“It is if you dip bread into it.” I shamelessly dunk a second chunk of bread into the pot. “Or if you pour it over a baked potato or hot dog.”
“You’re never going to make it past the thirty-day trial.”
I tear off another piece of bread. “Thirty-day trial?”
“It’s in your rental contract. It’s inallof our contracts. The six-month lease is contingent on a no-fault thirty-day trial. If you don’t like it here, you can leave in the first thirty days without forfeiting your security deposit. And if any of your roommates don’t feel like you’re a good fit, the six-month contract ends on day thirty.”
Shit.
I read the agreement—sort of. It seemed pretty standard. If I read about a thirty-day trial, it didn’t stand out to me because why wouldn’t my roommates like me?
While chewing on this new information, I ease the lid onto the pot of chili and clear my throat. “I’ll replace your chili.”
“How will you do that when you don’t know my secret ingredients? It’s a family recipe, and I’m not sharing it.”
I find a ten in my purse and toss it on the counter beside his bowl. “Are we good?”
“Ten dollars? Really?” Fitz grunts before tipping his bowl and scraping the last soggy crackers into his spoon.
“I didn’t eat even a dollar’s worth of your chili.” I cross my arms.
He licks his lips after the last bite. “If you truly believe that, what are the other nine dollars for? Are you trying to bribe me into not voting to kick you out? It’s going to take more than nine dollars.” Fitz carries his bowl to the sink.
By the time he rinses it and turns, I’m in his personal space, eyes narrowed at him. “If I find out there’s no thirty-day trial in my rental agreement, I’m going to tell Betty that you remember her, and you specifically remember not wearing a condom. And ever since that night, you’ve secretly pined for her.”
He tucks his fingers in his back pockets. “You’re going to lie to your friend?”
“I don’t know, Calvin. Am I going to find anything about a thirty-day trial in my rental agreement, or did you lie to me?” My head tilts to the side.
He scratches his scruffy jaw. “What does Betty look like?”
“Oh my god! You’re such a shit. You probably did sleep with her. What are you going to do if you have a nine-year-old child?”
He blinks several times before lifting his hand to my face and brushing a few stray hairs away from my eyes. I stiffen. It’s ... he’s ... well, he’s close. And it’s an intimate gesture. For a few seconds, I swear he’s going to kiss me.
We can’t kiss. We’re roommates. I knowthat’sin Will’s bylaws for this rental situation.
“I’d say it’s no fun because you’re too easy, but that would be a lie. It’s still pretty fucking fun.”
The need for revenge simmers deep in my belly because I know the answer to this question before I ask it. “You don’t know Betty, do you?”
He slowly shakes his head.
“And there’s no thirty-day clause.”
Fitz continues to shake his head.
“Watch out,Calvin.” I stab my finger into his chest. “Payback’s going to be a bitch for this one.”
A world of possibilities dances in his glimmering eyes, but I will wipe that grin off his face. I don’t know how or when, but it will be epic.
Chapter Six
“To my next midlife crisis.” Cee raises her shot glass with one hand and straightens her rhinestone birthday crown with her other while most everyone from the office celebrates at a bar by the river in downtown Missoula.
Two days earlier, Cee got her first tattoo, her Yorkie’s head on her forearm, to celebrate forty-five. Nobody knew it was her birthday until she showed off her ink. So Betty wasted no time arranging an outing—any excuse to escape her kids for a few more hours.
Now, we’re crammed around two high-top tables by the door, and every time someone comes in or out, the acrid stench of cigarette smoke and vaping aerosol makes its way to us, and a gust of cold air bites my exposed skin. The black strapless dress was a bad idea, but I wanted to wear something special for my first official night out with my new friends.
