Chapter One
TEN (10) DAYS NOTICE TO TERMINATE TENANCY
What the heck…?Evan Jameson stamped his foot while throwing a spoon at his roommate’s head.Adam Clarke looked up and scowled.
What was that for?Adam signed in American Sign Language.
Holding up the sheet of paper that announced their eviction from their shared apartment, Evan glared.Evicted?What for?We paid the rent for July on time.I brought the check over to the rental office myself.
It says on the paper.
Adam turned away and Evan growled, the sound vibrating in his throat.Reading wasn’t his thing.Glancing at the sheet in his hand, the word “fire” jumped out.He threw another utensil since Adam didn’t seem to want to have this conversation.That was a benefit of being deaf: ignoring other people.Not so great when you were the one trying to get the attention.
Fire?You had a fire here?We don’t have a fireplace.
We were trying to grill some burgers.Adam’s mouth twisted, and his eyes rolled up.
We don’t have a grill either.Where did you try to cook?
Adam smirked.We used a toolbox with some wood inside out on the porch.
Evan closed his eyes and let his head drop.How idiotic could he be?
This building is over a hundred years old.What the heck were you thinking?The place could have gone up in flames in seconds.
The smirk stayed put.Yeah, that’s what the manager said.He wasn’t too pleased, especially since all the smoke alarms went off.‘Course, I didn’t hear them.
His stupid roommate was resorting to deaf humor.Seriously?He should ring his neck.
Where the heck are we supposed to move to?The rent in this place was locked in for the next three years.We won’t find any place cheaper than this.
Adam shrugged.Maybe mooch off my parents for a while.
Shaking his head, Evan signed,You hate your parents and haven’t talked to them in forever.
The smirk transitioned into a scowl.Yeah, because they’re tools who never even learned to speak my language.
You suddenly have a desire to hang around them?I can’t believe you did this.Got us kicked out of the apartment.
Adam waved his hand like he was shooing a fly.We’ll find another one.My parents owe me at least a month or two of sleeping on their couch.
How could he be so casual?Evan stomped his foot on the floor for effect.I’m not sleeping on their couch.What am I supposed to do?
Your parents still have your old room set up, don’t they?
I’m twenty-eight.I’m not moving back in with my parents, even for a few days.He was beginning to think he didn’t want to move back in with Adam again at all.This wasn’t the first bonehead stunt he’d pulled in the two years they’d lived together.
As he glanced around at his dive of an apartment, Evan wondered if he should try and talk the manager into letting him stay if Adam moved out.Unfortunately, he couldn’t afford the rent by himself.Medford was too close to Boston, and the rents were sky high, even in dumpy places like this one.The other major issue?The manager never understood what he said, because his voice wasn’t clear.He could write a note with his request, but his writing was worse than his reading, and he wasn’t certain he could plead his case effectively.Would Mercedes write a note for him?His sister’s roommate had helped him in the past with reading and writing stuff, though she had no idea how horrible his skills were.He’d hidden that his whole life.
She’d be at the party tonight to celebrate Blake and Carli’s engagement.He could mention it and see what she said.Thank God she was fluent in ASL.Maybe he could even get her to talk to the manager for him.She was gorgeous with her tousled curls, expressive gray eyes, and amber skin tone.She might be able to convince him to let Evan stay.But then he’d still need a roommate to help split the cost.Too bad he couldn’t find a rich doctor from a wealthy family like his sister had.
Evan threw another glare at Adam, then headed to the shower.His work on the crew for the highway construction left him filthy at the end of the day.He’d been on the front loader today, moving large chunks of concrete around.There were times he honestly wondered what the plan was for these roads.Seemed they dug them up, then covered them again, only to dig them up once more.
Whatever.It was job security, and he’d been able to stash away a small nest egg with the overtime money.Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to use it for another apartment.If he couldn’t get someone to sweet talk the manager into letting him stay, he’d have to fork out first, last, and a security deposit for another apartment.Chances were he and Adam wouldn’t be getting their security deposit back from this place.
If the worst came about, could he convince Carli and Blake to let him bunk in their spare room for a while?Would he want to?Blake had a high-end condo in the Back Bay, and it wouldn’t be a hardship to live there.Except there was no street parking at times and Blake only had a one-car garage, which he used for his fancy vehicle.
Not to mention, his sister and her fiancé would be all lovey dovey now that they were engaged.The last thing he wanted was to interrupt the happy couple or keep them from being together.
