Page 69 of The Truths We Find

The drive to my place takes us along the water, sunlight flickering off the surface. I roll down my window, letting the breeze fill the cab. A moment later, I hear soft, barely-there snores drifting from the passenger seat.

I smile to myself, my chest tightening at the sound. The water. The breeze. Dani asleep beside me. It feels… dangerously close to perfect.

As we get closer to my place, nerves creep in. I’m renting, but to say I lucked out feels like an understatement. I’m nervous about what she’ll think about it.

She starts to stir as I turn into the neighborhood. Her eyes flutter open, and my pulse kicks up for reasons I can’t fully explain.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” I chuckle.

“You’re so funny,” she grumbles, rubbing her eyes. “Where are we?”

“About to turn onto my street.”

“Uh, Gavin.” She pauses. “This looks like La Jolla.”

“That’s because it is La Jolla.”

Her head swivels back and forth, looking through all the windows in the truck at the mega million-dollar homes we’re passing.

“Uh…”

We approach a gate and I click the remote attached to my sun visor. As the gate opens, I steer the truck up the long driveway and park outside the garage. It’s attached to a tall, thin, two-story beach house. “Ready?”

I see Dani scrambling to get out of the truck, and I can’t help but chuckle under my breath.

“Gavin, where are we?”

“My house.” I grin.

“How much is Mr. White fucking paying you?”

I laugh. “Trust me. Not enough for this. The owner is a former client of mine back in Pennsylvania. Emmett was doing a job at one of his restaurants and mentioned to him I was moving out here. He asked Em to connect us and when we got in touch, he offered to rent me his beach house for basically pennies. But I’m also in charge of performing all the repairs and upgrades.”

Dani just keeps staring at the large building, mouth hanging open.

“Let me show you around. We can get the bags later.”

I lead her to the front door and type in the code to get inside. It opens to reveal a large open-concept first floor. Despite the outside of the house giving ultra-rich vibes, the inside is dated and in serious need of work.

Dani bursts into a fit of giggles. “Did I miss the ride in the time machine?”

“I know, I know. Now you see why my rent is basically to fix this place up?”

The entire house, except for the master bedroom upstairs, is literally stuck in the seventies. To the left, there’s a sunken living room that requires a step down to get to. It’s completely wrapped in paneled dark wood on the walls, with pink shag carpet covering the floor. A green plush sectional sits along the back wall, facing a large flat screen television mounted on the wall. It was the only modern item here when I moved in.

On the other side of the room sits the kitchen. I don’t know what anyone was thinking with these bright yellow wall tiles and green cabinets, but those will be gone very soon. The appliances like the microwave, oven, and dishwasher were probably upgraded in the late nineties, maybe early two-thousands, but either way, they’re barely hanging on and one of the reasons I tend to eat out or order-in most of the time.

There’s a dining area right between the two, and the long wooden table for ten would be a nice place to host a dinner party. Even with the gaudy brass chandelier hanging above it that screams retro. Maybe it can be a conversation starter.

Dani slowly walks deeper into the house. “Holy shit.”

I rub the back of my neck. “Welcome to my house.”

“You have a lot of work to do, buddy.”

“I’ve already made some changes upstairs. Want to see my favorite part?”

She raises an eyebrow at me. “Really? Going with that line?”