Chapter Eight
Danika
What have I gotten myself into?
As I pull up to Arden’s apartment complex, I can’t help but think I’ve made a huge mistake.
Him and I have never gotten along, even as kids.
He was always so mean to me. Treating me even more harshly than he treated his own sister.
I never understood it. Not only that, he was always getting into fights in school.
The two years we spent together in high school, Arden was constantly getting in trouble for fighting. I never understood it.
And now, here I am, parking in the building parking lot. About to move in with a guy who calls me “brat”. I might’ve actually lost my mind this time.
Arden had texted me the address shortly after leaving, and I realized it wasn’t too far from the place Sydney, Margot and I had the past two years. It made me more comfortable to know I’d be in an area I recognized at least.
I didn’t expect him to be standing at the door, ready to help me with my things, but I had expected him to be here when I arrived. He said anytime after three, well it’s 3:05! With a huff, I pull out my phone to give him a call. Luckily, he answers—with a grunt—on the second ring.
“Where are you? I’m at the apartment.”
“Something came up, I’ll be there soon.”
I scoff. “Not a very reliable landlord.”
On the other line, Arden chuckles darkly. “Oh, I’m your landlord now?”
“You know what I mean! Just get here, I’m standing outside the building with an armful of Hello Kitty pillows. I look ridiculous just waiting here.”
“I don’t think the waiting is what’s making you look ridiculous.” Before I can respond, a honk pulls my attention, and I see Arden pulling into the parking lot. He parks his ford car next to my jeep, and we both hang up the phone.
“You would pick the lightest thing to carry upstairs,” he comments, grabbing two duffel bags from my backseat.
“I didn’t expect you to help so I was trying to conserve my energy.”
Arden unlocks the building door then guides me up one flight of stairs to apartment 2A. Huh, ironic. After he unlocks that door, he holds it open for me to step inside first. How chivalrous, I think. Until I take a look around.
The place is an absolute dumpster fire. There’s dishes everywhere. Clothes strewn across furniture and on the floor. The garbage is overflowing, and I swear, there’s a smell here that I’ve never in my life smelled before.
“I’m glad you didn’t clean up on my account,” I scoff. Arden remains silent as he drops my bags and leaves to get more stuff from my car. I would be shocked at how much he’s helping me if my shock quota wasn’t already met by the look at this disgusting apartment.
One thing’s for sure, if he’s making rules for my nicknames, then I get to make rules about his cleanliness.
Not waiting for him, I decide to give myself a tour of the place. I hold my pillows as I wander, not knowing if there are any safe, clean places to leave them.
As soon as I walk in the door, I’m met with an open concept kitchen and living room set-up, complete with a full dining table and chairs.
At least I think it’s a dining table. For all the clothes on it, it could be an oversized laundry basket.
The kitchen is fairly neat, save for the pile of dishes in the sink.
Immediately I spot a dishwasher and thank whatever gods exist for the small win.
The living room consists of one couch–again, cluttered with books and clothes–and a coffee table with more empty water bottles than a recycling bin.
Arden grunts in the doorway as he puts four of my duffel bags on the ground. Damn, he’s strong. Most of those are full of shoes. He doesn’t acknowledge my question as he steps over the bags and opens the door to his right.
“Your room,” he says before he heads back outside presumably to get the rest of my things. Who knew he could be such a gentleman?
Venturing past a pile of used towels on the floor, I peek inside the bedroom designated for me.
And then I breathe a sigh of relief when I see it’s entirely empty except for a plain full-sized mattress and wooden bedframe.
There was also a small bedside table and matching dresser.
Placing the pillows on the bed, I spin around to look at the rest of the room.
Large windows, decent closet space, even a mirror hanging off the door. Oh yeah, I could get used to this.
I hear Arden coming up the stairs and I quickly grab my duffels out of the doorway and drag them into my new room, again marveling at Arden’s strength to carry all of them upstairs at once.
The wheels of my largest suitcase hit the ground, and Arden appears at the door as I’m heading back into the hallway.
“Dale didn’t want his furniture?”
“Guess not,” Arden shrugs, pushing the suitcase toward me. I maneuver it toward the dresser, vowing to unpack everything later.
Arden walks into the kitchen and grabs two water bottles from the fridge.
As he walks by me in the doorway, he offers me a bottle before heading to the couch and plopping down, narrowly missing an Intro to Statistics textbook on the seat next to him.
He grabs the remote and within a second, the sounds of some sport hit my ears.
“Not to complain but—”
“Oh, here we go.”
“How did you live with Margot your whole life and still have a messy home? She beat that habit out of me years ago.”
“I guess once I didn’t have my bossy little sister around, I let loose a little.”
“A little?” I question, gesturing toward the leaning tower of laundry on the dining table. “How about this: another rule. I won’t call you peepants if you can manage to maintain a clean home.”
Arden looks over at me. “And what if we break the rules?”
“If we break the rules, then one of us has to move out.”
Arden laughs. “This is my apartment.”
“Our apartment.”
“Is your name on the lease?” Damn. He got me there. And he makes a very good point. My name isn’t on the lease. Which means I’d be at his mercy to live in this place. He can kick me out at any time.
“Relax, brat,” Arden says, as if reading my mind. “No one is moving out. We’ll just have to think of another way to punish the rule-breaker. I’m sure we’ll come up with something.”
I nod but don’t say a word. The sexual innuendo is not lost on me but I’m not going to call attention to it and let Arden think I’m flirting with him, because that is the very last thing I would ever do with him…
Satisfied with my reaction, Arden turns his attention back to the screen, putting his feet up onto a pile of clothes on the table.
“I’m going to go unpack a bit.”
Arden only grunts, not looking away from the game.
Turning on my heels, I make my way toward my room, ready to dive into an afternoon of folding and clothes hanging. It’s a good thing I don’t have orientation until tomorrow because this task is going to take all night.