Room for Rent

That weekend, Lauren found herself moving into the Ruff household like Gaye had promised. She pulled up in front of the house, her car loaded with a variety of boxes. Although she wasn’t moving any furniture in with her, she had her whole undergraduate and now med school career packed in the back of her car. There were clothes, kitchen equipment, and books…so many books! Getting out she looked at her car and sighed knowing there was going to be a lot of heavy lifting. She walked down the driveway to her private entrance and propped the door open. Walking back to her car to grab the first box, she noticed three cars pulling into the drive. Lindy got out of one car and acknowledged her with a head nod.
“I heard some of my boys were a little unprofessional the last time you were here. To make up for it they had a long practice and now they have been voluntold to help move you in.”
Lauren was floored. She didn’t know what to say other than a meek thank you. Lindy walked into the house while the other cars began to empty out their passengers. Lauren groaned as she noticed “Seggy” walking towards her. The last thing she needed was to deal with him especially after a long practice that was in part due to their last interaction.
“Hey. Look I’m sorry about the way I mouthed off to you the first time we met. I was being a dick. How can I help?”
Lauren wordlessly pointed to one of the boxes labeled “Kitchen” and he grabbed it, heading towards the house. Grinning, he shouted over his shoulder, “I’m Tyler by the way.”
Jordie was the next to approach her and with him came the dark brunette from the game room along with two other guys she had seen before but not formally met. Enveloping her in a giant hug, Lauren couldn’t help but laugh.
“Hey Doc! Guess we are helping you move today eh?”
“Guess so.”
“Alright well just tell us where the boxes go and we’ll start moving. This is Daddy, that's Eaks, and last but not least my baby brother Jamie.”
“It’s nice to meet y’all. Thanks so much for helping out today.”
The boys all grabbed boxes and before she knew it, her car was completely unpacked. Hot and sweaty from the move, Lauren was absolutely famished. None of her kitchen equipment was unpacked from the boxes, the fridge was empty, and frankly, she just didn’t feel like cooking. Instead, she decided to present a peace offering.
“Look I know practice probably sucked and this wasn’t the ideal way to spend your Saturday but I really appreciate your help. How about pizza and beers on me? As a peace offering?”
The boys looked at each other before agreeing to take Lauren up on her offer.

--

Several beers and boxes of pizza later, the boys were all spread out in the living room of the basement. They had spent the afternoon watching TV and eating, drinking, and laughing. So much laughing. The conversation flowed easily between the group. There were endless jokes and chirps to be had. The guys were certainly starting to grow on her. And little did she know that they had unanimously decided she was going to become a regular in their group, whether she liked it or not. Certainly if they liked her, there was no way the rest of the team wouldn’t. Lauren got up and stretched before starting to clean. Jordie started to get up and help but Lauren insisted they had done enough and she could clean up the mess. Taking a handful of bottles into the kitchen, Lauren disappeared from the living room. Jordie nudged his brother as a sign to follow her. Jordie was not blind and could certainly see the googly eyes Jamie had been making at Lauren all day. So, Jamie got up, grabbed a stack of paper plates, and followed her into the kitchen. As she turned around from the trash, she nearly jumped out of her skin.
“Jeez! You scared me!”
Jamie blushed and tried to regain his cool. That was certainly not what he had in mind when he decided to take his brother’s silent advice to help her clean despite her earlier protests.
“Sorry…I um just wanted to help.”
“Well thank you. That’s really nice of you.”
Lauren reached to take the plates from him and when she did, her hand brushed with Jamie’s. Whether it was a discharge of static electricity or something else, Lauren definitely felt something.
As the boys were leaving, they all hugged her goodbye and promised to get together soon. Jamie’s hug was softer than the rest and it definitely lasted longer. She locked the door behind them and started toward her bedroom. It had been a very long yet productive day. She had moved into her new place, started making new friends, and even made nice with Tyler. But something about the day stood out from the rest. There was something about Jamie. Lauren couldn’t quite put her finger on it but something about him just kept drawing her in.
As she got ready for bed, she couldn’t stop thinking about their moments together. She shook her head and crawled into bed for the night.
“He’s just a guy. I can’t let him get in the way of my studies. I’ve come too far to muck it up now.”

Notes

Sorry for the wait but I'm working on it! Slow and steady wins the race right? Well, I've got a rough summary for Chapter 6 so hopefully I can get that up in the next day or so. Please keep commenting, rating, and subscribing. I love hearing your feedback!