He turned and left. I stepped forward and turned on the light. The room was a clean slate. It wasn’t huge, but it was bigger than where I was currently sleeping. My bedroom at home only had a bed and a dresser. But this room, this one I could put a bed, dresser, television on the wall, and a desk so I could finally have a place to study. I was mentally decorating the place and getting excited about all the possibilities. The only issue was that I wouldn’t be able to bring any of my furniture from my mom’s house. Even though it was mine, it technically belonged to her, and I still wasn’t sure how she was going to react to me moving out. With all of the thoughts flying around, I realized that I really wanted to move out. It wouldn’t take but a few months to earn enough money to start buying my own things. In the meantime I’d sleep on an air mattress. This apartment seemed perfect and almost too good to be true. College students didn’t typically live in places this nice. There was a nagging feeling that there must be some kind of catch. Like, did Dodger walk around the house naked? That didn’t really seem like a hardship I couldn’t handle. Did he bring girls over every night? Again, I could just close my door and ignore it. Was I going to be forced to cook for the both of us? I already did that at home so it wouldn’t make much difference.

“So what do you think?” Macie asked in a hushed voice.

I looked around again and glanced at the door. “It feels like I’m missing something. Like it’s too good to be true, if that makes any sense.”

She rolled her eyes. “Pessimist. Dodger was pretty straight forward with what’s expected. I think you should take this one. Could you imagine going to anymore places like the last two?”

I shivered. “I’d rather fail A&P and live with my mom.” She chortled. “It just seems too cheap though. I mean, four hundred dollars for a place like this? I mean, I know he said most of the rent is paid for, but why not split it evenly?”

Macie shrugged with indifference, and it frustrated me. Sometimes it was hard to remember that money meant nothing to her, and that was because she’d always had it. “Take what’s being offered to you, Keegan. If you don’t, some other college girl is going to swoop in and snatch this place up.”

“And would that be because of Mr. Hottie Pants downstairs?” I raised my eyebrow at her.

“What? No! I’m not interested in Hottie Pa… I mean Dodger.” Her cheeks were turning pink for the second time today. She grabbed my hand. “Listen to me, this isn’t your typical college dorm room, or frat house, where you have no doors and bands screaming in your ears. This is a good shot Keeg, take it. Get out from under your mom’s manipulation and start living your life. Mr. Hottie Pants just makes this place’s rating go from a perfect ten to an eleven. He’s just a bonus. But this place will be perfect for you.”

I smiled at her, knowing she was right. “If I take it, you can’t be sleeping with my roommate, Mace.” She scrunched her nose up like she was going to argue. “No I mean it. You’re my best friend, and I don’t want you to come over here if things go sour, and it be awkward for everyone. Dodger is off-limits.”

She huffed. “Fine. Can we go downstairs and at least give him the good news?”

I quietly clapped my hands like a young teenage girl. “Yes!”

She grinned big and tugged me toward the stairs. When we got downstairs, Dodger was sitting at the table that made up the dining room. It still opened to the living room and kitchen, but it was separate from both spaces. He had a couple of papers in front of him. As I approached, he must have read my face, because he gloriously smiled at me and slid the papers my way. It was seriously a sin to look that good.

“Here’s the contract stating what you are expected to pay, the dates that everything is due, and a few other minor things that we didn’t really go over. Like no painting the walls crazy colors, having overnight guests without letting the roommate know… blah, blah, blah, that sort of thing. Majority of it is basically taken verbatim from the lease that was signed to live here. I’m sure you understand.” His blue eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Yes, I understand.” I bit my lip to keep from reciprocating the grin.

“Okay then, here’s a pen, and I put tabs where you need to sign.” I took the pen from his hand and sat down in the chair next to him. Just as I pressed the tip against the paper, the front door opened and in walked a man that blew Dodger’s good looks straight out of the water. He was tall and built. He was wearing gym clothes, and I assumed that was where he’d just come from. His brown hair was short, but spiky, and it was wet with sweat. The clothes he was wearing were clinging to him like a second skin, and I could see the outline of sweat across parts of his shirt. My eyes took in every inch of him as he stepped inside and set his gym bag down near the kitchen. I gasped when he bent over, and I got a good look at his backside. Ever heard of the term ‘buns of steel’? I think he gave it new meaning. When he stood back up, he grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and started chugging as he slowly turned around. He must have finally sensed that there were people in the room watching him. When I got a good look at his face, I gasped again but more audibly. Dodger was trying not to laugh beside me, and Macie’s mouth was once again gaping open like a fish. His face looked so familiar and yet not. His cheeks were high and sharp, and his jaw was perfectly square. What stood out to me the most were his eyes. Almond shaped and dark chocolate brown eyes were narrowed, looking at me and the pen in my hand. I gulped. He looked almost menacing how he watched me.

“Dodger, you fucker, you can’t interview people without me here.” His voice sent a shiver down my spine. It was deep, and it resonated inside my chest.

He held up his hands. Still smiling like this guy had no effect on him. “You told me to interview, so I did. And,” he looked over at me, winking, “I’ve found you a roommate.”

“Excuse me?” His hard brown eyes turned back to me. “You just gave her the contract to sign without discussing with me if it was okay?”

The way he said ‘her’ made me feel like I was small and insignificant.

“She’s just what you’re looking for. I figured you wouldn’t mind.”

Dodger’s nonchalant attitude about the situation was putting me on edge. My brain was having trouble catching up with the conversation, but when it did, it all clicked into place.

“Wait a second. You don’t live here?” I aimed my question to Dodger.

“Nah, that dickhead does.” He nodded toward Mr. Tall, Dark, and Angry. “He’s my brother. I’m here a lot more than my other brothers, so I took on the role of interviewer.”

An excited sounding Macie said, “There’s more of you?” I kicked her under the table. “Ouch!”

Dodger’s head tilted to the side, but he smirked at my friend. “Yes, there’s four of us.” He was well-aware of what he was doing to her.

“Wait, wait, wait. You made me think you’d be my roommate.”

“You assumed I’d be, but I never once said I lived here.” I scowled at him. “Alright, I suppose I wasn’t exactly forthcoming with the info but my brother here can be kind of temperamental, and he’s scared off a few others who have come to see the place.”

Yeah, no kidding. His arduous eyes watching me, I could see the tick in his jaw as he ground his teeth together. “Dodge, get your ass in here, we need to talk.”

I glanced over at Macie, and her expression was dancing with delight. Yeah I bet she was excited. A little bit of drama with a couple of good-looking guys thrown in the mix, she lived for this stuff. Me on the other hand, my stomach was churning, and I felt like getting up and leaving. I kept playing over and over again how Dodger showed me every room, but he really never did say that it was his room, his bathroom, his apartment. My head was starting to hurt. Rubbing my temples with my fingertips, I had my elbows on the table to support me. This wasn’t going to work out. This was the ball I knew was going to drop. Nothing ever went right for me. I could hear Dodger and his brother, whose name I hadn’t yet gotten, speaking low but loud enough to catch.