Page 1 of Loud Hot Roomie (Taboo Streets #4)

Derek

What was I thinking moving into the townhouse right across from my ex?

That’s right. I wasn’t thinking. I’d been so desperate to live anywhere than under my parents’ roof, I took the only affordable place for rent in this godforsaken city. And it’s not that affordable if I’m being honest with myself.

How did I let my life unravel so much?

It’s hard to believe not even two years ago, I was fairly happy with my ex, Casey, and our simple life.

Was it exciting? No. Did I love her? Yes.

Was I happy? No. When she’d gotten pregnant, I’d allowed myself to hope for a little growth in the happiness department by way of a baby.

Casey was ecstatic which trickled down to me.

But then she lost it.

That started the final corrosion of our already deteriorating relationship. Ultimately, it led to the end of it. I moved out and in with my parents, had to replace my stupid truck, and am finally living on my own again, even if it’s really too expensive for me and the view is of Casey’s backyard.

I scrub a palm over my face and scan the sparse space. Mom and Dad had pity on me. They updated their own living room and bedroom furniture, passing down their old stuff to their nearly forty-year-old son who can’t seem to get his shit together.

It could be worse, I suppose.

Not much, though. I’m pretty close to rock bottom.

Unable to keep myself from the kitchen window, I prowl over to it, telling myself I’m going to load the dishwasher rather than spy on my neighbors. Well, one in particular.

And, like every afternoon around this time, Casey is out on her walk with her best friend, Clara. The part that’s new is the stroller Casey is pushing.

She has a baby now and it’s not mine.

I’m still a little mind blown she married our landlord’s son. He’s so fucking young, but even I can admit he treats her a helluva lot better than I ever did. Doesn’t mean I’m not harboring a little jealousy, though. He has the life I wanted, but somehow never could nurture and grow to life.

It’s pretty stalkerish for me to watch her walk by, and even creepier to try and look at her baby.

But, I do. I gawk at them like they’re exotic animals in the wild.

Casey looks great. She’s been walking religiously with Clara and her ass looks good in her leggings.

It was always my favorite part about her.

My cock twitches at the reminder of seeing her naked. God, I miss the sex.

Get it together, man.

Lusting after another man’s wife is not fucking cool at all.

I force myself away from the window when I hear my phone buzz on the coffee table in the living room.

It’s probably the dating app. I created it just to take a peek at what was out there, but opened a can of worms in doing so.

Every woman who contacts me through that app compliments my body and boldly asks to take it for a ride in some form or another.

And, as much as I really need to get laid, there’s an urgency and coldness about their proposed hookups that turns me off. I don’t answer any of them.

There are notifications from the app, but there’s also a text from my landlord and friend.

Reid: Me and Cole are going for a run in the morning. Now that you gave up the smokes, you coming with us? Great stress reliever.

He’s been trying to get me out of my townhouse ever since I moved in a couple of weeks ago. I always find an excuse, but I can only put him off for so long. Eventually he’ll drag me out of my house by my collar.

Me: Sure, man.

I know they go really fucking early, but that works with my job. There’s no way I could do it after work. By the time I drive all around in my big brown truck and deliver packages to the entire damn town, I’m beat with exhaustion.

All that work and you still don’t make enough to make ends meet…

Sourness churns in my gut. I’m on the final countdown to get a roommate. Two more weeks and I’ll owe rent again. I’d saved enough to get through the first month’s rent, but I’m going to need assistance going forward.

So far, no serious bites on my ad.

The roommate search continues.

A knock on my door startles me and I nearly drop my phone. Frowning, I stride over to the door and peek out through the peephole. Reid grins back at me and holds up a case of beer.

I’m not in an entertaining mood, tired as fuck from work, but I open the door anyway.

“Hey,” I mutter as I step away so he can come through.

“Thought I’d come hang out with you for a bit.”

“Your girl’s busy?”

“Off baby shopping with her mom.”

It’s weird as fuck Reid dumped his girlfriend to hook up with her daughter, but he’s happy, so that’s all that matters, I guess.

He’s a grandpa now and is about to have another child.

I’d be stressed over that shit, but he’s more relaxed than I’ve ever seen him.

I guess all he needed was some young pussy.

I’m thankful he can’t see inside my brain. It’s a fucking mess up there and I’m a dick. Reid has been nothing but good to me. Who am I to judge who he has sex with?

After shutting the door, I saunter over to the couch to sit. He plops down on the love seat. After popping off the bottle cap from a beer bottle, he passes it over to me.

“Good shit or experimental shit?”

He snorts out a laugh. “Experimental. Beer bros brought it by earlier.”

The beer bros are actual brothers who room together in another townhouse at Moonlit Gables.

They’re irresponsible as fuck and are always late on rent.

They also think they can stay in the good graces of their landlord if they bribe him with beer all the time.

Sometimes they make it or one of their friends do, but they always share the loot with Reid.

As Reid’s friend, I’ve benefited a time or two from their payments.

Not all of them have tasted good, though.

Luckily, this bottle is some good shit and I gulp half of it down in two seconds flat. I’m glad he only brought six with him. I could probably polish off the entire six-pack alone, but then I wouldn’t be able to run at the ass crack of dawn tomorrow.

“Settling in okay?” he asks, pinning me with a searching gaze. “I know it’s probably not easy seeing Casey all the time.”

My wince is subtle but he notices, flashing me a sympathetic smile. I hate feeling fucking pitiful. It’s just everything in my life has been shaken up and spilled out all around me. I’m doing my best to gather the pieces in order to turn it into something decent to look at.

“It’s fine. I’m happy for her,” I tell him honestly, “and I know Brayden is so good to her…”

“But?”

“But, I’m a little fucked in the head that I’m no longer a part of her life or future. It’s weird seeing her do those things with someone else.”

He’s quiet for a moment and then nods. “I get that. We both know you weren’t happy, though. At the end, you were stressed the hell out. You started chain-smoking because of it.”

My mouth waters for a cigarette. I down the rest of my beer bottle to make it stop. Thankfully, it does.

“You’re right,” I agree with a sigh. “Losing the baby and then Casey was hard. Not sure the sting will ever go away.”

“It will,” he assures me, leaning forward to hand me another beer. “We just need to find you a distraction.”

I grunt and gesture toward my phone that buzzes again as if on cue. “I joined the dating app. They’re coming out of the woodwork.”

Reid chuckles. “Man, you’re stacked with muscles, and your face isn’t too bad to look at.” He laughs harder when I flip him off. “I’m glad you’re putting yourself out there. If you have lots of interest, why are you hanging with me instead of in some hot woman’s bed?”

“Because they’re all ravenous,” I grumble. “I don’t even get a proper greeting. They cut straight to the part where they ask if I want my dick sucked or if I’m good at licking pussy.”

This sends him into a fit of laughter that eventually draws a half-grin to my lips.

“For the love of all men, go get your dick sucked, Derek. You’ll feel a helluva lot better. Think of it as a release. Like smoking. But it’s healthier for you.”

“Depends on who’s sucking it.”

“True.” He shakes his head, smirking at me. “Seriously, though. Take some women out. All you do is work and pace around your house.”

“How do you know I pace?”

“Because I know you. You’re a pacer. I’ve seen you do it plenty of times. I’m not peeking in your windows. Relax.”

The thought of Reid as a peeping Tom is amusing and draws another slight smile from me. I’m glad he decided to bombard me with a surprise visit and beer. Apparently, I needed this.

“Any bites yet on your ad?” he asks, changing topics.

“Not any good ones. I had a single mom with three kids reach out. She was probably the best option, but this place isn’t big enough for that many kids. Plus, I didn’t want to accidentally become a father figure to some stranger’s kids. It seemed wrong even though I felt bad for turning her down.”

“Good call.” He nods his head. “Maybe Cole or Travis know of someone.”

“Or the beer bros.”

“You can’t afford to accept beer as payment. Hell, I barely can.”

“Touché.”

“In this market, I’m sure you’ll find someone soon,” Reid says. “Just don’t find them from the dating app.”

The idea of jumping into a longterm relationship again right now is nauseating.

I was so fucking unhappy with Casey. Not always, but a good part of the time.

If she weren’t such a good person, I’d have left her long ago.

But, I kept mucking through the hard times because I felt bad for what it would do to her.

I can’t do that to someone else.

As Reid moves on to prattling about the business his girl Emma runs, I can’t help but let my mind drift to every relationship I’ve had dating back all the way to high school.

In each one, I felt like a prop. Just a body to keep the other person warm.

I never gushed about any of them, not even Casey, to my friends or family.

It was as if I were supposed to feel things for these amazing ladies, like at least an eight out of ten, but most I could pull out was a four or a five. Casey was a six on our best days.

It’s always been a me thing.

Maybe I’m broken inside.

Getting laid was the best part, but it always had so many complicated strings of feelings attached. The dating app might be good for me. Having sex just to get off and nothing more could be exactly what I need.

A small part of me, deep in the recesses of my mind, whispers, “Liar.”

It’s like it knows I want companionship, and secretly ache for it. But, that part of me is confused, because I had that with Casey and it wasn’t enough. We didn’t have that all-consuming love like my parents have for each other. It certainly wasn’t like what Casey has now with Brayden.

I’m definitely broken.

I suppose I should start accepting that fact rather than trying to fix it.

My phone buzzes again. I snatch it up off the table, expecting to see more dating app notifications, but to my relief, it’s an email replying to my ad.

Riko Valentine. College student, single, no kids, non-smoker, and needs a place ASAP. Willing to pay extra to get in.

Could things finally be taking a turn for the better?