Jax works his 9-5 at the tech company and trains at night. Secretly I think he's nearing the end of his career after five years. He's had plenty of fights, but I don't think he loves fighting enough to make the commitment of pushing it to the next level. Plus, he's flying through the ranks at his post-college job and seems to enjoy life the most when he's not in fight camp and can take advantage of time off and life in the city—as evidenced by tonight.
"Tristan said you were mean to him," Jax teases drunkenly, weight still fully on top of me.
I give up trying to push him off and roll my eyes at his comment. "More like he was mean to me for no reason. When have I ever been the first to throw a punch?"
"Last week at the gym," he chuckles, probably remembering when I lost my temper with a drop-in fighter and popped him in the face for not listening to our coach.
I scowl and cross my arms. "That guy was an idiot! He thought he was too good for Coach's drill. And the move was to defend your partner's jab, so technically I did nothing wrong."
"You didn't have to make his nose bleed." Jax's amusement has now escalated to rumbling laughter.
"Whatever, he still deserved it," I grumble. "But I'm telling the truth about Tristan. He's an ass—he always rips into me for no reason. That's why I was waiting for you up here."
Finally, he lifts his head off my stomach and sits up. "Why are you here, anyway? Not that I don't enjoy your company when you don't need something." He grins knowingly. We've been friends for long enough that he can sense when I'm about to ask him a favor.
I fidget nervously, eyes in my lap. I've never been good at asking for help.
"I'm being evicted," I mumble quietly.
"WHAT?" Jax yelps loudly. "How the hell did that happen?!"
I sigh and recap what happened with Dan earlier today.
"I'm going to start looking for an apartment tomorrow, but I'm not sure I'll find anything available that quickly at this time of year." I look at Jax with pleading eyes. "Worst case scenario, I'm homeless for about a week next month and need someplace to crash. I just need to know if I can consider your couch my Plan C."
Jax frowns when he seems to think of something. He grabs his phone and scrolls through it before looking up with a big smile.
"This actually works out perfectly," he says excitedly. "I have to be in San Francisco for work that week and I was going to go early and stay late so I can hang out with Jordan and the guys at the gym out there. So, you can even take my room." He grins, proud of himself. "See? Problem solved. You're welcome."
I let out a relieved breath and give him a small smile. "That's such a huge weight off my shoulders, you don't even know. Thank you. I'm still going to see if I can find an apartment next week but if I can't then I'll let you know, and we'll bank on me staying here." I pause—and cringe when I realize the worst part of this plan. "Fuck, that means I'd be living with Tristan.” I turn toward Jax with a sweet smile. “Any way we could kick him out by then?"
He laughs and pulls me up off the bed. "Not a chance, sweetheart. But you can break the news to him by ordering us dinner tonight and then maybe he won't hate us as much." He pulls me toward the stairs and shouts, "Hey,Tristan!Guess who's coming to live with you?"
"She'sWHAT?" I hear Tristan yelp from downstairs.
I wince as I follow behind Jax. This is going to be a long few weeks.
* * *
After ten minutes of walking, I finally reach my car. I get in the driver's seat and slam the door behind me. I sit quietly for a moment.
And then I scream—for a solid three seconds.
This is now the sixth apartment I've looked at and each one seems worse than the last. This one has zero parking, so I was forced to park way too far from the building.
Other issues today have included: a studio that would be small for even NYC, a crack house for neighbors, and windows that don't even close. Just for starters.
I rub my temples tiredly. I'm having zero luck finding an apartment that's in my budget and available within the next week. By number five I realized what I already knew in the back of my mind—that I'll need to wait until next month to move. Which also means I'll be living in Jax's house for a while.
I groan and lean my head back against the seat. I have two more apartments to see today and I'm the opposite of thrilled to see them.
I dial my sister on my cell. Miraculously, she actually picks up.
"Holy shit, you answered your phone," I exclaim. "It's a Christmas miracle."
Hailey's laugh rings out through my car speakers. "What's up? How's the apartment hunt?"
"Atrocious," I groan. "I have two more to see today and I am this close to bailing on the realtors. They were on the bottom of my list as is and if they're worse than the ones I've seen today then I think I'm actually a little scared."