Page 28 of I Heart Mason Cartwright
“Until I break up with you for cheating on me.”
“I don’t cheat.”
“Of course you do.”
“I draw the line there, AshLynn.”
She sighs and rolls her eyes. “How about still in love with your ex?”
“How about we just decided it was too soon?”
She flicks her hand in the air. “Fine. Whatever.”
“How long are we continuing this?” I ask. “By that I mean a literal deadline, how many days?”
“A couple days at most.”
I nod. “Next time you want to uproot my life like this, could you give me some warning?”
“There won’t be a next time.” She pauses a moment. “Are we through?”
“Yes. By all means, let’s go back in there so we can keep planning the pretend fucking wedding.”
“Great.”
I follow her back through the house and out to the deck.
“Did you two sneak away for a little alone time?” Cassandra gives us a simpering smile.
“He can’t keep his hands off me,” AshLynn says.
“Okay, well, while you were gone, I found a couple venues I want to show you and I emailed that caterer we used for the gala last year, do you remember the one that was so good?”
“Oh, yes, I loved their food.” AshLynn nods.
I sit back and let the ladies continue with their drivel. Indulging in a quick little flashback to Willow putting lotion on. I peek at her from under my lashes. She has her eyes shut. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, she’s asleep. Her head does that quick dip before snapping back up. She opens her eyes and looks around. Only to shut them again.
Watching her makes me smile.
I grab my phone and check my email while we’re waiting. I have a buddy looking for some help on a renovation he’s doing, I make a note to answer him later. I have a group of friends and we all renovate homes either to keep for investment, or to flip. We do the work ourselves and will often get together to help one another if a project is large. Somehow it ends up being an equal exchange amongst us, or if it’s not, no one has complained about it.
I won the Washington State Lottery when I was nineteen. Not the super big one, but I still walked away with about seven hundred thousand in cash. A friend of my mom’s gave me the best advice of my life. He said,Give yourself five percent to fuck around with and put the rest away for six months. Then use it to acquire appreciating assets. Only. Live off the income; you’ll never work a day in your life.
So, after I quickly blew ten thousand fucking around with my friends, I bought a motorcycle, and socked away the rest, not even blowing the full five percent. I sat on it for months, making plan after plan, running through scenario after scenario. Ultimately deciding after six months to buy the old building my mom’s bookstore was in. One, so she no longer had to pay rent, and two, so I could collect rent from others. Three stories with two commercial spaces on the ground floor and four residential spaces split between the second and third floors.
It took me a long time to fix up the apartments, one at a time with a huge learning curve and a lot of trial and error. Unlike what Mom’s friend had said, it was hard fucking work. But I enjoyed it and as I finished renovating each living space, they rented fast.
Second thing I did was buy the house I grew up in just outside of Seattle, WA, and moved my mom to an upscale condominium with a water view. Once I finished renovating the commercial building, I fixed up the house, and sold it at a nice profit. Which allowed me to buy two more houses and do the same thing. And so on.
I got lucky. I bought a lot of property in a down market and I took my time renovating, some I sold and some I kept. But the result is, I own nine single-family homes and three commercial buildings free and clear, all of which I rent out. All are around the Seattle area, near my mom, and thanks to the city’s popularity I make a decent profit. I live modestly and invest soundly. Which allows me to travel most of the time when I’m not working. Recently, I was in Los Angeles for five months renovating a triplex with a buddy of mine.
Which is how I find myself free as a bird and homeless now. The only reason why AshLynn is able to blackmail me into this.
I have nowhere else to be.
