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“Hello. This is Sophie Grace Jones. I don’t know if you remember me…”
My hand tightened on the phone when the polite voice immediately turned warm.
“Sophie. David’s kid. Of course, I remember you. He mentioned you moved to the city after you graduated.”
“Oh.” He knew? “Yes. Yes, I did.”
“He must have given you my number,” he assumed, then chuckled. “An emergency contact in case you needed it, but I guess you didn’t need it then.”
“Yes. Um… yeah.”
He must have noticed my silence because his voice changed, the amusement turning concerned.
“What’s up?”
How are you?seemed like a good place to start.What have you been up to in the city all these years? Are you busy right now?
But my desperation took a turn and I uttered the first thing in my mind.
“I just lost my apartment and I have nowhere to go.”
***
Matthew Curb was my father’s friend and a family friend back in my hometown before he moved away. They didn’t exactly grow up together, but they were coworkers and had been tight until my father had to resign to take care of the family business. They remained friends after that, and my family would invite him to dinners and special occasions. I had the biggest crush on him growing up, his kindness a constant positive energy. But the way he called himself old and big made me deduce that city life hadn’t been kind to him and his looks.
I was wrong.
The man who answered the door was big, alright, but in the right areas, like his shoulders and thighs. The simple white shirt and jeans he had on emphasized that. His brown hair was styled casually over a handsome face, dominated by very blue eyes. They were eyes I always mooned over when I was a teenager, and I’d become giddy whenever they looked at me. They looked at me now, and all I felt was embarrassment.
“I’m sorry about this,” I blurted out. My cheeks turned hot, remembering how disgracefully I handled that phone call. Before I could say anything about it, though, he held up a hand. The other was already hefting my bags inside, and I couldn’t help my gaze from straying to his arms.
“There’s no need to be sorry, and you were right to call me. Come on in. Let me get your luggage.”
He had big muscles, and they bunched every time he lifted my bags and deposited them inside. In fact, he was bigger than when I last saw him, which was… a year ago? Probably more. Still lean, but with enough significant changes to tell me he’d been working out. I tried not to notice the rest as I made my way to the living room, inconspicuously taking in his apartment. All the furniture was sleek and modern, reminding me of the homier feel of my old home.
Damn it. I shouldn’t be thinking about that apartment or the man living in it.
“You said you lost your apartment?” he prompted.
“Yes. It’s just… my boyfriend. We didn’t work out.”
That was an understatement.
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Yeah.”
My stomach heaved as the sexual scene in the office reignited in my mind. My heart squeezed, too, as I braced myself for an interrogation and dreaded the idea of recapping it.
“I can help you look for an apartment. Just let me know what your budget is and I’ll hook you up with some agents. There are fancy ones but also really affordable ones around here.”
Was it possible to be even more mortified than I already was?
Yes, apparently.
“I don’t have a job. I quit and all my savings went to the furniture in our shared apartment.”
Because I wanted a white, fluffy couch, white and wooden kitchen utensils, and everything expensive I could find to make that place as aesthetically pleasing as possible. Well, now it was, and only Brett would get to enjoy it, just like he got to enjoy my boss. I stared at the floor as acid filled my tongue.
