There’s walls, a ceiling, and carpet up in this ho too! My cheating husband wanted wood floors, but I was like, fuck that. I don’t want my toes cold. Hit me up if interested. If not, find another place. Your choice. Ask for Sadie. She’s taking my calls.
Sadie stares at the screen with pride. “I mean, if that doesn’t get a renter who’s cool as shit, I don’t know what will. I would want to be best friends with you after this.”
“I don’t need any more friends.” I settle onto the couch next to Tatum, who is currently fast-forwarding through Frozen to find the part where Olaf loses his nose.
Sadie no sooner sends the ad through, and we get a phone call on it.
“Okay, that’s creepy.” Sadie stares at her phone. “I just confirmed it.”
“Answer it.” We used Sadie’s number because I can’t find my phone. Tatum had it earlier and said something about it going swimming. If I had to guess, it’s in the hot tub again.
It takes a few minutes before Sadie glances over at me, holding her hand over the microphone. “Does a felony matter?”
“What?” I can’t believe someone would ask that, but then again, I’ve discovered over the last week, nothing will surprise me. “Uh, well, what’s it for?”
She brings the phone back to her ear. “What’s the crime, man?”
He says something, and she snorts. “Sex offender? Sorry, dude. Not happening.”
Click.
“Was he for real?”
“Sadly, I think so.”
The next guy that calls wants to know right away when we can move in, as in, two people.
“Do you have a girlfriend?” Sadie asks, running her fingers through Tatum’s hair as she lays her head on Sadie’s lap. “It’s a small place.”
Click.
I search her eyes as they slowly slide to mine. “Wow.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask, but what was that?”
“Him and his doll.”
It takes me a minute before I understand it, but then I’m disgusted. “Maybe we should take the ad down?”
“No, leave it. These things take time. I once rented out my car, and it took a week before I found someone.”
“You rented your car?”
“Yeah, once. And never again. I think they rented it to bone.”
“Ew.”
“I sold it right after that.”
“I can’t say I blame you.”
Sadie sets her phone down on the coffee table in front of us, careful not to squish a now sleeping Tatum between us.
Am I doing the right thing for her? Is she going to remember anything?
Running my fingers through her blonde curls, I look over at Sadie. “Am I doing the right thing for her? What if I can’t keep her in that school or this house?”
“It’s all going to work out. We didn’t think it would. And look at us now.” She looks at me over the rim of her wineglass. Dropping it past her lips, she gives me that endearing Sadie expression. The one she gave me countless times when I was there for a scared fourteen-year-old who’d lost her parents within two days. All we had was one another, and now here we were, drinking wine, watching Frozen, and holding my daughter. Together. The way our parents raised us to be. “Mom would be so proud of you.”
Tatum stirs in my lap, curling herself closer to me, as if she knew in that moment I needed to know how she felt.
Sadie chuckles when her phone dings. “This dude wants to know if the room is big enough for him and his snake.”
I blink rapidly. “Like his actual snake?”
She clears her throat and tips her phone in my direction. “If you mean the snake in his pants, then yes.”
And there on Sadie’s phone is a big, fat dick.
“It’s so veiny.” She cringes. “And sadly kinda familiar.”
We both start laughing, but it’s apparent this renting a room out is harder than it looks.
A pitch that is a cross between a slider and a curveball.
SYDNEY
You wouldn’t believe the shit calls I get over that damn room. Absolutely fucking random. Luckily for me, Sadie takes the calls while I deal with the bank and insurance. Tuesday morning, she tells me she has someone coming over to look at the room.
“No weird fetishes or thirteen cats he wants to bring with him?” I ask, driving to the school to pick up Tatum. We had one lady want to know if her daughter’s cage would fit in the room. Yes, fucking cage.
“He seemed normal. College kid. Said he could pay in full for his rent until August. He’ll be here around three to check the place