Too Late to Beg: I'm No Longer Yours novel · Chapter 23 of 24
Chapter 23: A Lease With One Name
The leasing agent slid the lease across the desk and said, "Most people skip to the signature."
"I know," I said, and turned to page one.
I read all eight pages, including the one about the recycling schedule.
The receptionist from the studio sat beside me with a coffee, narrating.
"She reads everything," she told the agent. "It's a medical condition."
"It's a good one," the agent said, and meant it.
On the last page, I signed my name once.
There was a single line for the tenant, and I was the only one on it.
The flat had a bay window, a narrow kitchen, one bedroom with a mattress on the floor and a view of a brick wall with a plum tree in front of it.
By five it also had a table.
The receptionist and I carried it up three flights from a thrift shop on the corner, with two mismatched chairs.
It cost seventy dollars, and I put the receipt in my folder with a feeling I couldn't have explained to anyone but Mom.
At six, Dean knocked on the door with a duffel bag and a heavy parcel wrapped in a dish towel.
"For the pan," he said, and handed it over.
It was a cast iron skillet, black and old and well kept.
"The dishwasher sent it," Dean said. "He said every kitchen needs one thing that has lasted. His wife is due any day, and he's cooking for a month ahead."
I held the skillet against my chest for longer than the gift needed.
We ate eggs and toast at the seventy-dollar table, the three of us, Dean, Elias and me, on chairs that didn't match.
Keep reading free with an account. Start Too Late to Beg: I'm No Longer Yours from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 22 · All chapters · Chapter 24 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend