3. Birdie

Confession: My best friend's a high school dropout.

Between meetings and getting called in to classrooms, I didn't have a spare minute all day to call my landlord. Or my best friend to tell her about the breakup.

Once I had a chance to collect my thoughts, I decided to start with the landlord. He was a douchy guy in his fifties who cared more about his frosted tips than anyone should, but there had to be a heart in there somewhere.

After I got out of the school parking lot, I hit dial on my phone and held it to my ear. Instead of a ring tone, an old rock song played, and I let out a sigh as I waited for him to answer.

Finally, his voice crackled across the receiver. "Go for Rob."

I cringed. "Hi, Rob. It's Birdie."

"Your ear ringing? I was about to call you."

I raised my eyebrows. "Oh?"

"Yeah, Mrs. Cronckle said Dax moved out this morning? That's a shame. I just wanted to make sure you were planning to pay this month's rent."

"You mean next month's?" I said, ignoring the dread pooling in my gut. That was just all the coffee I drank wearing a hole in my stomach, right? Not panic. Right.

The clicking of a mouse and clattering of keys sounded through the phone. "No, this month. He usually pays the first, but I haven't seen it yet."

"It's the ninth," I said, pulling my car to the side of the road. I jammed it into park, not caring how crooked my car was on the curb.

"Nine days late," he confirmed.

"Rob, he should have paid the rent." My hand shook on the phone. What had Dax done with the money I transferred to his account?

"He hasn't. So how would you like to go about making this month's payment?"

"I made the payment!" I cried. "I gave it to Dax to handle!"

He let out a pained sigh. "I hate to be this guy, Kitty, I do, but if you can't pay your rent, you can't stay there. You know there are tons of people lining up for a cute little townhouse on that part of town."

"I was going to call to ask for an extension for next month," I said, leaning against the steering wheel.

"I can give you until the end of this month to pay for last month's rent, and then of course you're on the line for next month's payment."

I sat back, blinking back tears. "And if I can't come up with it all?"

"Eviction may be on the table."

My lips parted. "Eviction?"

Voices came through on the other side of the phone, and he said, "Sorry, Kitty, I have another round of golf to get to. Bring the check by my office or get it in the mail asap."

The line went silent, and I stared at my phone.

There was only one thing left to do—call in reinforcements.

I couldn't bring myself to tell her about the most horrible of horrible days over the phone on my drive home, so I just asked her to come over.

Birdie: SOS. Can you come over? And bring wine? A lot of wine.

Mara: That bad? I'll be there as fast as I can.

Soon, Mara and I were sitting on the floor in my empty living room two glasses deep. Dax had even taken the couch after I left for work. Mara was on a deadline for her latest romance book, so her hair was in a messy topknot and she covered her ample curves with leggings and a tank top, but she still looked stunning with her full rosy cheeks and kind blue eyes.

Mara tapped her finger against the glass, pursing her lips. "You know, you could always ask your parents for money. They wouldn't miss it."

"I've told you three times. Not a chance." She opened her mouth to speak, and I raised my hands. "I will also not be taking money from you."

"Then move in with me," she said simply.

"What?" I asked, shocked. "You just got settled in the new house and you want me busting in?" Her online business writing romance novels had gone gangbusters, and she made triple what I did. Which was why she owned an adorable bungalow a few blocks from the beach in Brentwood and I couldn't afford to rent my townhouse in Emerson on my own.

"I don't know..." I said.

"Could you get a roommate? At least for a little while?"

I shook my head. "Rob doesn't seem like he's going to work with me. Especially since Dax didn't pay the last month like he said he would."

"I hate him."

"Same." But also... I missed him.

Evidence of our relationship was all over this house. It was the first one he and I lived in together, and we hadn't even made it a full year before he decided he was out.

I tried not to wonder if I was the problem. If I was too much for him.

If any of my students at school said something like that, I would say they're never too much for someone who can't get enough of them. I'm pretty sure I read that on Pinterest, but it was still true.

"Look." Mara leaned forward, her bun falling forward as well. "I have a guest bedroom. I have a two-car garage with only one car. You can keep your things in the garage until you find a place of your own." She smiled, tilting her head to the side. "You know it was fun living with me in LA."

"True," I agreed, finding a smile for the first time all day. "I wish we could go back there and I could enjoy grad school more instead of wasting all that time on Dax."

She shook her head sadly, taking another sip. "Someday, you'll see the lesson in the mess."

"I appreciate the advice," I said with a sardonic smile, "but I think your guest bed and half your garage are more than enough."

Instead of arguing, she hit my arm and took another drink of wine. I did the same.

"You know," she said, "why wait?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Why hang out in this house when you could move in with me and get ready for your new life? Plus, an eviction on your record won't look good when you're trying to find your next place."

I looked toward the ceiling. "You know what? Fuck it. Let's do it."

She laughed and rubbed my arm. "That's how all the best decisions are made."

I stood from the floor. "Let's pack?"

"Save the packing for this weekend," she said, a devilish gleam in her eyes. "I have a different idea." She stood up and went to my bedroom, then to the closet. "Don't you have anything not-professional in here? It's about as neutral as it gets!"

I shook my head, leaning against the door frame. "I work at a private school, Mara. It doesn't exactly leave a lot of room for personal expression."

Her face lit up as she reached the back of my closet and pulled out a sexy sequin dress from our trip to Vegas for my twenty-first birthday.

"Look at this!" She held it out to me. "I bet you still fit in it."

I rolled my eyes. "I didn't keep it to wear again." I reached for the fabric, feeling the rough outside. I'm pretty sure it chafed my inner arms raw. "I kept it for the memories."

"Well, you're making new ones tonight," Mara argued, draining the rest of her wine.

"Like the memory of pathetically sleeping at my best friend's house until I can scrounge up a crappy studio apartment somewhere?"

She shook her head. "Like the memory of some hot guy's cock."

My cheeks instantly heated. Mara was always talking like that. "Just because you write smutty romance novels doesn't mean I'm going to be your next heroine."

Lifting her eyebrows, she said, "Try me. I bet by this time next year, you'll already be in love with Mr. Right and wondering why you ever wasted time or tears on that loser Dax. A night at the bar is the perfect jumping off point."

"I'll pass." I set the dress on a suitcase. "I'm already pathetic enough. I don't need to show up to school hungover and heartbroken."

"Like anyone will notice. Teenagers are too hung up on their own problems to care."

She had a point.

"And a rebound will help you feel better. No one's saying you have to date whoever it is."

"Whoever it is," I echoed. "Great start to the night."

She took both of my hands in hers, looking in my eyes. "Birdie. You have been dating or engaged for the last two years. One man. One penis. That's too long to be with one penis."

"I was about to marry the guy!" I protested.

"But you didn't. We both know that Dax wasn't good enough for you. He was terrible with money, constantly distracted by his ‘art', and that wandering eye of his made me want to punch him in the face. And now you get the full buffet menu open again. Get a little palate cleanser in before you can enjoy all the options ahead of you... And wouldn't it be nice to go to bed with a guy who's really into you?"

I shook my head. Sometimes Mara was really convincing. "He just left me this morning."

"Did he?" she asked. "Because I think he checked out long before that. Especially considering he had a helper."

The words hit me straight in the gut.

"And I could do with a good lay myself. You know, for book research." She waggled her eyebrows. "Be my wingwoman?"

"Fine," I said. "But I need to pack an overnight bag first, and a box to bring some stuff by the school."

"Great." She winked. "We'll handle these boxes before we deal with yours."