Climbing into my own bed, I hear laughter from Sadie and Brady’s return home. I listen to their happiness and carrying on as they take each step to their bedroom. Then Sadie’s laugh somehow knocks me right in the heart. A sense of loneliness washes over me. Shaking my head from the absurd thought, I grab my ear buds and listen to music until I eventually fall asleep.

STRETCHING MY BODY, I scan around the foreign room that only consists of a bed, dresser, and nightstand. I’m surprised it has sheets and pillows because the rest of the room is bare as a jail cell. I swing my legs over the side of the bed and look at my horribly dirty feet. Then I spot my broken sandals by the door, I guess they’ll be tossed in the trash. Standing up, I open the door, revealing the empty hallway. Walking by a stack of my clothes neatly folded on the chair in the corner, I stop. I pick up a shirt and bring it up to my nose, smelling the fabric softener. “Dex,” I sigh, because the familiar scent of him is similar to a blanket warming me in the dead of winter. I could recognize that smell anywhere since the age of eight. I’m elated that he must have grabbed my clothes from my car and washed them for me last night.

Venturing to the other door, I peek in through a sliver of an opening and spot the bathroom, jackpot! I do my business and then scour the drawers for toothpaste or anything to brush my teeth. Remembering my suitcase was in the room, I go back into the vacant room and grab my toiletries bag. After I floss and brush my teeth, I down two aspirin for the splitting headache and decide to take a shower. Before the scum of those pieces of shit last night and that crappy establishment are permanently embed in my skin.

I lean my forearms against the tiled wall, so the water beats down my back. Flashes of last night go off in my head like booming fireworks from a dark sky. What the hell am I thinking by gambling with the little amount of money I had? Regardless of the consequences I left behind in Akron, I can’t do that. It’s everything I hate, everything I despise. Fast money isn’t the way to get what I need. A ‘blessing’ isn’t going to help me.

As my plan slowly comes into shape, I turn off the water and begin drying the beads of water off my body. When the door flies open, I back up against the shower wall, throwing my arms over my personal parts.

“Shit. Sorry, Chrissy,” Dex apologizes, retreating back the way he came. Right before he shuts the door, he pops his head in one more time. “Good morning.” Dex winks and then shuts the door.

“Dex!” I screech, and I hear his chuckle as the door clicks shut.

I step out so fast, my feet almost slip on the tile floor. Holding myself steady, I wrap the towel around my body and depart to my one night room. I scurry directly to the other door to make sure it’s locked, and then I notice the bathroom door has a hook on it, so I flip that over. Finally, feeling secure in the space, I drop the towel and dry myself off the rest of the way.

“Crap,” I mumble, remembering my toiletries are back in the bathroom. The room I now hear water running in, meaning Dex is in there, naked with a soapy body. The image alone ignites a tingling sensation from my head to my toes and then back again. God help me.

FORGOING THE LOTION, I put on the most designer outfit I own. A skirt and a cotton peasant shirt. If memory serves me right, the girls Dex hangs out with are pretty trendy with their clothes that I’m positive cost a lot of money. Lucky for me, whoever occupied this room previous, left a mirror. I judge myself in front of it, positioning my clothes and finger combing my wet hair.

A small knock on the door distracts me from critiquing every minor detail of my face, hair, and body. I reach over, unhook the latch, and open the door to the bathroom. Dex stands in the doorway in shorts and a navy t-shirt that has small wet circles indicating he didn’t dry himself completely off. Was he as anxious to see me as I was him? A clump of his longer, wavy, golden-blond hair lays just above his eyebrow.

“Sorry about earlier,” he says, stepping into the room. I watch him make his way to the bed, and it sinks at the edge from the weight of his body. “Let’s talk.” He pats the spot next to him. A rush of regret that I’m here, causing more trouble in his life loathes inside of me. What did I think was going to happen?

“There really isn’t much to say,” I tell him, keeping my distance across the room.

“Why were you there? You hate that scene,” he continues, and my eyes roll up and around his head, not making any contact.

“I made a mistake. Thought I could make a quick buck,” I lie.

“Chris—you hate everything and everybody that gambles. Something more must be going on.” He leans forward, placing his elbows on his thighs and looks at me from the corner of his eye.

“Can we please let it go? How much do I owe you?” He must have paid Len; otherwise, I’m pretty sure I’d still be there, passed out on some stool like the other fools.

“It’s nothing. I took care of it, and I don’t want you to pay me back.” His blue eyes are filled with so much concern, I wonder if things could have been different for us. Could we have made a go of it? Then another memory of last night flickers to life. Him loudly making noises.

“Was your girlfriend over last night?” I ask him, great defensive mechanism to veer away from the current conversation.

“I don’t have a girlfriend,” he says, standing up.

“I swear I heard you—”

He places his palm on the back of his neck. “Let’s just go get breakfast.” He interrupts me and holds the door to the bedroom open for me to pass through first.

“Dex, it’s okay, is she still here?” I press the subject even with the knots forming in my stomach, and he deeply sighs.

“I told you, I don’t have a girlfriend.” The finality in his voice tells me there is or at least was someone. I think I may have gotten off by the sounds of his pleasure coming from his room last night. Drunk check. Horny check. Yep, I’m pretty sure I did.

“Are your roommates home?” I ask, stepping into the hallway, like I’m checking the temperature of the pool before getting in.

“Yeah. You’ve met them all back at Trey’s. Well, not Rob.” He places his hand on the small of my back, nudging me forward. My feet stumble slightly because I don’t really want to see his roommates. The thought of leaving the safe confines of a room I have no attachment to frightens me. His friends will judge and make assumptions, probably truthful assumptions, about me. “Come on,” he urges, grabbing my hand in his.

We walk down the stairs, and as soon as my bare feet hit the hardwood floors, I can hear laughter mixed with pans and plates clanking on the stovetop and counter. My heart races, and I bite the inside of my cheek with the anticipation of all their eyes on me when they find us in the doorway. Quickly, I take my hand out of Dex’s, and he sharply turns in my direction with question.

Ignoring him, I focus on my first obstacle. Get through breakfast, get my shit, and then get out. Plan noted. Dex saunters into the room without a care or worry, while I take a few steps and stop. He grabs the orange juice from the fridge and two glasses from the cabinet before anyone even notices I’m there.

Sadie is the first. Dislodging her arms from Brady’s waist, who is at the stovetop flipping bacon, she begins to turn. “The grease is splattering,” she whines, shaking her one hand. Once her eyes meet mine, she stops mid shake. I avert my eyes to Dex and then the wall. “Hi, Chrissy.” My name slowly leaves her lips, making Brady’s head rotate toward me.