3. Ever

3

Ever

Needless to say, I was stunned when I recognized my new roommate. Our attempted hookup a few months ago had been a massive disaster, and I never thought I'd see him again.

He cleared out minutes after I arrived at Roger's apartment, probably because he felt as awkward as I did. I watched him retreat, and then I curled up on the area rug and stared at my cat, who'd decided to take refuge under Tracy's bed.

This roommate situation might be less than ideal, but at least it was temporary. If my building renovation managed to stay on track, my new apartment should be habitable in about two months.

Or not. When my phone buzzed, I pulled it from my pocket and cringed when I saw a text from my contractor. It was always bad news, and this time he'd written: Sorry to bug you on a Sunday, but I got an email from the earthquake retrofit specialist. He discovered an issue that the inspector missed. Fixing it will add about a week to our timeline. Estimated cost is 70K.

Man. I was hemorrhaging money with that building, and no end was in sight. It wouldn't be the least bit surprising if this new problem ended up running into the six figures, because everything ended up double the price I was quoted.

The renovation was already drastically over budget, so this was beyond frustrating. If I ran out of money, the entire project was going to crash and burn and take the rest of my life down with it. There was nothing I could do about it either, which made me feel helpless. That was the worst feeling in the world to me.

I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. The T-shirt and shorts I'd put on in L.A. weren't the best choice for San Francisco. I wanted to take a hot shower and change into the sweats I'd stuffed into one of Phil's boxes, but I felt guilty about leaving my cat alone on his first day in a strange place.

Okay, so that was ridiculous, and I knew it. Phil probably didn't give a crap about any of this. I took him places all the time, and he had no idea we were never going home again. To him, this must seem like any other hotel, and he'd stayed in plenty of those.

Actually, Tracy's blank bedroom did have a generic hotel room feel. Who lived like this, and why? It was as though he wanted to be able to pack up and leave at a moment's notice.

After another minute, Phil emerged from under the bed and shot me a look. "Hey, buddy," I said, as I got to my feet and scooped him up. "Want to go unpack some of your stuff? It's getting close to your dinner time."

I carried him to the living room, which had an amazing view of San Francisco's skyline. The setting sun was reflecting off the skyscrapers, so I brought Phil out onto the balcony and held my phone at arm's length. It took six tries to snap a selfie where my smile didn't look forced.

After I went back inside, I put Phil on the couch and posted the photo to the cat's page and mine. I'd been light on content today, so I'd have to make up for it this evening.

Since this was the main way I promoted my business, the hustle was never-ending. The internet was a fickle place, and most of my followers would forget all about me the moment I stopped generating content. I was so damn tired though, and not just today. At thirty-eight, I had to wonder how much longer I'd be able to keep this up.

But that was a debate for another time. Right now, I wanted to help Phil settle in, so I opened a box and located his favorite food. It turned out I'd broken all his dishes when I dropped one of the boxes, so I went into the kitchen and found a couple of white ceramic bowls. After I filled one with water and the other with food, I turned my attention to setting up his litter box and unpacking the rest of his things.

I ended up spreading Phil's stuff from one end of the apartment to the other before dropping onto the bed in the spacious and stylish main bedroom. My friend Roger had done well for himself, no doubt about it. This whole apartment was nice . He was self-made, like me, and I had mad respect for how far he'd come since we first met.

It was the middle of the night in the UK, so I'd call him when he woke up. I wanted to thank him again for the use of the apartment, and I also wanted to see what he could tell me about my new roommate.

But now, there was work to do. With a sigh, I made myself climb off the very comfortable bed and find some decent lighting, so I could do a quick update for my followers.

Once I located a good spot in front of the gas fireplace, I peeled off my T-shirt and tossed it aside. I absolutely wasn't above flashing some skin to keep the viewers interested. I jumped up and down a few times to get my energy up and my blood pumping. Then I raised my phone and began a live stream.

I hoped my smile looked convincing.