“Kai’s not here.” Tanner interprets my sweeping gaze with a half point for accuracy. “He’s working on the—” His phone cuts him off. “Shit, sorry.”
He pulls it out and scowls at the screen. “Fuck, I gotta take this. It’s my brother.”
I wave him away. It’s nice that Tanner’s phone rings with people who want to speak to him. Barring a cousin who lives a life as batshit as mine, no fucker ever calls me.
You don’t call them either. Too true, but I’m not in the mood for a lecture from my subconscious, so I busy myself poking around the cozy and yet sterile apartment. Truthfully, all I want to know is what’s in the fridge and who the hell I’m living with, but my nosiness only turns up an answer to one of those questions: there’s fuck-all in the fridge.
The rest is a mystery. No books, music, or clothes lying around. No photos. No clues at all as to who this human is.
I move to the bathroom and open the cabinet. A single toothbrush greets me with a tube of toothpaste. No razor. And a lonely bottle of Xanax. I read the name on the label:Kai Fletcher. His date of birth is there too, and my new roommate is an Aquarius.Score.I’m an Aries.If nothing else, the universe has already dictated we’ll get along.
Footsteps sound in the hallway. I shut the cabinet, rinse my hands, and step out of the bathroom.
Tanner grins. “Sorry about that. I left my brother in Cornwall last week, and he’s lost his passport.”
“There are worst places to get stuck. You got married at Whisper Farm, didn’t you?”
“You know it?”
“A little. Which room is mine?”
“This one.” Tanner points at the nearest door. “Kai’s is the other one, but—” He breaks off with a wince.
I pause halfway to the door and turn back. “What?”
Tanner props a shoulder on the wall. He chews on his lip a moment, then sighs. “Kai’s got some issues. He’s pretty open about it, so he’ll tell you if you ask. I guess I’m just trying to save him the trouble. He’s been through a lot.”
Okay. I put my bag down. Finally. And study Tanner, taking in the protective concern lacing his earnest features.He loves this guy. They’re friends.“Hey, I’m cool with most things as long as he doesn’t try and kill me in my sleep.”
Tanner’s smile makes a ghostlike reappearance. “You’re safe there. But he does roam around at night, so he might disturb you if you’re a light sleeper. He likes to keep busy when he’s agitated.”
The tidiness. I’m oddly relieved. Not that my new roomie gets so upset at night he cleans the apartment from top to bottom. More that it’s not a soul-deep compulsion, cos I’ll be his worst nightmare.
Tanner is talking again. My mind has derailed into thinking about breakfast, which isn’t coming around until tomorrow, but I’m strapped in, locked and loaded for the ride, and Tanner waving his arm just makes it worse.
He has a tattoo of a mountain lion on his inner bicep. I wonder why, but the movement of his arm cuts me off again and it’s too late. I’ve forgotten what he’s talking about. Why I’m here. The meaning of fucking life. “Hmm?”
Tanner pauses, and in the split second it takes him to assess me, I know Jax has told him about me. That he hasn’t employed me blind, expecting someone who can show up to work the exact same person they were the day before. “Sorry, mate. You lost me round the houses, and I haven’t got a fucking clue what you’re talking about.”
Tanner laughs. “Holy shit, you’re as nonsensical as Jax. All right. I’m gonna leave you to settle in, but I left my number on the breakfast bar and the guys downstairs can help you out if you need anything.”
“Going somewhere?”
Tanner’s expression brightens. “Meeting Jax on the trails for a hike before I come back for the late shift. Come if you want?”
Tempting. I like hiking and I want to see my old friend. But even I’m not dense enough to miss the excitement in Tanner’s dark gaze. They’re gonna fuck in the wilderness and all power to them. “Maybe next time. You’re right. I need a shower and a nap.”
Tanner nods. Yup. He ain’t sad about it. “Find you later?”
“I’ll be here.”
Course I will. For the next few months, for better or worse, this place is home.
3
JOSS
Tanner shakes my hand again and leaves. And for the first time since I left Hackney, I’m truly alone. Silence descends, but it’s an illusion cos my thoughts are never silent unless I swallow a benzo.
