Page 29 of IOU

Before I can even apologize for my outburst, he slams his beer down and has the door opened. “Out.”

Pleadingly, I hold out my palms. “I got thrown out of my apartment! I’m sorry!” I can see the flinch in his cheek. “Please help me. I don’t have any friends who will let me room with them. Trust me. I’ve tried.”

He pushes the door closed slowly like he’s trying to convince himself not to drag me out. “Why won’t they let you stay with them?”

I shrug. “I might have started a small fire in my apartment.”

Dammit, I’ve scared him. His eyes have gone from narrowed suspicion to holy-shit-I’ve-let-in-a-psycho wide.

“What’s a small fire?” His words are smooth and unhurried, like I didn’t just make him nervous.

“Like a small curtain fire that ended with the fire department and a ban from the complex owner.”

Yeah, that did it. Now he’s scared.

Rumor has it she has to do his laundry for a year.

“You were banned? From a college apartment complex?”

Just when I think I’ve heard it all. I don’t know if I should be impressed or fucking terrified.

Her cheek twitches just before she shrugs, the strap of her tank top sliding off her shoulder in the process. “Not officially. It wasn’t like he made me sign anything. He just said he didn’t want to see me on his propertyeveragain.” She adjusts the changeable strap, slipping her bra strap underneath so I can’t see the clashing color. “I read between the lines.”

She read between the lines.

I shake my head.

She seems so normal. Sure, she’s gorgeous, most of the crazy ones are too, but Ainsley has this genuine quality to her. Like what you see is what you get. She doesn’t hide who she is, nor does she waste time doing those fancy knots with her hair. She opts to keep it simple, allowing her long waves to drape over one shoulder, the sheen glistening in my overhead lighting. Even if she’s taller than most girls, she doesn’t lack curves. Her body is lean, and her hips prominent. That doesn’t even take into account her tight ass shoved into those jean shorts. If I were interested, I’d note that she’s stunning in a girl next door type of way, but I’m not. I’m just pointing out how normal she appears to be on the surface.

She’s obviously a handful, but is she really crazy enough to get banned for causing a fire? I find that hard to believe. Do you know all the shit college students do in their apartments? Students make up the majority of renters around here. Owners are used to a certain level of stupidity and “accidents.” But she gets banned for a curtain fire? What am I missing here?

“So that’s why your friends won’t let you stay? Because they think you will set the place on fire?”

She has the audacity to look meek. It pisses me off. “That and I don’t have that many friends. I came here with a boyfriend, and since the rumor will eventually make it to you, you should know he was banging my roommate when I came home that night. I threw a candle. One thing led to another and—”

“You set the place on fire,” I finish for her.

“I wasn’t trying to kill them.”

I almost laugh at that one. To think this hundred-and-thirty-pound, hot mess of a girl is worried I might think she was trying to hurt someone. Please.

“So you need a place with working sprinklers,” I suggest.

She nods, appearing a little more deflated than a few minutes ago when she nearly passed out on my couch.

Goddammit. Don’t do it, Mav.

“I’ll have to make some calls.”

Her head drops a little farther. Argh! “But you can stay here.” I point to the couch. “I don’t have an empty room—but you can crash on my couch until I find something for you.”

A slow smile tugs at her cheeks. “I can crash with you?”

No.

“One night. Twelve hours. However long it takes me to find you a roommate that has flame retardant tapestry.”

“Haha. You’re hilarious but thank you.”

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