Chapter 27 Oh Shit! It Happened Again
TANNER
“Wren, you here?” I call from the door, carrying two large pies from Bruno’s Pizzeria. Tonight is our one month roomie-versary, so we decided to move our usual weekly roomie night to Monday.
The past week I’ve been working late, and she’s been busy, so our hangouts were rare. I’ve missed spending time with her, but I’ve also been in my head about what I think were two almost kisses.
On the one hand, it felt like she wanted me to kiss her. But, on the other hand, it’s me and her, and if I did read that situation correctly, I must’ve entered into the twilight zone.
When we did see each other over the last week, she felt a little distant, so I also don’t know what to make of that.
“In here,” she calls from her room.
I set the pizza on the coffee table and walk to her door. “Can I come in?” I ask, knocking gently.
“Sure,” she says.
I open the door and find her on all fours on top of her deflated mattress. Her ass is pushed into the air, and I have to divert my gaze.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“The mattress deflated again, so I’m just replacing the tape.”
“Replacing the tape?”
She looks over her shoulder. “Yeah, I found the hole, so I put a piece of tape over it last Monday, and it was working, but then this morning I woke up and it was deflated again, so I’m fixing it.”
“You’ve been sleeping on a deflated mattress that you fixed with tape for a week?”
She turns back around and rips a piece of tape with her teeth, carefully pressing it over the plastic mattress.
“Yep. I haven’t been on the couch. Did you think I was sleeping on the floor?” She stands, setting the tape on her bedside table.
“No, I thought you bought another air mattress.”
“Why would I have done that?”
I rub my temples. “Because it popped, and they’re not that expensive.”
“Just because something isn’t expensive doesn’t mean you should spend money on it,” she chimes, pushing past me and out of her room. “Come on. I’m starving!”
“If I had known you were sleeping on a damaged mattress, I would have—” I begin following her back into the living room.
“Would’ve what? Bought me one?” she asks, shaking her head. “I’m the one who owes you. I don’t need you to buy me a mattress. The real one arrived at a different shipping facility today, so I think it’s finally starting to move and will be here soon. The tape is fine until it gets here.”
I shake my head and rub my hand down my face. I wish she would just let me help her.
“So, what’s the game plan for our roomie-versary?” she asks, grabbing a slice of pizza.
“Well, I thought I’d make us a little cocktail and then we could watch a movie.”
“I’m cool with that. What do you want to watch?”
“Maybe something for Halloween,” I suggest.
“Okay, but not too scary. I don’t do super scary movies.”
“Have you ever seen Zombieland?” I grab the remote and toss it towards her. “It’s not scary. It’s funny, and the zombies kinda fit the October vibe.”
“Okay.” She grabs the remote with her free hand. “What streaming service is it on?”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. Just click on the Moviez4Zer0 app, and you can literally watch anything you want.”
“Moviez4zer0 app?”
“Yeah.” She turns the TV on. “You haven’t been using it?”
“No, I typically just watch cable.”
“Oh, well it’s the first one right there,” I say, pointing.
“Oh, my god! You pirate movies?”
“Huh?”
She puts down her slice of pizza on top of the box and turns to face me. “This is an app for pirated movies. Is it not?”
I shrug. “I guess, but it’s free and they literally have anything and everything you could want on there.”
“Tanner, this is so bad. It’s stealing.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve never really thought about it. It’s free, and those streaming apps really add up.” I try to explain, but even I can hear how bad it sounds.
She rubs her eyes. “You were just giving me so much shit for taping my air mattress, and you're over here with this seventy-five inch, high definition, fancy ass TV and a trust fund, and you can’t be bothered to pay for a movie.” She bursts out laughing. “God, the irony.”
“You didn’t seem to care the other day when we watched your movies on it.”
“Because I didn’t know!”
“How about this? If you buy a new air mattress, then I will look into paying for one or two apps and delete the free one.”
She rolls her eyes. “And what about tonight?” she asks.
“Are you sleeping on the taped up mattress tonight or are you going to take my bed and let me sleep on the couch?”
“I’m sleeping in my room. Also, my mattress and your thievery are two totally different things,” she quips.
“My thievery?”
“Yes, I can’t believe I’m living with a common criminal. You think you know a person, and then he shocks you with some horrible admission. I could have you arrested for this.”
“You want to see me in handcuffs, Wren? Because I think we could arrange that without calling the police.” I lean my shoulder against the wall, tipping my lips up to a smirk.
Fuck, what am I doing? And is it just me, or does that look on her face mean she’s thinking about it?
My cock strains below my boxers at the thought of her locking me up and having her way with me.
“Insufferable,” she teases.
“One more movie, and then I promise I’ll put all my bad boy ways behind me.”
“Fine, but I’m not going to like it.”
“What, me being a good boy? Or the movie?” I flirt, testing the waters to see where she goes with it.
“The movie,” she deadpans, scrolling through the app and obviously not interested.
Damn. I’m definitely misreading all this and I need to stop because of course this is all in my head.
When she gets to Zombieland, she selects the movie and then pauses the start of it. “So what cocktail are we having tonight?”
“I’ll come up with something,” I say, popping off the wall and moving into the kitchen. I gather cranberry juice, Grand Marnier, cream of coconut, a lime, some coconut shavings, and marshmallow fluff. “You like coconut rum?” I ask.
“Yeah, that sounds good,” she calls back.
After I rim our glasses with marshmallow fluff and coconut flakes, I fill a shaker with each ingredient.
I can’t help but notice how at ease I feel.
I wish the job at Austere allowed me to be a little creative.
The Local flashes in my head, and I remind myself I really should call Jerry.
Putting it off any longer isn’t going to make it easier, and he’s been kind enough to give me more than enough time to make a decision.
I pour the light pink mixture over some crushed ice and carry them out into the living room.
For something I made on the fly, I’m pretty proud of it.
“That’s pretty,” she says, standing to meet me. “What is it?”
“I’m calling it a sno-ball,” I say, handing her one. “It’s a nod to one of my favorite scenes in the movie.”
“The stolen movie?”
“Stop, I’m actually starting to feel bad.”
“Good,” she says, nudging me with her elbow. We both sit on the couch, and I grab a slice of pizza. The movie starts, and I honestly forgot how gory it was, but thankfully she doesn’t seem to mind.
“You excited for Halloween next week?” I ask. “Feels like forever since the whole group has been together. It should be fun.”
“Definitely.” She sips her drink. “Wow, this is delicious.”
“The recipe was easy. I can teach you how to make it if you want?”
“I’d like that,” she says, her lips curling upward. “So what did you decide to dress up as?”
“It’s a surprise.”
She tilts her head. “Come on. I’ll tell you what I’m wearing, if you tell me what you’re wearing.”
“Not a chance,” I tease. “But you could tell me yours?”
“No way I’m telling you mine.” She shakes her head. “Fair’s fair.”
“Can I get a hint?”
“Can I?” she asks, tipping the corner of her mouth into a sexy grin.
“No.”
“Then no.” She turns back to the TV and laughs at the movie.
We both sit there in silence, watching the screen. It’s a good movie, funnier than I remember it being, but my mind keeps wandering to The Local, and I wish it would stop.
“I’ve been thinking about the camps you want to open.” I say, catching her attention. “Will you tell me more about them?”
Maybe hearing more about her dreams will distract me from mine.
She breathes out a long breath, pulling one of her knees to her chest. “Oh, gosh. They seem like such a far off dream. Right now I’m just focusing on saving money. I’ll be lucky if I have them up and running a decade from now.”
“You don’t think you could do it sooner?”
“I mean, I don’t see how. My old landlord was discounting my rent, so I was able to put a little extra money away, and you’ve been kind enough to let me live here for free, so that’s helping me save, but it’s still slow.”
“Well, you also have all the money you saved from taping your air mattress back together.”
She shakes her head.
“Have you ever thought about starting smaller?”
“Not really,” she says. “I’d rather it take ten years, and I do it right, then try to do it with less money, and fail. I mean, it’s a huge undertaking, and there are so many moving parts and people needed to make something like that work.”
“I get that, but what if you started with an art class, and then eventually grew it to an art camp, and then from there you could expand to the overnight camps or whatever you want.”
“I hadn’t thought of that. It’s a good idea, but I don’t even know where I’d do an art class.” She shrugs. “I’m sure that would take money too. I don’t know.”
“You’re scared?”
“What?” She looks at me. “No, I’m scared of heights. I’m not scared of living out my dreams. I’m just a realist, and I know something like this doesn’t happen overnight or with the little bit sitting in my savings account.”
My mind starts racing with ideas of how I might be able to help her. I know she’d never take my money, but there might be another way.
“I’ll figure it out one day,” she says, pushing off the conversation, and I take the hint.
“Did you say you’re scared of heights?” I ask.
“Yeah, ever since my brothers fall, I don’t go up high.”