Page 27 of Roommates' Alpha

“Thanks,” he said, twisting off the top. “So… it sounds like your mama is kind of…”

“Yeah.” I laughed. “I got a job as soon as I was legally able, and saved every penny so that I could move out as soon as I turned eighteen.”

“You cut contact?” he asked, one eyebrow raising.

I shook my head. “No. I love my mama. I still see her on a regular basis. I get roped into driving duty when we have family parties to attend. But I knew that the longer I stayed there, the harder it would be to not become resentful.”

“Oh?”

I took a swig from the bottle. “My mama is… a lot. Not just at Christmas, but all the time. She has opinions about everything, and the only way to not be steamrolled by them is with physical distance.”

“And your…?” he paused, not knowing the gender of my other parent.

I gave a soft smile. “My dad died when I was little. I remember curling up in his arms at night for stories and playing catch in the backyard. I think he’d been able to keep Mama’s tendency to go overboard under control, but without him…”

“I’m sorry.”

I shook my head. “No. It’s a long time ago, and I’m ok.”

I paused. “From how I understand it, Dad had a good life insurance policy. It was enough to pay off the house, and let us live ok, even when mama had to struggle for jobs.”

“Did… did she get sick?” Terry asked.

I bit my lip. “For a bit. Luckily, she didn’t end up in the hospital or anything. They’d passed the most dangerous period after a mating bite. It was more like she just slowed down and got colds a lot for a year or so.”

“That’s good.”

“I think it scared everybody though. Losing a mate is a traumatic experience. They treated Mama with kid gloves for a long time. They still do, in a way. Even when she’s overbearing, everybody uses gentle redirection rather than confronting her.”

“That’s gotta be a balancing act.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, but we’re all used to it.”

“And how long have you lived here?” he asked, clearly changing the subject.

I stared at the ceiling. “Almost ten years, I think. I lived in a shithole for the first few after leaving home—two roommates in a crappy apartment. After that, I spent several more thinking I wanted a single-bedroom apartment for myself. What I found was that I wanted people around, but also a space that was purely mine.

“Anton was a regular of the restaurant at the time, and we got to talking one day. He told me about this house he bought that he was going to turn into a rental unit. As he talked, the basement sounded perfect. Private, but still in a shared place. We made a deal. I helped with some of the renovation work—painting, installing carpet, things like that—and he gave me reduced rent for a year. It was just what I was looking for.”

“Have you always gotten along with the upstairs tenants?”

I shrugged again. “They always ended up being college students, and after the first year or so I think Anton leaned into that. It was easy for them—the students, I mean. Anton handles renting the rooms, rather than people trying to find roommates on their own and the drama that can come with it. Everybody gets their own lease, he includes utilities and cable, and it’s a good beginner place. It let kids renting for the first time get a taste of it, without having to go through all of the nonsense of some places.”

“What made him stop renting to students?”

“I didn’t ask. But my guess is that he’s getting a bit older now, and he’s hoping for some stable tenants—for longer than a year anyway. Even the best renters still have to have work done to ready the room for the next person.”

“People never stayed longer than a year?”

“There were a few, but most left after the first year. Some transferred schools, others moved in with friends, or found other places. They were all at that age where they were supposed to be discovering themselves, and living away from parents or dorms is part of that.”

“I see.” He leaned against the counter. “Was it lonely for you? To see people come and go so often?”

I took another swig of my beer. “Sometimes. When I was younger it was harder, but as I kept getting older, and the new crop of students were still in their early twenties, it was easier. I had less in common with them. Things were never bad, just awkward. I tended to stay out of their way, and that was best for everybody.”

He frowned. “Is that why we rarely see you up here?”

I blinked. “Huh?”