The Rules of Dating My Best Friend's Sister(8)

Sniff. Sniff.

How the hell does a sheet still smell like a person when they’ve been gone for four days?

Whatever. I needed to ignore it because I had to get this apartment ready for the Airbnb renter checking in tomorrow. I walked around the bed, yanked the last corner of the fitted sheet off, and bunched it into a ball.

But as I lifted it into my arms, that smell wafted through the air again.

I looked around the empty apartment, as if someone other than me might be inside, and then brought the sheet to my nose.

Deep inhale in. Big exhale out. Damn it. Did she have to smell as good as she looked these days? Lala freaking Ellison.

The woman was making me nuts. She was all I’d been able to think about since that letter from myself arrived, and I hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since the one she’d spent here. As if on cue, I yawned.

I really could use a little nap. I looked at the sheet in my hand. No. Don’t do it.

But why the fuck not? a different part of my conscience asked. It’s just a bed. And this one is so new and comfy—unlike my own, which I’d had to fix twice in the last few months. I just needed to get a few solid hours of decent shut-eye.

Yeah right. Lie to yourself. Go ahead, fuckboy.

But it made sense, didn’t it? I was tired, standing in front of a nice, new bed, and I happened to have had a mostly clean sheet right in my hand. I could just pop it back on. I wouldn’t even need to put on all four corners—two would be enough. Lord knows I’d slept like that before. No one would even know I’d taken a little nap.

Except you, you low-life sheet sniffer.

“Shut the hell up.”

I was now not just thinking to myself, but talking out loud too. Great, just great. I really needed some sleep. So I tamped down my ridiculous thoughts, put the fitted sheet back on, and climbed into bed.

I took a big, deep inhale…

Because that’s what one does when they’re exhausted and trying to fall asleep, and not because it smelled just like Lala freaking Ellison.

For the record, the smile that stayed on my face for my three-and-a-half-hour nap also had nothing to do with Lala freaking Ellison.

***

“What’s up, ladies?” I smiled at the guys as I walked into Owen’s apartment for our monthly card game. They were already seated in their usual spots. I plunked down a twelve-pack of Coors Light and pulled one out for myself.

Owen had the cards in his hands, itching to deal. “You’re freaking late, that’s what’s up.”

“Sorry.” I twisted off the cap and tossed it into the center of the pot as my ante. “I just woke up from a glorious nap. Which means I also didn’t have time to run out and get cash, so I’m going to have to use beer caps for dollars.”

Brayden shook his head. “You got some racket going, dude. You never have any cash on you, and you take afternoon naps.”

I grinned and pointed to my face. “Needed my beauty sleep. Otherwise how am I going to get women to buy me drinks when I don’t have cash?”

Colby chuckled. “Pass me one of those beers, jackass.”

I pulled another bottle out of the case and draped it over one arm like a ma?tre d’ showing a bottle of champagne. “I hope the year is to your liking.”

Owen went around the table, dealing the cards. “You’re in an awfully good mood. I take it you weren’t alone in bed this afternoon?”

I sucked down some of my beer and leaned back with a big ahhh. “All by myself, my friend. I’m just happy to be here with my dearest mates.”

Colby positioned his beer cap between his thumb and middle finger and snapped. It went flying through the air, bounced off my forehead, and landed in the middle of the table.

I grinned. “Guess my ante is two bucks.”

Owen finished dealing out five cards each and set down the deck. “Any of you know how far out we have reservations on the Airbnb unit?”

“I think we have one at the end of the month, but that’s it. We only opened the reservation calendar for six months.”

“Can we cancel that reservation?”

I shrugged. “Person probably won’t be happy about it. But yeah, we have the ability to cancel. Why?”

Owen looked around at all the guys. “Because Lala got the grant she applied for.”

I froze. “How do you know?”

“She called me today. They want her to start Monday. It’s a government grant, so if they don’t begin spending the money by the end of the month, they lose it from their budget next year. She wanted to know if we’d rent the apartment to her. I told her I’d get back to her after I checked whether it was available, but I wanted to see how you guys feel about offering it to her rent free. Her grant lasts for six months, so we’d be forgoing rent for half a year. But we wouldn’t have this building if Ryan hadn’t made us the beneficiaries of his life insurance policy. It seems like the right thing to do.”

The guys all started nodding. “Absolutely,” someone added. But I was still stuck on Owen’s first sentence. “Why did she call you and not me?”

He shrugged. “Probably because I’m nicer and better looking. Oh, and I’m an adult who doesn’t take naps.”

I was offended that Lala had chosen to call Owen, but when Colby’s eyes slanted to mine with a knowing look, I covered up as best as I could. “Yeah, sure. That’s fine.”