“I kinda freaked out. His surprise was a sex toy. What kind of surprise is that after four years?” She gave a harsh laugh. “Then again, I might enjoy things a little more if I let him use the toy.”
My eyebrows shot up. Well, that was definitely a surprise present.
“I’m just being a bitch now. Bobby is a sweet guy—at least he is most of the time. Maybe too sweet, you know? He didn’t have a lot of confidence with the whole bedroom thing, but we did okay. Mostly.”
I pressed my lips together. Okay wasn’t how a woman should react about sex, but I knew what she meant. Sometimes it wasn’t the most important part. The companionship stayed when the sex faded.
Who was I kidding? I needed the hot sex for a complete relationship. Period.
“Anyway, I didn’t react very well to the toy. And I asked when we were going to do the ring thing, you know? I don’t want to wait forever, and he said he wasn’t ready.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, exactly. How much more ready do you have to be after four years?” She cupped her boobs. “I’m wasting prime hot body time on that idiot?”
I laughed. “Amberly!”
“What, I’m serious? I’m almost twenty-eight. It’s harder to keep this body every year, dammit.” She was a knockout, that was for sure. I was actually a little jealous of her wavy blond hair that fell past her shoulders. Even after crying all night and wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, there was no denying she had a banging body going on.
As thirty was staring me in the face, I understood eating a salad every once in a while didn’t keep the curves at bay anymore.
“Well, it is impressive.”
She gave me a watery laugh. “Thanks. I am about to go eat my feelings for a week.”
“So, I guess you kicked Bobby to the curb?”
“I sure did. Kept the toy, though. At least I can give myself an orgasm.”
I laughed. “You’re going to be just fine.”
She sighed. “Probably finer than I should be after four years, but it still hurts.”
“Well, I’m in for a sappy New Girl binge watch on the roof with ice cream and homemade chocolate chip cookies whenever you want.”
“Aww.” Her eyes filled again. “You’re really great, you know that?”
“Thanks for not hating me about the water damage. I’ll still get you that new bed set.”
She nodded. “New sheets that don’t remind me of Bobby would be really good.”
Inspired and hoping for a little forgiveness, I went for broke. “I could redo your room if you wanted.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. It’s what I do.”
Her eyes filled again. “That would be really amazing.”
“Then we’ll make it happen.” I linked my arm with hers gingerly. Dammit, these scrapes were no joke. “Now I have to face the firing squad of Deb and Davis.”
“Deb’s not so bad. Davis, not so sure there. He growled at me to get the hell out earlier. Probably didn’t help that I was crying like a lunatic. I’m going to go take a shower and sleep.” Amberly gave me a watery smile over her shoulder as we split off. She lived on the first floor and disappeared down the hall.
I blew out a breath and headed into the lobby. Deb was behind the desk talking to one of our usual delivery guys. I gave her a little wave and sat at one of the tables near the coffee machine. I didn’t have the brain power or the energy to make a cup of coffee with the fancy machine. While I waited for her to finish, I glanced around the gorgeous glass and greenery of the massive windows.
All three sides of the lobby were pure tinted glass with a great view out to Kensington Boulevard. Either side of the room gave peekaboo slices of the busy street but also had huge planter boxes staggered down the windows with gorgeous greenery and pops of red flowers.
I’d fallen in love with this place when I’d been apartment hunting. It was at the top of my price range, but the architecture and location couldn’t be beat. The Heights originally had been a run-down apartment building that needed TLC. And just like Kensington Boulevard, it had shown out beautifully with a little love and a whole lot of money.
Royce Warner had bought up a bunch of the buildings on this end of the Boulevard. Kensington Square was a small city compared to the nearby Syracuse. It was exactly what I loved about a city while still having the charm of a small town. There were tons of places to eat, and shops mixed in with more professional buildings like law, real estate, and insurance.
On nice days, I could actually walk to my job if I really wanted to, but by the end of the day, the idea of walking a mile was usually too much. As safe as this area was, walking in the dark wasn’t the smartest idea. My workdays definitely didn’t end at five o’clock like most people.
A mug of coffee slid in front of me before Deb sat across from me with one of her own and her ever-present tablet. “Hey, kiddo.”
Only Deb could call me kiddo. With her short red waves brushing her shoulders, she angled her head and gave me a sympathetic look. She always wore tinted glasses that were just a little too big for her face along with a ready smile. A face full of freckles, laugh lines, and crinkles at the corners of her eyes made her look entirely too approachable. I put her somewhere in her forties or fifties—I could never tell. She wore her usual gray pant suit, today with a mint camisole in deference to the heat.
She took a sip from her mug and gave me a reassuring smile. “So, tell me what happened.”
I sighed. “Did you know the sinks have been a slow drain lately?”
“We’re starting there?”
“Well, I did notice it. And so did Amberly, so I’m not the only one.”
Deb pulled her mini iPad close to her and flicked it on. She scrolled through our app for the building. We put in our maintenance requests and paid our rent through the building app. Her brow furrowed. “Okay, you might not be totally making excuses there. I have a few requests regarding slow drainage. I’ll talk to Davis. But you know that’s not what caused the water damage.”
“No. But it definitely didn’t help.” I cupped my fingers around my mug, happy to have something to keep me from nervously picking at my nails. “I know we aren’t supposed to have cats...”
