Watching Ames (XO Surveillance Book 1) by R. Handler

Author:R. Handler [Handler, R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-06-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Her

It was Thursday before I finally got around to painting my bedroom. I wouldn’t be moving in with Peter, that much I knew. We were over. Honestly, we had been over the moment he walked out of my apartment after our fight, though I hadn’t been able to accept the fact until Alex’s lips were on mine. I had never felt about Peter the way a single kiss with Alex made me feel, and that only served to make me angrier at the situation. Even worse, Peter was still out of town, which meant that I remained stuck in the purgatory of a dead relationship while maintaining the unwanted label of his girlfriend.

But even though I wouldn’t be moving into the townhouse with Peter, I’d be moving out of my apartment. Penny had broken my landlord down so thoroughly he wouldn’t meet my eyes anymore, and I wasn’t sure how much legal action - real or threatened - was involved in terminating my lease early. Which meant that I would be officially homeless at the end of the month. I didn’t have Bex or Alex to lean on anymore, which meant I might be kicking it at June’s house for the summer, and even though it was embarrassing to be moving in with a mom-figure in my mid-twenties, I knew she’d welcome me with open arms.

Breaking my lease also meant I had to return my apartment to its original state, white walls and all. If anything, I hoped painting over my navy walls would give me the fresh start that I needed to prepare me for what was coming. Even though I was hopeful Peter would see reason about the house and the breakup, I was also slowly preparing myself for a reaction similar to that of our fight two months ago.

I grabbed a pair of my clay-stained overalls that were thrown in a heap on the floor, slipping them over a sports bra, figuring paint wouldn’t stain the material any worse than it already was. I plugged my phone into a set of old speakers, playing music as I started to pour the paint into the tray.

I quickly got into the swing of painting, the repetitive motion of rolling on the paint soothing me after a few stressful days. Peter committing us to a house that I hated, me deciding to officially end our dying relationship, Alex springing a house on me, the kiss that knocked me off my feet, even now, days later, Bex still refusing to return my calls and texts. I tried to push it all to the back of my mind as I focused on returning my apartment to its pre-Ames, subpar glory.

After almost an hour, a noise from the front of the apartment interrupted my painting, and I paused my music as I called out. “Hello?”

I moved a little closer to the door, regretting it when a shape suddenly entered my sight. I let out a small scream, heart rate ratcheting until my eyes finally took in the familiar face.

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