Page 49 of Savage Hate
I nod. “Okay. People love bakeries. Once you have the money to open up shop, I think you should try.”
She just stares at me. “That’s easy for you to say.”
“Oh?” I love the little smile she’s giving me.
“Yeah. Did you not have your parents’ money to start up Ignite in Boston?”
I scoff. “I’ve never had access to a cent of their money, Lennon.”
This must surprise her, because she rears her head back. “Really?”
I shake my head. “Nope. Never. After… that summer…” I say slowly, rubbing my lower lip with my thumb, “we moved out to Boston in the fall. Began building a savings. Had a shitty shop on the outskirts of town, then worked our way up. Every year, we would move. No one would lease to us because we didn’t have credit.” I look down, taking a deep breath as I think back to those years–the years we grew Ignite into what it is today. “One day, a famous quarterback tweeted about our work, and that was it. We blew up overnight. And we’ve been slammed solid ever since.” I poke her arm, and she jumps. “Because we have asolid product.”
She smirks. “I just assumed…” She trails her hand over the leather seat again.
“That I bought this car with my parents’ money?” She nods, and I grin. “No, princess. This was all me. Allus.We worked hard as fuck for what we have. I mean, sure, we do live in their house. So that offsets living expenses. But everything else is all us, baby.”
Her cheeks redden, and she looks around. “Impressive.”
I open the door and climb out. When I open her door for her, helping her out, she looks surprised again, so I change the subject.
“Ready to go view this dump?”
Her resounding laugh is the best sound in the world.
twenty-nine
Lennon
Silas and I arrive at a minute past eleven, and I follow the leasing agent’s instructions to the large condo complex. I didn’t realize how far I’d be from Savage, from everything, really. Even groceries would be a hassle with the closest store over a mile away…
I stand up straight and ignore the way Silas’s eyebrows raise as his hand roves over the rusty door handle of the building. He kicks an old can of soda out of his way as we climb the carpeted stairs.
“I don’t know if anyone’s cleaned these stairs… ever,” he mumbles. “At least Lola’s side of the building is nicer than this.”
I spin around. “I really don’t need your input, but thanks.”
He chuckles behind me, and I feel the fury begin to heat my blood. “What other choice do I have?” I ask incredulously, my voice a little more shrill that I would’ve liked. “I need to get out of my mom’s building. I have almost no money to my name, and this is the only affordable option in this godforsaken town–”
“Relax,” he says gently, patting my ass. I swat his hand away. “I was mostly kidding. Let’s go check it out, okay?”
I tromp up the rest of the stairs to the fourth story. No elevator. That’s fine. I’ll just figure out a grocery delivery service or something. I ignore the warning bells going off in my mind as we make our way past a few of the other doors. A couple of people are hanging out smoking cigarettes, and there’s a baby crying somewhere. There is a leasing sign out front of the vacant condo, and the door is unlocked as I push it open.
“Oh, hi!” A woman is leaning against the counter on her phone, and she looks surprised to see me. “Do you have an appointment?”
I nod. “Yep. Lennon Rose. I have an appointment at eleven…” I look at my phone. “Sorry, we’re a few minutes late.” I glance at Silas out of the corner of my eye, but he’s busy looking around the place with a disapproving scowl.
“Oh, Ms. Rose, I’m so sorry. I thought you’d cancelled, so I already approved the application we received from someone else this morning. I’m afraid the place has been rented. I’m just waiting for them to come back and sign the lease.”
“Oh,” I respond lightly, the ever-present lump in my throat growing by the second. “That’s fine. It’s a little far from my job, anyway.” Her words sink in slowly as I start to turn to leave. “Wait, I never cancelled my appointment.”
She looks at Silas uncomfortably and shrugs. “Sorry. It was a man. He said he was calling on your behalf–”
“Let’s go,” Silas orders, dragging me back through the front door.
“Wait,” I yell, pulling away from him as we get a few feet from the door. “Did you call her? Did you cancel my appointment?” My voice breaks on the last word. A few faces appear in the windows on this floor, looking to see what all the commotion is about, I’m sure.
Silas sighs, rubbing his face with his hands. “Jude called when we were in Manhattan and left a message.”
