I Still Hate You by Marie Skye (top 100 novels .txt) 📕

me up for it. She said I need to get back out there, and well the next thing I know, here I am in Room 405.”

405? She wasn’t in 405, she was in PH 405. The Penthouses have a different elevator. I started to tell her that, but she kept talking. “And honestly, I’m glad it was you.”

Her words caught me off guard. “You were?”

“Familiarity, you know? You were nice, and I figured it’s fine since we’ll never see each other again.” She mumbled the last part.

Am I an asshole if I just play along? Absolutely. Do I care? Absolutely not. “Take off your dress,” I demanded, her eyes widening.

“What?”

“You heard me.”

She stared at me, not blinking. I knew she wasn’t going to and like the gentleman I was, I would walk her back to her room, tuck her in, and go back to minding my own business. Yet she surprised us both by standing up and turning her back to me. She took a deep breath before moving all of her hair to one shoulder as she looked back at me and bit her lip. “I need help with the zipper,” she whispered before facing the front again.

Fuck.

Me.

I walked up to her, pressing myself against to her back as I inhaled her scent. “Are you sure?”

Still not facing me, she answered, “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.”

I suppose that’s fair, but was she thinking clearly? I narrowed my eyes at her. “What are the two branches of physics?”

She rolled her eyes, putting a hand on her hip. “Stupid question, everyone knows it’s classical and mod—” Before she could even finish that answer my lips crashed into hers. It had been a long time, but I didn’t mind getting reacquainted.

4

Perrie

I snuck out while Ash was still asleep. I was hoping to be back in the hotel room before Barb or Claire woke up, but I was caught red-handed by Claire.

“I knew it.”

I jumped, knowing damn well I was caught by nosy-ass Claire. I turned around to see Claire sitting casually at the dining room table with a cup of coffee in her hand. “Knew what?”

She raised a brow at me before chuckling. “Pretty sure you know the answer to that. So, how was it? And more importantly, who was it?” I ignored her as I took her cup of coffee out of her hands and took a sip. “Fine, don’t tell me, however, I will say,” she leaned in to whisper, “you’re welcome.”

I made sure to hide my smile. It was nice. Ash was nice and just what I needed. Now I get to leave Vegas and leave him and it behind. I pulled up my phone and uninstalled the ridiculous app, then hit publish on my roommate ad. New beginnings.

Room Available for Co-Living

Must pay rent on the 1st of the month.

NO EXCEPTIONS

Don’t even think of applying if you have no source of income

Must be clean (as in more than one shower a week. I can’t believe I have to even add this.)

Non-smoker (outside in the gates of hell ok.)

No Drugs

No touching my shit

Female Preferred

Must agree that Grease 2 is better than Grease

Must not be an asshole

5

Perrie

I stared at the ad for at least an hour as I contemplated if I needed to tweak it again. Here I was, looking for my third roommate in a year.

It’s not that I’m difficult to live with. I seem to attract people who are crackheads and slobs. Keep your room any way you like it, fine. Turn the common area into your own personal beach that included over a hundred pounds of real sand so you can convince your thirty-seven social media followers how you’re living it up on a beach while everyone else in Chicago is suffering through a blizzard... well, that’s where I draw the line. And that was the second instance it happened.

It’s been two days and so far, all I’ve responded with to the applicants thus far is

‘No.’

‘Are you fucking kidding me?’

I didn’t even bother replying to the one that said instead of rent she asked if she could pay me in skittles. Newsflash asshole, they all taste the same, they’re just different colors. I sighed; this was hopeless. I was getting ready to find an earlier flight home when my email pinged with another reply to my ad. So far, I didn’t think there was any hope. I had already said no to eight applicants, but at this rate, I couldn’t really be choosy anymore.

Luckily, it would only be a short-term lease. Two years ago, I bought a 1980 Mercedes 307 D for twenty-five hundred dollars, and I’ve spent that entire time remodeling the van to live in. I was getting it ready to travel as many States as I could, and do the kind of podcasts that I want to do. Unfortunately, it meant working longer hours, since I needed every penny I could get to not only save, but to go toward the van.

I clicked on another response to my ad, already getting ready to hit delete before reading it.

Hi, interested in the apartment. Attached is my employment verification and all other details requested.

Ashley

I clicked on her files—bartender. Steady income, that’s great. I went through a bunch of items she listed she would be bringing, and she even enclosed a picture of her and her brother, although he was hard to see with his hair covering half his face. I can’t help but wonder if he’ll make a visit or two.

I emailed her back.

Ashley,

Thank you for your inquiry. I would love to take you up on your offer. I plan on being out of town visiting family over the weekend you plan to move in; however, the front office will have your key ready. Once I send them over your application, they’ll confer with you about the lease.

Thank you.

I sighed, knowing I could finally relax. Or so I thought.

6

Perrie

Two Weeks Later

Finally home, I said to myself before shutting the door