“I also have a spare room you can use and it has a pretty comfy bed in it,” he added.
“I appreciate that, Ryder,” she almost whispered. “There is one more thing,” she said.
“All right, shoot,” he said.
“We can’t tell my brother that I’m staying at your place,” she said. Ryder huffed out his breath and she stood from the chair that sat next to his bed and slipped onto the bed next to him. “Jackson won’t understand that we’re doing this to help each other out. He’ll think I’m taking advantage of you.”
“Taking advantage of me? I think Hart will see our living arrangements the other way around,” Ryder said.
“No,” she said, shaking her head, “My brother and I don’t always see eye to eye. He thinks I should give up my dream and take the first stable, boring job that’s offered to me. He thinks I’m lazy,” she whispered. “But I’m not.”
Ryder worried that he was putting himself in the middle of a family squabble he shouldn’t be in. Hart was his friend, even if Ryder liked to give him shit. He liked the guy and the last thing he wanted to do was put himself in the middle of their problems.
“I’d never peg you as a slacker, Honey, and I’m a pretty good judge of character,” Ryder said. “I don’t know that I like the idea of keeping your brother in the dark though. We’re not doing anything wrong, we’re just two people helping each other out. Hart can’t find fault with that, Tatum.”
She barked out her laugh, “You sure you’re friends with my brother?” she teased. “Jackson can find fault with just about everything I do. I’d just hate to drag you into his disapproval of me. Please, this is for the best,” she said. “This isn’t permanent, so why tell him at all?” She had a point. Tatum wasn’t going to be living with him forever—just a few weeks and then, they’d both hopefully be back on their feet. Telling Hart might cause more trouble than their short living arrangement warranted.
“Fine,” he agreed. “I agree with your stipulation. Hart won’t hear from me that we’re living together.”
“Temporarily,” Tatum corrected.
“Temporarily,” he agreed. “Just until we can both get back on our feet.” She giggled at his choice of words and nodded.
Tatum
Tatum wasn’t sure if hitting someone with her car could be considered a good thing, but it was turning out to be just that for her. Running her brother’s friend down with her car, had turned out to be a lifesaver for her and the irony wasn’t lost on her. Meeting Ryder had solved all her problems when her brother was ready to just write her off—again. She felt bad for breaking Ryder’s leg, really she did, but taking care of him would give her a place to stay for at least a few weeks until he could get around again.
The orthopedic surgeon had been in to see Ryder and said that he didn’t need surgery, but they wanted to keep him overnight to make sure that he had no underlying injuries since he had been hit by a car. Tatum hated that she had caused so much turmoil in Ryder’s life. The doctor assured him that he’d be able to leave in the morning, as long as all his other tests came back negative.
She’d have the night to pack her meager belongings and be ready to move into his place as soon as he could go home. That would also give her time to talk to her roommate and tell him that she lost her job and wouldn’t be able to pay her rent. Hugh had always been kind of a jerk to her and honestly, she wasn’t going to miss living with the guy. When she was looking for a place, she had to go with what she could afford and that wasn’t much. She found Hugh’s advertisement online and immediately called him to make sure his listing was on the up and up. Tatum toured the apartment and immediately fell in love with the place and gave Hugh his first and last month deposit. She quickly moved in and honestly, it was one of the best apartments she ever lived in but now, none of that mattered. No job meant no money, and no money meant no rent, and no rent meant that she had no place to live. Her perfect apartment was going to be just a memory but she was used to disappointment. She had moved around so much, staying in one place for too long felt oddly wrong. Tatum guessed that it was just time to move on—like it or not.
She got back to her apartment in time to catch Hugh leaving for the night. He usually went out this late at night to troll the women at the local night clubs and she could tell that he was in a hurry to get to wherever he was going tonight.
“Oh good,” she breathed. “You’re still here. I’m glad I caught you, Hugh.”
“Yeah—just barely though, Tatum. I have to meet Shawn and Danny. We’re hitting up the new club in town. You want to come?” he asked. The last thing she wanted to do was go to a night club with Hugh, Shawn, and Danny. They were all douches and she knew to steer clear of guys like them.
“Um,” she squeaked. “No, but thanks for the offer. Listen, it’s been a long, bad day,” she breathed. “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just come out and give it to you straight. I’ve lost my job and I can’t afford to live here any longer,” she admitted. Hugh smiled down at her and she knew that she wasn’t going to like what he was about to say next.
“You don’t have to move out, Tatum,” he said. Hugh leaned into her body and she felt about ready to be sick. “I’m betting we can work out a way that you can pay me your portion of the rent.” Hugh put his hand on her shoulder and she shrugged it off.
“Sorry, Hugh,” she said. “I’m not sure that my boyfriend would be happy with me giving you sexual favors to pay you back for my rent.” Yeah-she was a big fat liar but she didn’t give a shit. He was disgusting, and she’d do or say just about anything to keep him from touching her.
“Boyfriend?” he questioned, cocking an eyebrow at her. “Since when do you have one of those, Tatum?” he asked.
“He’s kind of new—a friend of my brothers,” she admitted. Hugh had met her brother a few times and she could tell that her roommate wasn’t a fan of Jacksons. He seemed downright afraid of her older brother, which she often used to her advantage. If she had to use Hugh’s fear of Jackson to keep his hands off her, she’d do it—no problem.
“How’d you meet this new boyfriend?” Tatum could tell from his snarky tone that he didn’t believe her, but she didn’t care.
“At my brother’s MC bar—Savage Hell,” she said. Hugh made a face and she immediately knew he had heard of the place. It was hard to live in Huntsville and not hear of the MC bar.
“Oh,” Hugh breathed. “So, he’s a biker then?” She wasn’t about to tell Hugh that she didn’t know much about him. If he kept asking questions, she wouldn’t be able to answer many of them, but this one, she could answer since she had run him over while he was on his motorcycle.
“Yes,” she said. “His name is Ryder and like I said, I’m pretty sure that he wouldn’t be happy with me giving you sexual favors to pay off my rent. He’s protective like that, you know?”
“Sure,” Hugh agreed. “I was just kidding, anyway,” he lied.