“We’ll just have to find jobs quickly,” I reassure.
“Right,” Jayden agrees, a big smile etched across her face. I nod, taking a big breath to calm my racing heart.
We travel down sidewalk after sidewalk, the blistering heat causing a stream of steady sweat to cascade down my back and between my breasts. And don’t get me started on the swamp ass I got going on downstairs. We pass casinos, little stores, and some streets even have men with hot dog carts. Even with the unbearable heat, the smell of the hot dogs makes me want to throw myself over the cart and scarf as many as I can into my mouth. It wouldn’t be pretty, but I’m not one for class.
“Charlie, what’s the plan?” Jayden yells out, her voice giving away how exhausted she is.
“I need to get a newspaper,” I explain, looking every which way for one of those machines that holds them. Do they even make those anymore?
“So just go into a store and buy one,” she complains. Jayden hands me a few bills from her bra and purses her lips. The heat is making us irritated. Hopefully, we find something soon. I side-step off the sidewalk into a little dumpy convenience store that doesn’t have air conditioning. I grab a water and newspaper then meet Jayden outside.
“Here, see if you can find something.” I hand her the paper while I chug the cool water down. I literally moan from the cold spring liquid splashing down my dry throat.
“Ah-hah!” Jayden exclaims, poking the newspaper. “I found a place that’s only charging six hundred a month. Hopefully it’s still available.”
“Is there anything cheaper?” My eyebrows rise. That amount’s high considering we still need food and furniture.
“That’s the cheapest by a landslide, and it says partially furnished.” She scrunches her nose, eyeing the paper.
“All right, let’s do it then.” What other choice do we have?
“I’m going inside to pee and ask the store clerk where this address is. Then we can go,” Jayden explains, folding the paper and handing it to me.
I lean against the hot brick making up the small convenience store, watching the sun dissipate behind the large buildings. Their vibrant lights flicker on to light the way for the life that stalks through the night.
“Let’s go. We head this way.” Jayden points to the left, away from the lights and down some back alley.
“This looks promising,” I sneer, following Jayden with my suitcase trailing behind me.
Eight blocks later, I start finding more and more people walking by with college logos on their shirt.
“We must be close,” Jayden pants, out of breath. “The clerk said it is near the college.”
“This bag is getting heavier, I swear!” I complain, shuffling it from hand to hand.
“I think this is the last block, right across this street,” Jayden replies, pointing toward some rundown buildings. Between us and the buildings sits a little café. It’s small and painted white, the roof flat. It’s cute, but it’s like the stepping stone into the ghetto. On this side of the café, the blocks are made up of little businesses and stores that eventually lead off to the heart of Vegas. The other side, which Jayden is pointing to, has grimy rundown buildings with graffiti sprayed on the sides.
Following Jayden across the way, I skim the crowd at the café and land on a pair of handsome eyes. So handsome, I stop walking.
Sitting at a table full of sexy men is a short, blond-haired guy, his face hard and chiseled. My God, his arms are pumped with muscle as his hands flex around a brown football. My core blossoms with incredible need as I eye his toned arms, and what I assume is a matching hard chest beneath his jersey.
“Charlie, let’s go!” Jayden yells, making me realize I’ve been standing here like an idiot, staring at a sexy stranger in a café. The guy smirks at me and tosses the football in the air, breaking eye contact.
I tuck my hair behind my ear, giving a small smile in return before walking forward. I suddenly crash into something, the impact throwing me back on my ass hard.
“Shit!” I shout with pain.
“Fuck!” roars a male voice standing above me. My eyes jolt upward to find a broad-shouldered man in a black suit, holding a broken plastic cup in one hand with coffee spilled all down his front. My stomach tangles into a bundle of tight knots, and my hands tremble from the strength and power this man radiates. Oh, shit.
“I am so sorry!” I stand up and start frantically brushing at the man’s very expensive-looking suit. My God, it’s like rubbing a rock. His body is so toned and strong beneath my palms, which isn’t helping me get a grip on myself. My eyes skirt up his arms, finding the fabric stretched tight around his biceps and causing me to swallow the lump forming in my throat. The knots in my stomach crawl into a fit of butterflies, and my heart races. He’s handsome—intimidating, really. The way his toned body and squared shoulders take up the space takes my breath away. His jaw is chiseled to perfection with scruff claiming it perfectly. I bite my bottom lip to keep from moaning.
“It’s fine, really,” he states, his voice deep as he grabs my wrists to stop me from slapping at his stained shirt pathetically. My body sparks with electricity where he grips me firmly. My mouth parts and my breathing shallows as I slowly trail my eyes from his hold on my wrist to his eyes. They’re green with little brown flecks thrown around them. They’re captivating. His jawline is strong and defined, his nose broad, and his dark hair is smoothed back with just a trail hanging loosely out of place on the front of his forehead from our sudden run-in. He’s fucking gorgeous, and I can’t look away.
“Are you all right?” he questions, raising an eyebrow. His voice is low and rough, making my eyes focus on his mouth.
“I-” I stutter, completely lost in the thought of his luscious lips on mine. These lips are not like any belonging to the guys at my high school, that’s for sure. When you look at them, his lips look like they’re made to make love to a woman’s body. The thoughts of the glorious pleasure they could bring make my cheeks warm, my chest ache.
“Charlie, let’s go!” Jayden hollers, catching mine and Sexy Man In a Suit’s attention.
“That your friend?” he asks, his lips that hold the perfect cupid’s bow turn into a slight smirk.
I open my mouth to speak but a wild hiccup noise escapes instead, caused from the wild beat of my heart against my chest. I close my eyes, humiliated.
He chuckles, releasing his hold of my wrists. The way he laughs causes my skin to rise with goose bumps.
“I gotta go,” I whisper nervously. I look down and stride quickly toward Jayden, praying I don’t bump into any more hot men on the way.
“Lord, give me strength. Vegas is already becoming a bad influence,” I mutter, catching up with Jayden.
She takes us down a dark alley between old brick buildings, fire escapes climbing up the side of them. In the distance, a dog barks angrily. Yeah… this is the ghetto.
“Here it is,” Jayden chimes, looking up at a building plastered with spray paint and posters.
“How do we get in?” I ask, looking at the door which is barricaded with metal fencing.
“Fuck if I know. Let’s knock,” she suggests.
She steps up the cement blocks and knocks against the door with a rusted cage at the front of it.
Nothing.
She continues to knock and knock, knowing we have nowhere else to go.
A light flickers on behind the caged door, and the door swings open with haste.
“What the fuck is your problem?” a man with dark brown, curly hair mopped over his ears hollers, standing in his boxers.
“Um, are you renting out an apartment?” Jayden questions, her tone soft. I scowl at the man for talking to her so harshly.
“Yeah, I am.” He crosses his arms, sticking his chin outward.
“Can we rent it?” I ask annoyed.
“I need six hundred now in cash, and it’s yours.” He gurgles in the back of his throat before hawking a big wad of spit right onto the sidewalk. Gross.