Page 24 of Mountain Man Officer

“Whatever,” he yawned.

“It’s not my business,” I began, feeling rage in the pit of my stomach, “but if you keep hustling and cheating, you’re gonna get caught.”

“I haven’t done anything illegal,” the landlord said.

“Whatever.” I hung up.

10

LINDSEY

Ilooked around Ava’s studio apartment. From where I sat on the bed, I could see the closet in one corner and the kitchenette in the other. The door to the bathroom was planted in the middle of one wall, next to a set of stairs that ran up to the apartment entrance. It must have been the tiniest of tiny basement apartments.

“Where did you find this place?” I asked.

Ava looked up from her closet, smiling. “A friend of my mom.”

“Did you really think we were both going to fit in here?”

She pulled a green dress out and held it up to her chest. “What about this one?”

“Is this a date?”

“It’s just a dinner, but he might be there.” She shook the fabric. “What do you think?”

“It’s nice,” I said. “Are you sure you want to get back together with him? Have you thought this through?”

“No,” she laughed, throwing the hanger onto the bed. She took the dress into the bathroom and closed the door. A moment later, she was out, twirling around the kitchenette to model.

She really did look fantastic. “It looks great,” I said.

Ava’s shoulders fell. “I feel like you’re not really in the moment.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What’s wrong?” She sat down beside me.

“You know what’s wrong,” I said.

“Oh.” She looked down at her nails. “Tell me about lunch yesterday.”

I nodded. “We talked.”

“About?”

“About the cabin.” I drew in a breath.

“And?”

I didn’t want to tell her. If I said it out loud, it would make it true, and I still held on to hope that somehow, Jason would decide he didn’t want the cabin. Maybe his old boss from Nashville would call and offer him a raise. Maybe he would discover a sudden passion for goat farming and decide to move to Tuscany. I still had a couple of days before he moved in, and my mind was working overtime, trying to figure out a solution. I looked into Ava’s hopeful eyes and had to admit the truth.

“I decided to stay in the cabin…with him,” I said.

“Ohh!” She clapped her hands, way too excited over the prospect of me sharing my living space.

“I just don’t have any better options. I can’t afford a two bedroom, and I can’t move in here,” I moaned. “I’ve been over and over my options for the past several days, and I still couldn’t see any way out.”

“Let’s look at the bright side,” Ava said, her eyes sparkling. “At least he’s hot.”

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