Page 121 of The Renter

“She got a brand-new car on her sixteenth birthday. Her parents paid for her college. She chose to be a teacher, and she chose to get engaged to another teacher—like she chose to be poor.” Kelsey giggles before taking a sip of her wine. “I know it sounds harsh, but why is she being so hard on me when I’ve been grinding with no handouts and happened to end up with a rich man?”

“No handouts?” Kelsey raises an eyebrow.

Declan.I haven’t thought about him in a while. “You know what I mean!” I say, sipping my wine and considering that theonly people who know about the money Declan gave me are Kelsey, Adam, and obviously Declan.

“I’m happy to have no man drama right now,” Kelsey says, taking another sip.

“Okay, Ms. Politician.” I laugh, understanding why she’s avoiding commenting on either of our situations. “I know I’m weighing privilege here, but I’ll take mine over hers any day.”

It’s the truth. I do not want Sam’s life. I’ll take an MIA boyfriend over financial insecurity any day.

“You know, Ben likes you,” I say, shifting the topic. “Maybe you should reconsider that no-man-drama rule.”

“Why do you keep saying he likes me?”

“Ben literally asked me if you were single when I was boating with Adam this summer. When you see him, you can ask him. He witnessed it!”

“Well, shit timing. I’m accepting this job offer in Madison.”

“Oh? What’s the job?”

“It’s sort of like cybersecurity consulting, focusing on financial data.”

“That sounds cool!”

“I’m excited about it. How’s your PR stuff going?”

“Growing so fast! I have some interesting clients, and I’m starting to love commercial real estate. I’m learning so much about it with one of my clients.”

“So, are you profitable?”

“Very. Adam’s helped me so much with everything. I invoiced twenty thousand dollars last month.”

“Shit! That’s great!”

Kelsey and I continue to catch up on the couch, talking for hours. When she goes to the bathroom, I text Adam.

Dani Sommer

Please, can you find thirty minutes to meet up with us today?

The text goes unanswered, and we make our way to a martini bar to see where the night takes us. Three hours later, his name lights up my phone. I step outside the restaurant we’re at and answer.

“Hey, we’re in the West Loop right now. Come by.”

“Peanut.” His tone tells me everything. He won’t be able to meet up. “Monday night, I promise,” he says. “We should be so close to the finish line by then.”

My gut reaction is to scream and demand he come out. But I channel my maturity. “Monday night. It better be nice!”

104

Monday, October 24th

This deal didn’t give Dani and me a ramp-up period in Chicago. I understand her frustrations with me. She went from having all my attention to barely getting any of it.

I fire off a quick text to Nikola.

Adam Harris