Bender (5 page)

“Gosh, I’m sorry. I’m Keegan, the one that called about the room.” I stood there again with my hand in his large palm. I heard Macie clear her throat beside me. “Shit. And this is my friend Macie.” I wasn’t recovering from my bout of stupidity very well. “She came with me for some extra support. I hope you don’t mind.”

He released my hand and shook Macie’s as well. I watched her looking at him, and I recognized that sparkle in her eye. She was interested. Oh hell no, I was nipping this in the bud fast! No way was she ruining my possible perfect roommate situation because she wanted to jump in the sack with Mr. Hottie Pants. Ugh! And why did he have to look at her like he wanted to be doing the same thing? When they released each other, he turned to glance back in the apartment and said, “Please, come on in. It’s pretty picked up for the most part, but then again, it usually is.”

He turned around and in a few short feet, we were standing in an open concept living room. Off to the left was a kitchen that had espresso-colored cabinets lining one wall with a granite island. The living room ceilings were large and expansive. They reached all the way up to the second story where there was a small lookout with a wooden rail.

“The place is a two bedroom apartment. Majority of the rent is covered. Your portion would only be four hundred dollars, plus half the electricity and water bills. If you ladies wouldn’t mind following me upstairs, I’ll show you which rooms are which.” His smooth Georgia accent was very evident.

Macie leaned over and whispered, “I’d follow him into a fiery inferno if he asked me to. Did you see that ass?”

Dodger looked over his shoulder and said, “It’s from squatting. I could show you good form sometime,” then continued up the stairs after winking at her.

For the first time since, well, since I’ve known Macie, she looked genuinely embarrassed. Her cheeks were pink, and she looked down. Boy she was really crushing on the guy, and it had only been five minutes.
Must be love
, I thought after rolling my eyes.

We got to the top of the beige carpeted staircase and there was once again an open space. I could see the rail that looked down to the living room in front of me. But off to the left there were two doors and to the right was one. Dodger opened the first door, and inside it was semi-dark because the shades were closed and heavy curtains blocked any light. A king-size bed in the center of one wall had a dark blue comforter and across from it was a large television mounted on the wall with a dresser just below. There was memorabilia on almost every single surface that I could see, but it was too dim to see what it was for.

“Here’s the master bedroom. Sorry, obviously it’s going to be a bit bigger than your room,” Dodger said.

“Oh, that’s not a problem. At least this one has a door.”

Macie let out a little giggle. Dodger looked confused. She looked over at him with a smirk. “Don’t ask.”

He walked in front of us and crossed the space to the second closed door. “Here’s the bathroom for upstairs. Unfortunately it’ll have to be shared. But it shouldn’t really be an issue. Well, unless you are wanting to put all that frilly pink shit on the toilet seat and a rug.” I grinned and shook my head. “Okay good.” He closed the door and went to the last opening. “Here would be your room. There’s a lock on the inside, if you feel like you need it. Although I can tell you that your privacy won’t be interrupted. Have a look around, and I’ll be downstairs in the kitchen.”

He turned and left. I stepped forward and turned on the light. The room was a clean slate. It wasn’t huge, but it was bigger than where I was currently sleeping. My bedroom at home only had a bed and a dresser. But this room, this one I could put a bed, dresser, television on the wall, and a desk so I could finally have a place to study. I was mentally decorating the place and getting excited about all the possibilities. The only issue was that I wouldn’t be able to bring any of my furniture from my mom’s house. Even though it was mine, it technically belonged to her, and I still wasn’t sure how she was going to react to me moving out. With all of the thoughts flying around, I realized that I really wanted to move out. It wouldn’t take but a few months to earn enough money to start buying my own things. In the meantime I’d sleep on an air mattress. This apartment seemed perfect and almost too good to be true. College students didn’t typically live in places this nice. There was a nagging feeling that there must be some kind of catch. Like, did Dodger walk around the house naked? That didn’t really seem like a hardship I couldn’t handle. Did he bring girls over every night? Again, I could just close my door and ignore it. Was I going to be forced to cook for the both of us? I already did that at home so it wouldn’t make much difference.

“So what do you think?” Macie asked in a hushed voice.

I looked around again and glanced at the door. “It feels like I’m missing something. Like it’s too good to be true, if that makes any sense.”

She rolled her eyes. “Pessimist. Dodger was pretty straight forward with what’s expected. I think you should take this one. Could you imagine going to anymore places like the last two?”

I shivered. “I’d rather fail A&P and live with my mom.” She chortled. “It just seems too cheap though. I mean, four hundred dollars for a place like this? I mean, I know he said most of the rent is paid for, but why not split it evenly?”

Macie shrugged with indifference, and it frustrated me. Sometimes it was hard to remember that money meant nothing to her, and that was because she’d always had it. “Take what’s being offered to you, Keegan. If you don’t, some other college girl is going to swoop in and snatch this place up.”

“And would that be because of Mr. Hottie Pants downstairs?” I raised my eyebrow at her.

“What? No! I’m not interested in Hottie Pa… I mean Dodger.” Her cheeks were turning pink for the second time today. She grabbed my hand. “Listen to me, this isn’t your typical college dorm room, or frat house, where you have no doors and bands screaming in your ears. This is a good shot Keeg, take it. Get out from under your mom’s manipulation and start living your life. Mr. Hottie Pants just makes this place’s rating go from a perfect ten to an eleven. He’s just a bonus. But this place will be perfect for you.”

I smiled at her, knowing she was right. “
If
I take it, you can’t be sleeping with my roommate, Mace.” She scrunched her nose up like she was going to argue. “No I mean it. You’re my best friend, and I don’t want you to come over here if things go sour, and it be awkward for everyone. Dodger is off-limits.”

She huffed. “Fine. Can we go downstairs and at least give him the good news?”

I quietly clapped my hands like a young teenage girl. “Yes!”

She grinned big and tugged me toward the stairs. When we got downstairs, Dodger was sitting at the table that made up the dining room. It still opened to the living room and kitchen, but it was separate from both spaces. He had a couple of papers in front of him. As I approached, he must have read my face, because he gloriously smiled at me and slid the papers my way. It was seriously a sin to look that good.

“Here’s the contract stating what you are expected to pay, the dates that everything is due, and a few other minor things that we didn’t really go over. Like no painting the walls crazy colors, having overnight guests without letting the roommate know… blah, blah, blah, that sort of thing. Majority of it is basically taken verbatim from the lease that was signed to live here. I’m sure you understand.” His blue eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Yes, I understand.” I bit my lip to keep from reciprocating the grin.

“Okay then, here’s a pen, and I put tabs where you need to sign.” I took the pen from his hand and sat down in the chair next to him. Just as I pressed the tip against the paper, the front door opened and in walked a man that blew Dodger’s good looks straight out of the water. He was tall and built. He was wearing gym clothes, and I assumed that was where he’d just come from. His brown hair was short, but spiky, and it was wet with sweat. The clothes he was wearing were clinging to him like a second skin, and I could see the outline of sweat across parts of his shirt. My eyes took in every inch of him as he stepped inside and set his gym bag down near the kitchen. I gasped when he bent over, and I got a good look at his backside. Ever heard of the term ‘buns of steel’? I think he gave it new meaning. When he stood back up, he grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and started chugging as he slowly turned around. He must have finally sensed that there were people in the room watching him. When I got a good look at his face, I gasped again but more audibly. Dodger was trying not to laugh beside me, and Macie’s mouth was once again gaping open like a fish. His face looked so familiar and yet not. His cheeks were high and sharp, and his jaw was perfectly square. What stood out to me the most were his eyes. Almond shaped and dark chocolate brown eyes were narrowed, looking at me and the pen in my hand. I gulped. He looked almost menacing how he watched me.

“Dodger, you fucker, you can’t interview people without me here.” His voice sent a shiver down my spine. It was deep, and it resonated inside my chest.

He held up his hands. Still smiling like this guy had no effect on him. “You told me to interview, so I did. And,” he looked over at me, winking, “I’ve found you a roommate.”

“Excuse me?” His hard brown eyes turned back to me. “You just gave her the contract to sign without discussing with me if it was okay?”

The way he said ‘
her
’ made me feel like I was small and insignificant.

“She’s just what you’re looking for. I figured you wouldn’t mind.”

Dodger’s nonchalant attitude about the situation was putting me on edge. My brain was having trouble catching up with the conversation, but when it did, it all clicked into place.

“Wait a second. You don’t live here?” I aimed my question to Dodger.

“Nah, that dickhead does.” He nodded toward Mr. Tall, Dark, and Angry. “He’s my brother. I’m here a lot more than my other brothers, so I took on the role of interviewer.”

An excited sounding Macie said, “There’s more of you?” I kicked her under the table. “Ouch!”

Dodger’s head tilted to the side, but he smirked at my friend. “Yes, there’s four of us.” He was well-aware of what he was doing to her.

“Wait, wait, wait. You made me think
you’d
be my roommate.”

“You assumed I’d be, but I never once said I lived here.” I scowled at him. “Alright, I suppose I wasn’t exactly forthcoming with the info but my brother here can be kind of temperamental, and he’s scared off a few others who have come to see the place.”

Yeah, no kidding. His arduous eyes watching me, I could see the tick in his jaw as he ground his teeth together. “Dodge, get your ass in here, we need to talk.”

I glanced over at Macie, and her expression was dancing with delight. Yeah I bet she was excited. A little bit of drama with a couple of good-looking guys thrown in the mix, she lived for this stuff. Me on the other hand, my stomach was churning, and I felt like getting up and leaving. I kept playing over and over again how Dodger showed me every room, but he really never did say that it was
his
room,
his
bathroom,
his
apartment. My head was starting to hurt. Rubbing my temples with my fingertips, I had my elbows on the table to support me. This wasn’t going to work out. This was the ball I knew was going to drop. Nothing ever went right for me. I could hear Dodger and his brother, whose name I hadn’t yet gotten, speaking low but loud enough to catch.

“You dumb bastard, it’s not you living with a stranger, and I need to approve of them,” the brother said.

“You wanted a fuckin’ roommate, well I happen to think she’s perfect. She’s quiet, she’s going to school at the college, she hasn’t indicated that she has a boyfriend who will be coming over, and she has a steady job, what more could you want?” Dodger sounded like he was getting frustrated.

My face heated up with embarrassment. I would have preferred that my singlehood stayed private and not be broadcasted. “Which chick are we talking here? The pretty one, or the chubby one?” the ice cold voice said a little louder, and I knew he knew I could hear him. My head snapped up, and I glared. He was looking right at me.

Dodger spoke a little softer but was definitely menacing in his words toward his brother. “The blonde. Her name is Keegan, and she’s signing the goddamn papers. I’m not going through this again, brother. Go meet your new roommate and take a fuckin’ cold shower, you stink.” With that he grabbed some keys that were laying on the counter and walked toward the door. Before he left he addressed Macie and me, “I hope you like the place. We’ll be seeing a lot of each other.” He looked at his sibling and pointed. “Play fuckin’ nice.” Then he turned and walked out.

I kept my eyes level and didn’t remove them from the guy who was still staring at the door. I could have sworn I heard him growl. Resigned, he scrubbed his hand down his face and back up again into his messy hair. When his arm dropped by his side, he turned to face me. Straightening my back, I accepted his scrutiny. I wouldn’t show him that his words stung a bit harder than I should have allowed. This guy was clearly a gym rat. His muscles had muscles, and I haven’t stepped foot in a gym since… well since I was in high school and was forced to participate. I refused to let someone make me feel less than what I was and certainly not this asshole. His eyes remained on me the whole time, never once looking at Macie. That had never happened before. She was always the noticeable one. I blended into the walls. He’d obviously formed some sort of opinion about me, because he shook his head and walked over to stand in front of the table. He loomed over the two of us before he finally spoke.

“Sign the papers. No boyfriends, no chick parties unless I know about them, I’m the one who goes grocery shopping and does the cooking, and no loud music. You stick to those rules, and we won’t have any problems with each other.” His eyes narrowed the slightest little bit at the corners.

“And what if I don’t agree to them?” I asked, addressing him for the first time since he walked in.