Room for Rent

Lauren and Gaye came around the corner from the family room and were faced by some stairs that headed down into the basement. From down below, Lauren could hear rowdy laughter and lots of deep voices. She took a deep breath and followed Gaye down the stairs.
As the came off the staircase and into the basement, Lauren was very pleased with what she saw. She could see a small kitchenette, a reading nook, and a living room with a couch and chair. They passed by an empty room with the lights off that Lauren could already picture her bedroom in. The further away from the stairs they got, the louder the voices became.
Gaye could practically feel Lauren’s nervous energy behind her so before she threw her to the wolves, she opted for a quick pep talk. Stopping just outside the game room door, Gaye turned around and grabbed both of Lauren’s hands.
“Sweetie, look at me. You go in here with your head held high. These boys are very rowdy and they will try and push your buttons just to get a reaction out of you. Do not let them do that. If they do, they win. You are young, smart, and incredibly beautiful. You can outsmart them.”
Lauren was a little taken aback by Gaye’s sudden change in demeanor. She felt like Gaye was prepping her to go into battle. She realized that she didn’t have time to be nervous because Gaye was opening the door in front of her. Lauren followed Gaye into the game room and was in awe of the sight in front of her.
There must have been at least a dozen, full grown men in the room. Some playing pool, other playing video games, others making drinks at a bar. Lauren’s eyes quickly darted around the room trying to process the sight in front of her. She locked eyes on one guy sitting drinking a beer near the guys playing video games on the TV. There was no doubt he was handsome. Dark hair, slicked back to one side with tattoos peeking out from the sleeve of his shirt. She could have sworn he was looking at her too and quickly averted her gaze. The man stood and made an announcement.
“Yo guys! Simmer down, we’ve got ladies in our presence.”
All eyes were suddenly on Lauren and Gaye. Lauren could feel her cheeks growing warmer by the second!
“Keep calm. Keep calm. Don’t let them win. You can do this,” Lauren thought to herself.
Once the room had quieted down, Gaye began to speak.
“Boys, this is Lauren Mitchell. She is going to be moving in with Coach and I this coming weekend. She will be moving into this downstairs apartment so if you want to use the game room, I suggest you be nice to her. Lauren, sweetie, why don’t you introduce yourself?”
Gaye squeezed her hand as if to pass on some of her confidence to the young girl before leaving the room. Clearing her throat, she looked around the room and began to speak.
“So like Gaye said, my name is Lauren. I’m a med student at UT Southwestern Med. Gaye seems to think we will be seeing a lot of each other so I guess I’m looking forward to getting to know y’all.”
Without missing a beat, one of the more attractive guys who had been playing pool looked her up and down saying, “Well Doctor, I do believe that I have a medical problem in my pants that your sweet little mouth could certainly fix.”
There was some hooting and hollering from the guys.
“Yeah Segs!” “Atta boy Seggy!”
Lauren rolled her eyes and looked right at him.
“You know I would but my momma always told me not to put small things in my mouth.”
There was even more hooting and hollering while “Seggy’s” cheeks grew red.
She looked over and swore she could see the dark-haired guy from earlier grinning like a mad fool. The guys then returned to their former business of messing about in the game room. Seggy sulked over to the bar to grab a drink and nurse his wounds while one of the other guys approached her. First impressions told her that he could have been a lumberjack in a former life.
“Damn girl. That was straight up savage. I’ve never seen a girl tear Seggy down like that. I’m Jordie.”
“Nice to meet you Jordie, I’m Lauren.”
“Look, you’re probably going to need an ally to deal with these asswipes so I’d be glad to offer my assistance. No offence but you don’t look like you know anything about hockey or hockey players.”
“Well you’re certainly right about one thing. I don’t know hockey but I do know douchebags when I see them. It was nice to meet you Jordie.”
With that, Lauren turned and started to leave the game room. Of course, not before stealing one last glimpse at the gorgeous brunette from earlier. Lauren got caught looking and he slightly raised his bottle and tipped in her direction as if toasting her for roasting his teammate. Lauren blushed and hurried up the stairs.

Notes

TWO CHAPTERS IN ONE NIGHT!!! Thoughts?! I kinda loved writing this chapter :) Let me know what you think. The more you comment, vote, and subscribe, the more motivated I am to write!