Bennett — Age 23
Balancing Maven in my arms, I turned the key in the lock and opened the door.
It gave a loud creak as it swung on the hinges, and I carried Maven over the threshold into the dark apartment.
Giggling at my clumsy attempts to close the door behind us, Maven flipped on the lights.
A bright fluorescent bulb flickered to life in the kitchen, revealing the small space with mismatched, outdated appliances along with the rest of our studio apartment.
It was tiny, not much bigger than my bedroom at home, and a slight odor clung to the air.
Seventeen hundred dollars a month for this four-hundred-fifty-square-foot cinderblock rectangle felt criminal.
“It’s perfect,” Maven said as she smiled up at me, likely sensing my disappointment. She took my face in her hands and kissed me in a way that made me almost forget that our exceptionally brief honeymoon was over and we were standing in an empty, dingy apartment. “And it’s ours.”
I couldn’t help but smile at that. I placed her on her feet and handed her the small duffle I’d brought up. “I’ll go get the rest of the luggage from the truck before someone steals it.”
She bit at her bottom lip. “I’ll change into something a little more comfortable.”
My gaze slid down her figure, and I curled my fingers into her sweater to compensate for the surge of desire coursing through me. “I’ll hurry.”