you feel pretty good about hosing me with it. You seemed to enjoy it.”

I bit my lip and nodded, “I probably saved you from paying for whatever that was going to cost you, and whatever STD’s you would have gotten.”

He brought me a beer and sat across from me on the white couch against the wall, opposite me, “Funny. So where you from?”

I frowned, “Not here, obviously.” I wanted to unpack, clean my room, and make everything feel like home. I didn’t want to be having small talk with a sleazy, tattooed stranger, beautiful or not.

“You here for school?”

I nodded and took a sip of the beer, tapping my finger against the bottle, “So, you rented from T&N Property Managers, as well then?”

He nodded and took a long pull from his beer.

I ran my fingers through my hair and had a small sip of the beer. I processed it all as I wiped my mouth, “Who was the guy you spoke to, Tom?”

He shook his head, “Lady named Leslie.”

I crossed my arms and sat back, “So we spoke to two different people about renting the same place? Clearly a miscommunication.”

He gave me a look, “Obviously.”

I laughed, “Sorry, I have to say it out loud, it helps me figure it out. How much did you pay?”

“Fifteen hundred a month, all in, except my own cable and phone. But everything else is included.”

Tapping my fingers against the bottle, I nodded, “Me too.”

He winked at me, “Cleary this is a mistake; I’m sure they’ll find you a nice place somewhere else.”

A frown crept across my brow, “Why do you assume I’ll leave?”

He drank till it was empty and then sighed like he was refreshed, “Because my lease agreement was signed before yours.”

I had no argument for what he’d said. Technically, his contract would be the one that was valid. A sickening feeling was creeping around inside of me, when my phone rang.

“Hello?” I snapped it up fast.

“Hi, Lily, it’s Tom Banks at T&N. I got your message. We definitely have an issue. We don’t have anything in that neighborhood or anything that is that nice.” His voice was annoying, maybe it was his words.

I winced, “Can I put you on speaker, the other tenant is here as well.”

“Sure thing.”

I pressed speaker and held it out. He cleared his throat, “Like I said Lily, we don’t have anything for rent that would compare. Can you two hang tight for a couple weeks until something comes up? It’s a two bedroom, no different than having a roommate.”

My eyes shot up at the dark-haired guy. He shrugged but I shook my head, “You can’t expect me to live with a stranger?”

The dark-haired guy smirked, “My name’s Larry, Larry Barlow.” He said it like I might know him.

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I glared at him and sat up straight. “Tom, you need to sort this out. I traveled all the way from South Carolina—a long trip—for this kind of unprofessional mess. I signed a lease for a two-bedroom apartment with a park view, specifically this one. You can’t expect us to just live together.” My pulse was pounding. “He might be a creep. I can’t share a place with him. He already had some sketchy woman here—possibly a prostitute. He’s probably on drugs or something.”

Larry raised his dark eyebrows. “Hold up. I don’t need some uptight girl calling me a pervert, Tom. That ‘prostitute’ was actually a friendly waitress from Cappy’s.” He shot me a cold look, though I noticed a hint of amusement. “I signed the lease before her. If she’s going to insult me or mace me again, she’s the one who needs to go.”

Tom let out a heavy sigh. “Look, you two, it’s the start of the semester, and we’re swamped. I’m sorry. We’ll cover this half-month and next month—August and September—free of charge. If you can manage a couple of weeks together, we’ll find other options. I’ll refund your August and September rent, and from October, you’ll each pay half rent while sharing. Can’t you act like adults and compromise? I’ll send new contracts for this month, and we’ll go month-to-month until you’re ready to sign a full-year lease together or we find another place. Larry, your lease takes priority, but if you break the new agreements, the old ones will kick back in. That’s the best I can do.”

I was about to lose it, so I stood and paced, “This is unacceptable. I’m a law student; I don’t need some hood rat bringing home women. I paid the money and we have a contract. I could sue you…”

Larry cut me off, “I’m in. I want my rent back; I’m in for sure. I’ve always liked having a roommate. Least this one’s easy on the eyes, Tom.”

Tom chuckled into the phone, “Well, good luck with that, Larry, not that you’ll need it. Goodbye Lily, let me know what you decide.” With that he hung up.

I stood there staring at the phone, wondLilyg what in the hell had just happened.

I dropped back onto the couch, “This can’t be happening.”

He rolled his eyes, “It’s alright, princess. You’ll get by. It’s six—maybe eight weeks tops, like the man said. How hard can it be? Surely you had roommates in South Carolina.”

I felt a loss of control. I didn’t like that feeling. I stood up abruptly and walked to the hallway to get my bags. I snarled, “I guess I’ll take the other room, since you already had a friend sleep over.”