Chapter 2 #2
Final warning. That was… ominous. My throat closed up, and for a moment I couldn’t breathe.
Then I swallowed hard, pushed down my fear, and deleted the message with a too-forceful thumb jab and shoved the phone in my pocket.
I didn’t know why I was letting these get to me.
I got weird messages from men all the time.
There was nothing I could do about an internet troll, anyway.
“Everything okay?” Karl asked.
“Yeah. There’s some guy trolling me. Apparently I’m a champion of sin.”
Karl laughed. “You know, that sounds like a good trait to me.”
I buttoned my coat and beamed up at him. “You’re right. We should prove my bully right.”
He held the door open for me, shaking his head. “Thankfully, internet trolls rarely get out of their mom’s basement to see the light of day. So you probably have nothing to worry about, right?”
“Let’s hope not. All I want is a relaxing evening.
” I stepped closer to him as we walked toward my apartment, something about his response sitting the wrong way.
It wasn’t how I imagined Rhett and Troy would respond, but maybe it was a relief to have someone treat it like what it was: a stupid joke from a guy who was too afraid to do more than write weird emails.
I needed a good, old-fashioned dicking down to help me forget. With any luck, I was about to get laid by a handsome actuary. And I liked him, even if his jokes were a little nerdy.
As we walked, Karl’s easy chatter and corny jokes eased the tension in my shoulders, making me forget about Troy and Rhett’s antics.
Having a guy who helped ease my worries would be nice.
Karl’s reassurances reminded me that these internet creeps were a dime a dozen and never did anything about their threats.
As we approached my door, I strained to hear any sounds of plumbing disaster or firefighter bickering from within. The hallway was quiet, and Rhett and Troy’s door was closed. That was a good sign, right? Surely they’d finished and left, like normal human beings with boundaries.
“This is me,” I said, stopping in front of my door.
Karl stepped closer, his cologne—something woody and expensive—enveloping me as he leaned in. “Looking forward to that nightcap,” he murmured, his breath warm against my ear.
My body responded with an enthusiastic yes as I fumbled with my keys. It had been too long since I’d had a man’s hands on me, and despite his corporate bravado, Karl had good hands—strong fingers, neat nails.
The lock clicked, and I pushed the door open, stepping into my apartment with Karl close behind. The living room was empty, which sent a rush of relief through me. Maybe they really had—
A crash from the bathroom, followed by a string of colorful curses that could only come from Troy’s creative mind, shattered my brief moment of optimism.
“Fuck,” I muttered, dropping my purse on the entryway table.
“Everything okay?” Karl asked, eyebrows raised.
Before I could answer, the bathroom door flew open, and Troy emerged backward, carrying what appeared to be my entire sink, pipes and faucets still attached. Water sloshed from the drain pipe and the one in the back of the porcelain basin, dripping onto my hardwood floor.
Troy was soaked from chest to knees, his dark skin glistening under the hallway light, t-shirt clinging to every ripple of his abs. I tried to ignore the coil of heat in my belly at the sight of his gorgeous body.
Behind him came Rhett, equally drenched, his light brown hair plastered to his forehead as he supported the other end of the sink, thick shoulder muscles flexing under a nearly transparent t-shirt.
“A little farther,” Troy was saying, “then we can—”
Rhett stopped as he spotted me and Karl, throwing Troy a little off balance. “Oh. Hey, Aims. You’re back.”
Karl froze beside me, his hand dropping from my waist as he took in the scene: two dripping wet, incredibly hot and muscular men carrying bathroom fixtures through my apartment.
“What the fuck?” I managed, gesturing wildly at the sink, the water, and the two idiots holding both.
“Minor complication,” Rhett said cheerfully, as if this were all according to plan.
Troy cleared his throat, shifting the sink in his hands. “Turns out the leak was coming from inside the wall, not the sink itself. So we had to—”
“Detach the entire sink?” I finished, my voice rising. “Are you kidding me?”
Rhett had the decency to look sheepish. “We found some pretty serious corrosion in the pipes.”
“If we hadn’t caught it, you might have had a real flood on your hands in a few weeks,” Troy added.
“This is a matter for the landlord! And I already have a real flood,” I pointed out, gesturing to the trail of water they were leaving across my floor. “Go put that in the kitchen sink before it soaks my rug.”
The guys juggled the heavy sink over to the kitchen and set it down, leaving a trail of dripping water in their wake.
“Why didn’t you guys put it in the shower?” I asked.
Rhett’s eyes widened in a way that told me I didn’t want to see my shower right now. “It’s fine. Don’t worry, your shower is fine.”
“I didn’t ask if my shower was fine!”
Karl cleared his throat beside me. “Um, should I…?”
Shit. I’d forgotten Karl even existed.
“Oh, hey, man,” Troy waved. “I’m Troy, this is Rhett. We’re friends of Aimee’s.”
“Maintenance friends,” I said. “They’re helping with a plumbing issue.”
“At nine o’clock at night?” Karl asked, his tone suggesting he wasn’t buying it.
Rhett’s eyes narrowed slightly as he sized Karl up. “Plumbing emergencies don’t keep business hours.” There was a protective glint in Rhett’s eyes. “And who might you be?”
“Karl,” he answered, noticeably not offering a hand to shake. “With a K.”
“Cool, cool,” Troy said, nodding like this was a normal situation as he grabbed a huge wad of paper towels from the roll. “We’re almost done here. Just need to get the replacement parts installed, and we’ll be out of your hair.”
“Replacement parts?” I echoed. “You don’t have replacement parts?”
“Well, not yet,” Rhett admitted, helping himself to some paper towels. “But the 24-hour hardware store is a fifteen-minute drive away. We can go now and be back in half an hour, tops.”
A hysterical laugh bubbled up in my throat. “Half an hour? You expect me to wait half an hour while my bathroom is in pieces? I was supposed to have SEX tonight.”
Karl shifted uncomfortably beside me, taking a small step back. “You know what, Aimee, maybe this isn’t the best time. You’ve got a lot going on here with your… friends.”
The way he said “friends” made it clear that he thought Rhett and Troy were more than neighbors helping with plumbing.
“No, it’s fine,” I insisted, even as Troy and Rhett started drying the floor with paper towels. “They’re just fixing the sink. They’ll be done soon. Right, guys?”
Rhett and Troy exchanged a glance that said they were nowhere near done.
“Sure,” Rhett lied, squatting down to dab at the mess with a wad of paper towels, his thick thighs flexing against the fabric of his jeans in a way that should be illegal. I forced my gaze over to Troy, who also seemed to be staring at Rhett’s thighs.
“Troy?”
He shook himself and met my eyes with that charming grin he used to win everyone over. “A quick trip to the store and we’ll have you fixed up. You won’t even notice us.”
“Won’t even notice you?” I yelled, waving my arms wildly at the mess. “I only have one bathroom!”
Karl was already edging toward the door. “I should get going. Early meeting tomorrow.”
“Karl, wait—” I started, but he was already shaking his head.
“It’s fine, really. Rain check?” He didn’t wait for my answer before adding, “I’ll text you,” and slipping out the door and slamming it behind him like he was fleeing the scene of a crime.
The click of the latch echoed in the silence that followed. I stood frozen, staring at the closed door, then slowly turned to face Troy and Rhett, who at least had the good sense to look guilty.
“You two,” I said, my voice dangerously low, “are unbelievable.”
“Aims—” Rhett began, but I held up a hand to stop him.
“No. Don’t ‘Aims’ me. This is the third date you’ve ruined in two weeks. This is supposed to be my post-Garrett slut phase where I reclaim my sexuality, and you’re turning it into a fucking joke!”
“Wait. Slut phase?” Rhett asked, tilting his head.
“Do NOT volunteer!” I yelled, and he raised his hands and took a step back. Rage surged in my chest. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to date in this city? To find someone normal and not creepy who might actually want to sleep with me?”
“Aimee—” Troy tried to cut in, giving me a pleading smile.
“And every time—EVERY FUCKING TIME—I bring someone home, you two are here scaring the guys away!”
Troy winced. “We thought you said you were going back to your date’s place.”
“That’s not the point!” My voice rose to a shout. “The point is that you’re always here! In my space! Eating my food, fixing things I didn’t ask you to fix, screening my mail, my dates, my entire fucking life!”
Rhett’s eyes were wide and pleading as he reached a hand toward me, then changed his mind and ran it through his wet hair, sending droplets flying.
“Why the fuck is your hair wet?”
Rhett’s usual goofball demeanor was nowhere in sight. “Aims, we’re just looking out for you.”
“You’re Ryker’s little sister, and we promised him—” Troy added, his face falling.
“I don’t need looking out for!” I was on a roll now, years of therapist-recommended emotional expression bursting forth like a dam breaking. “I need you to fix my goddamn sink and then leave so I can have some goddamn SEX and move on with my goddamn life!”
The last part came out louder than I’d intended, and I saw both men’s eyes widen slightly at my outburst. We stood in a triangle of tension, water dripping from their clothes onto my floor, my chest heaving with emotion.
“I’m going to my room,” I announced, turning on my heel. “When I come out, I expect my bathroom to be functional and you two to be gone.”
I stalked to my bedroom and slammed the door behind me, then kicked a pillow across the room—childish but satisfying.
I paced the small space at the foot of my bed, struggling to calm my rage.
Why couldn’t those two idiots behave like normal friends?
For a long moment, I stood there, breathing hard, listening to the murmur of their voices as they presumably figured out what to do about the sink situation.
When I finally sat down, the rage had burned itself into something more complex and harder to name.
Rhett and Troy were good guys, and they were trying to help, in their overzealous, boundary-crossing way.
But maybe it was time for me to ask for my keys back.
They’d still be there, right across the hall.
Just without the unrestricted access to my apartment.
The thought sent an unexpected pang through me.
Despite everything, there was something comforting about knowing they could get in if I needed them.
With Ryker three states away, I didn’t have anyone in my life who would check on me if they hadn’t heard from me in a little while.
Or anyone who I would trust to hold my keys in case I got locked out of my place.
Which, with my ADHD, happened a little too often.
“Just so I don’t get locked out,” I murmured to myself, the lie flimsy even in my own ears. “Because I always forget my keys.”