Page 49 of Room 4 Rent

Grabbing his junk through his robe, he winks. He’s nasty.

Picking up his baseball mitt on the table, I throw it at his head with more speed than I’m sure he appreciates. “Stop thinking of her and your dick at the same time.”

He tries to dodge it, but it hits him in the chest and falls into his lap. “Man, Remi told me some shit about her husband.”

That gets my attention. Don’t tell her, but I wrote Sydney’s address on my hand. That’s not creepy, right? I didn’t want to forget where she lives just in case she needs a reminder of what fucking a real man is like. “What?”

“That guy Remi had been fucking was Sydney’s husband.”

My heart jumps in my chest. “Jesus. Really?” I remember her pointing at someone last night, but I couldn’t make out who the girl was in the dark. But Remi?

Ez shakes his head as if he can’t believe it either. “Yep.”

I run my hand through my hair and put my hat on. I think I left my other one at Sydney’s. On purpose, actually. “Fuck.”

“I know. Remi knew he was married, but I guess he told her all kinds of shit like his wife was cheating on him, and they hadn’t had sex since the kid was born.”

The sex thing could have been true, but I don’t know. Her cheating on him? Highly doubtful. Actually, there’s no fucking way she was. I saw her eyes when she talked about him, and until you’ve been cheated on, you will never own that pain. That guy fucked her over.

“So what, Remi like told her?”

Ez shrugs. “Apparently.”

“Wow.” The sliding glass door leading to the backyard flies open, and in walks Tony, covered in dirt and chewing something. He’s five years old, and I wouldn’t put it past him to be eating that scorpion he was playing with a few minutes ago.

“Ehi bastardy,” he says in passing.

He speaks Italian, as does Ezra, but I don’t. He could have said hello to me, and I wouldn’t have known. So I wave at him and continue packing.

Ez notices. “You leaving?”

“Yeah, I gotta get out of here,” I tell him. I don’t know where I’m going, but if I stay here, I might be the next blood bath in Luca’s car.

“Cool. So, Remi and I are gonna get a place together to finish out the year. She’s having my baby.”

“What?” I snap my eyes to his. “Really?”

“Yeah, my knee’s fucked.” He shrugs one shoulder. “I’m not making it to the big leagues. Might as well live the American dream then.”

“What?” My heart quickens. I’ve always thought I’d see Ez in the big leagues someday. Probably not on the same team, but he’s talented as fuck. No way he should give that up. Even if he’s going to be a dad. “You’re not serious, are you?”

He smiles and then bursts out laughing. “No, fuck no.” Standing, he motions toward his room. “I’m going back to bed.”

I sigh in relief. “Dude, you nearly gave me a heart attack.”

“I know.” He slaps his hand to my chest in passing, much like his uncle did in the driveway. “Your face was priceless though.”

I need to find a room to rent.

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