Page 39 of Against The Boards

“Let me call you back. I’m gonna call my old landlady and see if she has anything available. She loved me. Give me a bit.”

“No rush. I appreciate it.”

I hung up with her and paced around the condo in frustration. And not just about my current living situation. No, my brain had used the apartment hunting to distract itself from the fact that I slept with Benny.

I was glad he went to train with Riley because I couldn’t stop thinking about last night. He knew how to kiss, and I wanted him to kiss me again. How could I be so horny when he practically fucked me into submission last night? I kept reminding myself that it was a one-time thing to get it out of my system, but my libido had other ideas.

I took a cold shower to calm myself down. Benny and I had agreed we wouldn’t talk about it with anyone, but I felt like I needed to talk to get it off my chest. I itched to call Nat back and tell her what happened, but I was afraid she would tell Tristan. Not that they were on speaking terms, or so I thought, but I couldn’t afford my brother finding out I slept with one of his teammates. My brother took that code business way too seriously.

I didn’t have time to completely process how I felt because I saw Fi’s name come across my phone screen.

“Hey.”

“What are you doing right now?” she asked.

“Brushing out my hair,” I answered honestly.

“Want to meet me in Fishtown to look at a one-bedroom?”

“Fi, you’re a lifesaver.”

She laughed. “Okay, meet me in like a half-hour.”

“Hey!” Fi called out to me from the entrance of the apartment building.

I had spied her bright red hair and tall, slender figure the moment I stepped out of my car and onto the sidewalk. I only knew what she looked like because I creeped on Riley’s social media until I found a photo from their wedding. He didn’t post a lot. I had to admit, his wife was a smoke show. If they weren’t married, I might have asked her out.

When I approached her, she gave me a hug, which I thought was kinda weird since this was the first time we were meeting.

“Oh...was that weird since we just met?” she asked.

I laughed and held up a forefinger and thumb together. “A little.”

She shrugged and flipped her long hair over her shoulder. “Come on, let’s go inside. Mrs. Lee is waiting for us. You toured some apartments in West Philly?”

I followed her inside and down the hallway of the first floor. “Yeah. Benny insisted he go with me. I’m glad he did because some of the landlords were creeps.”

She raised a red eyebrow. “I thought you didn’t get along.”

From the look on her face, I could tell either Dinah or Riley had given her the rundown on Benny and me ‘not getting along.’

“Yeah, we had a lot of misunderstandings.”

“You know, Rox, I don’t know your history with Benny, but he’s a good guy. You should give him a chance,” she said.

“We’re trying to be civil since we have to live with each other.”

She raised an eyebrow at me again but didn’t press me. Was it all over my face that I slept with him? Could she tell that being civil meant me begging him to fuck me hard? I didn’t know Fi, but I knew Dinah was observant because she was a writer. I wondered if it was the same for Fi.

She stopped at a door to our left and knocked on it. An older Asian woman answered, and her eyes lit up when she saw Fi. The landlady hugged Fi and asked her how she was doing. Fi smiled at her and asked how her grandkids were and then gestured to me.

“Mrs. Lee, this is my friend Roxanne. She needs an apartment. You said you had an opening?”

The older woman nodded and shut the door behind her. We followed her up two flights of steps, and she showed us into the apartment. It was a one-bedroom but was kinda small. I was okay with that since I didn’t have a lot of things. It had old hardwood flooring, which I liked because it was easier to clean. There wasn’t a dishwasher, but it had laundry on-site in the basement.

“What do you think?” Fi asked.

I nodded. “I think this could work for me. I live alone, so the size wouldn’t be an issue. When could I move in?”