Chapter 14
DANI
“Guess what?” I vibrated with excitement. “I’ve got a lead on an apartment. Vanessa’s husband, Anthony, works with a guy whose brother is looking for a roommate. I’m going to look at his apartment tomorrow.”
Jake’s frown deepened.
“His? It’s a guy?”
I rolled my eyes.
“There aren’t any women who need a roommate in Sierra Rose Ridge. I’ve had a male roommate before. It’ll be fine.”
“Hmm.”
I kept my smile in place through sheer force of will.
“Why are you in such a hurry to find a new place? It can’t be that bad living with your parents.”
“I walked in on them the other day. In the living room!”
He blinked at me.
“You mean…”
“I mean my mom was on my dad’s lap in the living room when I came home early after meeting with a design client.” My voice rose, but I made no effort to lower it.
“It was the middle of the day! What was my mom doing naked in the living room at two in the afternoon? She was supposed to be at work, not writhing around on the couch where Miss Priss and I cuddled the night before.”
My description broke him. Jake’s mouth dropped open, but no sound emerged.
“Um, good for them?” he croaked at last.
“Yes, good for them. In fact, I love that for them. But I don’t want to see it. It’s bad enough I can hear their bed squeaking at night.”
His face took on a look of such abject horror that I laughed.
“Yup. Squeaking and thumping. And maybe some light moaning, but my imagination might have filled in that bit.”
That last part was payback. The squeaking and thumping were real, but I was too far away to hear anything else thank goodness.
“So. Your parents, uh, still, uh.” He cleared his throat and glanced away.
“Now you understand why I’ve got to get out of there. It’s bad enough that I’m living at home again at thirty-three. Now I’ve had both visual and audio reminders that my parents have a better sex life than I do.”
Jake blanched, so I went in for the kill.
“When I came over the night you put in your fire pit? I ran into them coming out of the bathroom together in their robes and giggling. They have their own bathroom, but the other one has a garden tub.”
“Enough. I get it. You don’t need to belabor the point.”
I raised my eyebrows at him.
“Are you sure? Am I allowed to look for a new place now?”
His impassive expression was in place, but I’ve observed him carefully since we renewed our friendship. While he controlled the tick in his jaw when he was upset, he wasn’t able to stem the flush that spread to his ears.
“Of course you can look for a new place.”
“Good. I’m so glad I have your permission.”
“But if you’d like to have a second opinion, I’d be glad to go with you.”
A rush of affection for my grumpy friend flooded me.
“Thanks, Jake. I’d appreciate that.”
“You can’t be serious about this place,” Jake said in an undertone.
My heart thumped erratically, but my smile remained in place.
“It’s not so bad,” I lied.
“The apartment itself isn’t terrible, other than all the trash and dirty dishes piled everywhere. This guy gives me the creeps, and I’m not the pretty young thing he’s eying like a feast.”
Now my heart beat faster for a different reason.
Damn it, Jake, I’m not having these thoughts about you. I can’t. It was bad enough you sang that song. Don’t flatter me, too.
“I’m sure it’s fine.”
I couldn’t move in here. No way. Even if the lock on the rented room was working, which it wasn’t, the way Ron stared at me made my skin crawl. Plus, the place was filthy. Scorpions were a fact of life in this part of the country, but roaches weren’t.
“What do you think?” Ron asked. “Pretty great, right?”
“It’s a little outside my budget.”
His face fell, but then he brightened with an idea.
“That’s okay. I can knock some money off the rent. I’m sure we can come to some other arrangement.”
“Nope. We’re done here.”
I suppressed a shudder as Jake ushered me out the door. Once we were in his truck, I let out a half laugh-half whimper.
“Did that really happen? Did that guy really go seventies-porno mode, or am I having a nightmare?”
His face grim, Jake’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel. I laughed.
“It’d be horrible if skeezy Ron was my only choice, but I can stay with my parents longer. I’ll get some good headphones, and it’ll be like living in the dorms again. Except it’s my folks instead of my roommate.”
Jake’s brow wrinkled. If I didn’t know him, I’d be intimidated by that furrowed brow. His grumpy facade kept a lot of people at arm’s length, but not me. I knew the old softie behind his forbidding expression.
“Poor Miss Priss,” I joked. “She’s going to be sad she won’t get to chase vermin and bugs.”
He snorted.
“That cat is too lazy to chase dust bunnies.”
“Hey, don’t talk about Miss Priss like that. She’s not lazy; she’s particular. It’s not her fault she likes the finer things in life,” I sniffed indignantly.
His mouth quirked in an almost-smile, and I mentally pumped my fist. My phone dinged. When I glanced at it, I groaned.
“I cannot deal with you right now,” I muttered.
“Beau?”
I thumped my head back against the seat and let out a weary sigh.
“Beau.” My eyes grew heavy, but I wouldn’t give in to my exhaustion. “He’s not letting me go easily. Between him and the apartment falling through, today has not been my day.”
My eyes slid closed. The next thing I knew, the truck slowed as we pulled into Jake’s driveway.
“Oh my god, I can’t believe I fell asleep on you. I’m so sorry.”
One side of Jake’s mouth curled up. He parked and turned towards me.
“It’s not the first time I’ve heard you snore.”
“I don’t snore!”
His smirk grew.
“Whatever you need to tell yourself.”
I gasped, affronted.
“I don’t,” I argued.
“It’s fine. The radio covered most of it. Barely heard a thing. But you might want to…” He swiped his thumb and forefinger down both sides of his mouth.
Aghast, I rubbed my mouth before laughter danced in his eyes.
“You jerk,” I huffed.
“Couldn’t resist. You’re fun to piss off.”
I pretended to pout, but internally I preened. Beau and I never played like this, and my next relationship needed this easy laughter and playfulness.
Stop! I cannot keep comparing Beau and Jake. For one, Jake is a million times the man Beau is, but more importantly, Jake is my friend. Just a friend.
“In all seriousness, Jake, thanks for coming with me today.”
“You can handle yourself, but I’d have been a regular old worrywart,” he joked.
My heart swelled with affection when he tried to play off my nerves as his own worry.
“I’ll have to keep looking, but my situation’s not so bad. For now, don’t be surprised if you find me in your backyard on Wednesdays and random evening to hide from my parents again.”
I mock-shuddered. His rumble of laughter made the hairs on my arms stand at attention. I crossed my arms to hide the nipples that also perked up.
Get control of yourself, Dani.
“Do you work tonight?” he asked.
“Yup. I work every Friday and Saturday night. Speaking of which,” I gave him a sly smile, “it’s open-mic again tonight. I got tons of extra tips. All the ladies in town were desperate for information on you.”
His laughter reverberated around the cab of his truck, and my lady parts went up in flames. Obviously, I needed to take care of some business before I lost my mind and did something unforgivable, like make a pass at my oldest friend.
“I’ll leave open-mic night and desperate ladies for Ben,” he said in a droll voice.
My trill of laughter followed me as I headed towards my driveway.
“Do you have any other sketchy apartments to visit?” he asked.
“Not yet, but maybe I’ll meet someone at open-mic tonight.”
His grumble of annoyance sent me into another fit of laughter. Despite the failure of my outing, I was in great spirits. I worked hard on my design work for a few hours, refreshed after my little cat nap.
When it was time to get ready for my shift, I dug through the pile of clothes I stored here because of Beau.
As I sorted through them, anger flared. None of these clothes were inappropriate, and I was mad at myself again for letting him bully me into giving up the things I liked, including my style and laughter.
I settled on an off-the-shoulder top with an Audrey Hepburn feel paired with some baggy cargo pants. My boobs were nothing to write home about, but I enjoyed yoga and weightlifting, and it showed. I looked good.
Work started off great. While I kept an eye out for Jake, I didn’t expect him. Most of Sierra Rose Ridge was at the Tavern tonight, though.
The night was busy. Beau showed up and tried his nonsense again, but I wasn’t having it.
I’d forgotten who I was for too long, but the old me was still in there and had no patience for manipulative men.
When I laughed at his latest attempt to shame my clothing, he scowled, and I was freer than I had in years.
We cleaned up after open-mic ended. Closing wasn’t for another hour, but the crowd had thinned after the entertainment ended.
The kitchen was off and mostly cleaned up, and Dakota had already left.
The other bartender, Bethany, cashed out her register since Neil and I closed on Friday and Saturday nights.
Those who remained were a mix of folks still on the lookout for their next hookup, unrepentant party-goers, and those determined to eke every bit of fun out of their Saturday night with their friends.
“Your soldier’s here,” Neil said.
I spun around, and a smile broke over my face. He came!
Neil’s quiet laughter faded as I made my way towards Jake.
“What are you doing here? It’s almost last-call.”
He shrugged.
“Nothing. I was too restless to go home after leaving Dusty’s, so I drove around for a bit before I found myself here.”
My heart fluttered. I was too practical to go starry-eyed that he’d rather be here than relax at home. It didn’t mean anything.
“If you want to help me rearrange the chairs back to their usual pattern, that’d be great. We moved them to make a dance floor.”
Closing passed quickly, and I tried not to give too much credence to Jake’s presence. Vanessa texted to ask if I wanted to get together tomorrow, and I jumped on her suggestion. It had been too long since we’d seen each other, and I was desperate to catch up and ask for her advice.
Finally, everything was ready for the morning crew. The Tavern had a great brunch on Sundays, including half-priced mimosas and Bloody Marys. If Vanessa didn’t have any better ideas, I’d steer her in this direction because Dakota’s chimichangas and fry bread tacos were out of this world.
Drool-worthy images of delicious Navajo and Sonoran foods filled my head, but I pushed them aside to focus on end-of-shift work. Neil, Jake, and I worked efficiently and had everything cleaned, restocked, and locked up in record time.
“This has been fun, kiddies,” Neil said, “but if I don’t get nine hours of shut-eye, I will be an absolute bear tomorrow. Since tomorrow involves a command performance with the parental units, that’d be a disaster.”
“Good night.”
“‘Night, Neil.”
Neil threw me a kiss and a wink, or maybe they were for Jake. We watched him drive off, a weird silence between us.
“Guess we should head home, too,” Jake said.
Jake followed me in his truck. Once I parked and got out of my car, a form peeled itself from the shadows by the porch. My heart lodged in my throat when the outline of a man moved towards me. When the security light from Jake’s yard lit up Beau’s face, my breath caught.
“Beau.” My voice was loud. “What are you doing here? It’s late.”
“I missed you, baby.”
His wheedling tone hung in the air as Jake pulled into his driveway. Jake exited his truck with the confident, easy movements of a man who handled whatever life threw his way. His eyes bored into mine across the yard.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Why are you always here?” Beau demanded.
“I live here.”
Beau growled in annoyance, but he otherwise ignored Jake and turned up the charm for me.
“Sweetie pie, I’m dying without you.”
He reached for my hand, but I snatched it away. His smile faltered before its full glory spread across his face again. When I didn’t respond to his cajoling, he switched up the game.
“You made your point,” his voice dripped with condescension.
“I took you for granted, and you showed me what I was missing. You’re right.
There, I said it. I should have made a greater effort and showered you with attention.
Come back, baby. I hear you. There’s no need to keep up with this charade. ”
“No, Beau, I told you. I’m done. We’re over.”
Quick as lightning, his attitude shifted again. Beau’s expression hardened. Then he laughed, a cruel, nasty sound I recognized. His sneer was equally familiar.
“This tantrum has gone on long enough. Aren’t you embarrassed?
Your little company has been such a failure you have to work at a bar.
Now you’re dressed like a whore despite having no tits.
You got my attention. I probably shouldn’t take you back, but I will.
You need me, and I love you though I don’t know why. ”
Contempt dripped from his voice, but he wasn’t done.
“Instead of building security, moving up the corporate ladder, or growing a family like most people your age, you’ve crawled back home to mommy and daddy so they can fix it again.
You have no savings, no real job, you play at running your own business.
It’s not my fault you’re a failure. Why are you punishing me? ”
Each word landed like a punch. My breaths sawed in and out as I tried to breathe past the pain of his verbal attack. He knew all my insecurities, knew exactly how to twist the knife, but he still managed to make it about himself.
Jake’s voice startled me, and shame flooded me that he’d heard my ugly truths.
“You’ve got it all wrong. Dani moved into my spare room. She has her own space again, convenient access to her parents, a spacious kitchen she can update to her heart’s content, and everything else she needs.”