Page 38 of Against The Boards

We left the attic apartment and moved on to the next place, but it ended up being worse than the first. It was an absolute dump. I wondered if it was a better idea to move out to the suburbs. Or would that be worse because of the Philly work tax? I had no idea.

“Well, that was a bust,” I said when we left the last apartment. I climbed into the passenger seat of Benny’s SUV in defeat.

It surprised me he didn’t have something flashier, like my brother’s Maserati. Perhaps I’d misjudged him. I hadn’t been the nicest person to him over the years. Okay, I had been a colossal bitch, but not fighting with him today had been nice. Having a genuine conversation with him without wanting to throw something at him felt surprisingly natural. Maybe he did fuck the hate out of me last night.

“You’ll find a place. Are you glad I came with you?” he asked with a grin.

I glared at him.

He looked so weird without his signature beard. Benny was a beautiful man, but I liked beards, and the clean-shaven look on him looked wrong. On the flip side, I was glad to see him clean-shaven because I was less tempted to jump his bones again. Not gonna lie, it had been nice waking up this morning to someone holding me. Sometimes it was nice to feel loved, even if that’s not what it had been.

He put the SUV into drive and started the drive back to the condo. “Are you glad I came with you, though?” he asked again, with that cocky grin across his face.

“No,” I lied.

The grin got bigger. “Liar.”

“Fine,” I huffed. “Thank you for coming with me and...I’m sorry I’m always such a bitch to you.”

He put a hand on my thigh and squeezed it gently. My breath hitched in my throat at his hand on me again. “It’s okay, Rox. Like I said, you’re hot when you’re mad.”

I gaped at him and then slammed my mouth shut. I didn’t believe him when he said that. I thought that was just his horny brain. Guys who looked like him didn’t chase after the curvy girl.

Benny went to the gym with Riley when we got back to Old City. I was grateful for the quiet when he was gone. I needed to search for some new apartments, but the challenge was finding something in a decent area within my budget. I could have used Dinah’s knowledge of South Philly right about then, but she and Noah were still in Canada, visiting Noah’s parents. She was a phone call away, but I didn’t want to bother her.

I scrolled through my phone and landed on Riley’s wife’s number. Dinah had given me Fi’s number when they left town, in case I needed anything. I hadn’t even had the chance to meet Fi at the housewarming party since I threw a drink in Benny’s face and stormed off. I cringed at the memory. That was such a typical asshole Roxanne Desjardins move.

I tapped my fingernails against the counter in thought and hit dial on my phone. I pressed the phone to my ear and waited for her to pick up. “Hi, Fi. We haven’t met, but Dinah gave me your number.”

“Um...hi?” the voice on the other line responded.

I cringed at the fact that I didn’t even introduce myself. “Sorry, it’s Roxanne Desjardins. You got a minute?”

She laughed on the other line. “Oh, I didn’t know who the hell this was. Sure, what’s up?”

“How well do you know Philly?”

“Not as well as D. She’s a native.”

“Shit. I thought you were a Philly girl.”

“Nope, Minnesota born and raised. Riley and I grew up together.”

Huh. I didn’t know that. Dinah gave me no clue about how and when Riley got married. His marriage seemed sudden, but it made sense if they were childhood friends. I think I read a few romance books like that.

“Well, I won’t keep you then.”

She laughed. “Girl, what’s up?”

I sighed. “Oh, I’m still looking for an apartment. Checked out some places in West Philly today that were a bust.”

“Why were you looking there?”

“Because I don’t know where to look.”

“I used to live in Fishtown. That’s kind of the hipster area, according to Riley. You know what?”

“What?”