The Right Kind of Love (3 page)

“Geez, Damien, chill the hell out. I told you I wasn’t going to cock block you.” I walked into my room to get away from the player. I’m surprised his dick wasn’t giving the tour. He was hot and that was about all he had working for him in my book. I was a bit intimidated by men at this point, after what I’d been through, but I had to remember to be strong and to not let my past control my future. I wouldn’t allow myself to live in fear. Of fear of what happened with Wes.

I took in the room. It was fairly large and actually had a king sized bed. Wow, I wasn’t expecting such a luxury. “Um, a king sized bed?”

“Yeah. That is what my brother had and he didn’t take it with him.” He winked. What is up with this guy? Does he have a twitch or something?

“I guess I’ll be going to Target after I get everything settled. I only brought bedding for a double.” I sighed. I was so tired from all of the driving that was the last thing I wanted to do along with unpacking all of the shit and lugging it up a flight of stairs.

“It’s cool. I’m off tonight, so I’ll take you there so you can get what you need.” He walked further into my room and opened a door.

“No, that won’t be necessary. I’ll drive myself.” I looked through the door and saw a toilet with a shower tub. “Nice, I didn’t realize I had my own bathroom.”

“Yeah. Both of the rooms have their own baths. They are both set up like masters.” He waggled his eyebrows at me. I could only imagine what went on in his master. My momma, who passed away not many years ago, had better be watching over me, because I honestly didn’t know what the hell I was getting myself into with having a male roommate.

“That’s awesome, Damien. This place is really nice. I appreciate you letting me stay until I can work something else out. But I’m gonna give it to you straight. Don’t ever come into my room without knocking first—ever.” I hoped like hell that the door had a lock on it because if it didn’t, I would be for sure picking one up while we were at Target.

“Point taken. I get it. You don’t want me in your room, and I sure as hell don’t want you in mine.” He gestured toward another door. “Let me show you the kick ass closet.”

I walked over to where he was standing with the door opened and walked in. Damn! It was freaking huge! Like, bigger than my closet back at home. It was lined with lots of shelves and racks for me to hang clothes. At the bottom, there were cubbies for me to put shoes in. I had definitely hit the jackpot. If only I were living with another female. At that time, my stomach betrayed me and grumbled really loud.

Damien turned to me and looked down at my stomach. “You hungry?”

I bit my bottom lip and then released it. My damn stomach had to choose that moment to growl. How embarrassing. “Yeah, I haven’t eaten all day.”

“Well, let’s get all of your shit up here, and then we can go get something to eat and hit Target. Sound good?”

“Sure I suppose that works. Shit, I need to get Zeus. Poor baby probably needs to do his business.” I started walking out the door, and he placed his hand on my arm to stop me. I pulled my arm away and looked back over my shoulder. “What?” I hadn’t been touched by a man since that night, and it had taken me completely off guard.

“Who the hell is Zeus?” He crossed his arms across his chest.

“Zeus is my dog.” I smiled just thinking about my little guy. At least he was here with me.

“You brought a fucking dog? I honestly don’t know if that is going to work. There won’t be enough room in here for all of us.” He gave me a questioning look.

“Chill, Damien. It will be fine, come meet him. I assure you that you’ll think he’s cool.” If he didn’t let me keep my dog, the deal was off. I would have to find another place and fucking fast.

“All right, lead the way to your car so I can meet this Zeus.”

Damien

S
he opened the door and this little dog jumped into her arms. “You have a rat for a pet.”

She looked at me shooting daggers, and then she stuck out her bottom lip. “He’s not a rat. He’s a Chihuahua.”

“Well, Sweets, he looks like a fucking rat to me.” I shook my head.

She looked at her damn dog and then said, “Zeus, don’t listen to him. He just doesn’t know you and how good of a boy you are.” She hooked a leash on his collar and then set him down on the ground. She walked over to the grassy area to let him do his business. I assessed him from afar, and although I had never been around a Chihuahua, I had to admit he was kinda cute—in an ugly ass way. He pooped and she took that baggy she was holding and picked it up, not touching the shit of course, but getting it into the bag.

She walked back over to me with Zeus in her arms again. I stretched out my hand and rubbed him around the ears. “I’m surprised he let you pet him. He normally growls at other people who try to touch him while I’m holding him.”

“The little rat knows what’s up. I’m cool with the animals.” I countered petting him.

“For the love of God, Damien, he’s not a rat. You are going to upset him if you keep calling him that.” I’m sure the damn dog didn’t care what he was called just as long as someone was giving him attention.

“Well, whatever. I guess I’ll call his boney ass Zeus. Now give me your keys so I can get started unloading your stuff. The sooner we get this shit done, the sooner we can get on with the rest of the night.” For the love of God, I didn’t want to spend all night unloading her shit. It was hot as fuck out here, and I could feel my balls sticking to my legs.

“Well, don’t let me put you out or anything. I can get this myself. I loaded it, so I’m completely capable of getting it out.” She held her head high and walked toward the back of her SUV. She placed Zeus in one arm and then pulled out a duffle bag with the other. She then sashayed by me. I just stared at her rather dumbly watching her tight ass walk up the stairs. And, boy, did she ever have a fine ass. She was working it up each step she took with her long silky blonde hair cascading down her back swishing back in forth in rhythm to her steps. I wanted to run my hands through it and play with it for a little while. I could only imagine what it would feel like against my fingertips. Oh, and those fucking eyes. Damn, I had never quite seen a shade that color. They were the most exquisite eyes I’d ever seen. They were a vibrant jade green encased in almond-shaped lids. They were absolutely radiant. It was like her eyes spoke words that she wasn’t saying. They were quite unique. Her voice was perky and each word dripped with pure honey every time she spoke.

She was the entire fucking package, and I’d be damned if my dick didn’t twitch.

Smoking hot and a fiery little personality to match, but she clearly had a stick up her ass. She may be a little thing, but she was damn mighty and didn’t put up with any of my shit. This was going to make for an interesting experience being a roommate with this chick. As long as she stayed out of my business, I would stay out of hers. Hell, if I had to draw a line down the middle of the apartment to keep this shit separate, I would.

But I would keep my distance. I didn’t make a playground where I slept. She obviously didn’t want anything to do with dudes other than to be a friend. Which was fucking fine by me I could do friends all day long. I certainly didn’t need any female drama in my life. Meeting girls and bringing them home for an easy lay of a one-night stand was all I was cut out for. I didn’t sleep with a girl more than once, and I certainly didn’t do fucking attachments or girlfriends.

I’d mused over her long enough and went to the back of her SUV and grabbed two suitcases and headed up the steps. She came back down empty handed. “Where’s the rat?” She shot daggers at me. I was getting used to this response from her. “Sorry, I mean, where did you put Zeus?”

“Well, for you information,
Zeus
is in my room.” She walked past me and grabbed her pillows and her laptop, and I continued up the stairs. I carried the suitcases to her bedroom and went down for another load.

Once we got everything unloaded, and I mean everything, we headed back to the apartment. Her Jeep Liberty was on the small side for an SUV, but let me tell you, the girl packed it like it was a game of Tetris strategically placing everything in there so she could maximize on the square footage.

“You want me to set up your TV and stereo while you unpack some of your shit?” I said while walking in her direction. Zeus was sound asleep on the bed. He looked all peaceful with not a care in the world. I had to admit for a rat he was pretty damn cute. His black and white markings were pretty kick ass and his ears looked like a fucking dear. It was an interesting looking dog for sure. She thought he was the cutest thing in the world, so I would just keep my trap shut and try to remember to call him by his name and not rat dog.

“Sure, that would be great if you don’t mind. Just don’t break anything.” She walked over to the dresser against the wall. “If you want to place it on top of here that would be great. I’m hoping that there is a cable outlet on this wall?”

“Chill the fuck out woman, I’m not going to break any of your shit, and if I did I would replace it.” I rang my hands. What the fuck had I gotten myself into with this uptight chick? I swallowed my irritation. “Yeah, this is where my brother, Reeve, had his TV hanging on the wall above the dresser. I can hang it if that’s cool with you. That way it would be easier to watch it while you were in bed. You know when you get your porn and shit out?”

“Porn?” There she goes again staring daggers at me.

“Yeah, you know—porn? When two people fuck?” Seriously, was this girl that much of a prude that she didn’t know what porn was?

She placed her tiny hands on her hips and stuck out her chest. And let me tell you, she was rocking it with the chest. Her light blue baby doll t-shirt clearly was made to show off her assets. “I don’t watch porn.”

“Oh, come on. Everyone watches porn, Sydney.”

“Well, I clearly don’t, end of story.” She walked past me and went to the bathroom to unpack her toiletries.

She had to be a fucking prude and uptight as hell. I think she maybe even had a few screws lose.

When she figured out that my apartment was pretty much a revolving door of hot chicks servicing me, then she was going to be in for the shock of her life. I don’t know how we could be more of opposites. As long as I was getting mine on a regular basis, then I didn’t care if I roomed with Mother Theresa. I was raised Christian, after all, even if my father liked to point out at every turn how unchristian I lead my life. I was the black sheep of the family.

Just thinking about my dad getting on my shit caused the cackles on my neck to rise. He and I never saw eye to eye. He didn’t respect how well I’d done with my career and thought music was a waste of time. Now, my mother, on the other hand, was as sweet as pie and always supported whatever I wanted to do. I got on great with my brothers and baby sister. We actually all got along really well with the exception of my father. Reeve had made my parents proud by becoming a doctor, and although the rest of us worked hard at our jobs, we never measured up to him. You would think that it would cause a rift between us siblings because of the way they put Reeve up on a pedestal, but it didn’t. We all loved my brother and were proud as hell of him, too.

“Hey, Sydney, where do you want me to set up your iPod dock and speakers?” I tossed over my shoulder. I almost called her Sybil. Now that would have gotten the fire under her ass flaming.

“Wherever there is an outlet and it works, Damien, I’m not picky.” Well, hot damn, she was actually being amicable about something. I went to her nightstand and began hooking everything up for her.

She walked out of the bathroom. “Thanks. It’s much appreciated.”

Wow. The little diva was actually thanking me. I guess I’d done something to get on her good list. Not that I was trying to get on her good list. Hell, I was a take ‘em or leave ‘em kind of guy. Either you liked me or you didn’t. I wasn’t about to kiss anyone’s ass to win their friendship. I was tight with my siblings, and I had plenty of friends at the shop.

“So how much more shit are you going to unpack?” Her belly started to rumble again. I don’t know why, but it was fucking cute.

She went and grabbed one of her suitcases and laid it on the bed. “I’m just gonna unpack this bag. I don’t want my clothes to wrinkle. I know I’m going to have to iron most of them, but hopefully, some are salvageable.”

“Sweet. Maybe I can have you iron some of my shit while you are at it.” I had to toss that out there to see if I could get a fucking rise out of her.

“Really? You think because I have a pussy that I’m your maid. Clearly, you have me confused with someone else.” She tossed that gorgeous blonde hair and headed over to the closet.

Like I said, fucking fiery. I knew I shouldn’t have baited her, but I couldn’t help myself. It was actually comical. I chuckled under my breath.

“Do you actually have the audacity to laugh at me, Damien? Because don’t think I didn’t hear you. You are such a guy. I don’t even know what I think of you right now.” She walked back out of the closet and came to where I was standing. “I’m not sure if I should unpack anymore because I don’t know if I can stand being your roommate.”

Two could play at this little game. Damn if she didn’t have that stick lodged far up her ass. “Oh, really? Well, what are you going to do about it? Pack up your shit that we just unloaded and move somewhere else?”

“Yeah.” She squinted at me. Damn, she was pissed.

“Chill the fuck out, okay. We can make this work. I won’t bother you and you don’t bother me. How does that sound?”

“Well, I don’t know. I’m just not sure I want to live with someone who doesn’t respect me.”

“Nonsense. I was just joking around not trying to show a lack of respect. Besides, we don’t even know one another.” And we didn’t, but I planned to get to know her.

She stuck her hand out to me. I took my hand out of my pocket and shook her petite hand once again. “All right, we have a deal. But let’s be clear. First thing tomorrow morning, I’m calling those fucked up people who set us up as roommates and seeing if they can’t relocate me. In fact, I’m going to go call them right now and see if I can reach anyone, maybe they have an emergency number.”

She walked away from me and went to the bathroom and shut the door. Damn, if I didn’t love to piss this little diva off. She clearly didn’t like me. She thought I was a pig, and well, I still didn’t know if I liked her either. She was hot as hell, but that was about all she had going for her. If I were ever to fuck her, I would put some tape on her mouth to keep her from spewing her shit.

She stomped back out of the bathroom like a petulant child. “Well, I talked them. It looks like I’m stuck here until something else becomes available. They’re going to refund both of our fees since they clearly made a mistake placing us. But it looks like I’m stuck here.” She put her head down, walked over to the bed, and picked up the rat.

“Look, Sydney, we can make it work. We don’t have to be best friends, fuck buddies, or attached. You do your own thing and I’ll do mine. We just need to be respectful of one another’s space. I won’t lie. Rooming with a female is something entirely different for me, too. But I’ll try my best not to make you feel uncomfortable as long as you can pull that stick out of your ass.”

She set Zeus on the bed and picked up a shoe and then threw it at me. It hit me in the chest and it didn’t even hurt. “Nice try, slugger.”

“You asshole! Get the hell out of my room and don’t come back.” She stood up and marched her tiny ass over to me. She pointed her finger at me and narrowed her eyes. Damn her and those wicked eyes of hers. “You think I have a stick up my ass? Well, I can tell you right now this stick is here to stay, so you had better learn how to deal with it. You… you are a pig!” She started shooing me away with her hands. “Now out, out you go.”

She pushed me out of the room and shut the door in my face. I knew I was going to push it, but I had to get one last word in. “So does this mean you don’t want to get a bite to eat and go to Target?” I heard another shoe hit the door.

“Pig.”

Maybe I would need to get some paint or some tape and divide the apartment in half, because I couldn’t fathom how we were going to make this little arrangement work.