The Tenant by Sotia Lazu

change his plans, much as that pained him. He’d be better off leaving the apartment and allowing Amanda to get on with the life she was heading for. It wasn’t up to him to save her from herself, and it wasn’t safe for his sanity to be near her more than necessary. If he didn’t move out, he might end up trying to act on his fantasies, or worse, getting even more unsettling ideas—like how there could be more between Amanda and him than snarky comments and sexual attraction.
    And he knew how long it took him to get from there to pussy-whipped .
    “No, thank you,” he told the darkness around him. “Not gonna be anyone’s bitch. Never again.” In the morning, he’d call Kenneth and let him know he was leaving. Then he’d steal Amanda’s organizer once more, and fix the little issues he’d created.
    Then he’d put as much distance as possible between himself and the little green-eyed demon who haunted him.
    Satisfied with how he’d worked things out in his head, he placed his second pillow between his legs to alleviate the pressure to his cock and balls. Moments before he drifted off, he heard the apartment door slam shut.
     
     
     

Chapter Thirteen
    Amanda opened her eyes to complete darkness. She supposed she should count her blessings; she wasn’t sure her head wouldn’t split at the sight of light. She blinked a couple of times until she could discern shapes. She was in her room, in bed, fully dressed. A glance at her bedside table showed it wasn’t even midnight yet.
    And she’d kissed Derek.
    The memory made her sit up so fast, her stomach roiled. She’d cheated on Mason. The man who loved her. The man who’d asked her to be his wife.
    She jumped out of bed, ignoring the wooziness. She couldn’t afford the luxury of sleeping it off. She had to go to Mason, confess, and beg him to stay with her. She had to come clean before she’d weighed the pros and cons of keeping the evening’s activities a secret. She’d be honest and fight for her man.
    Mason would understand. She’d been drunk. Not in control. Derek had taken advantage.
    Liar!
    Derek stopped her from compounding the worst mistake of her life, and for that alone she felt grudging respect. She could leave that part out of what she told Mason, though.
    The walk to Mason’s was a blur, and Amanda couldn’t even tell how she found herself knocking on his door. She was there; that was the important part.
    “I’m so sorry, I did a horrible thing,” she blurted the moment Mason opened the door.
    No, not Mason. A tall brunette, wrapped in a floral sheet looked at Amanda through the opening. “And you are…?”
    Amanda was at a loss for words. Who was she, other than a misguided fool? The place inside her that had broken at Parker’s betrayal, the one that only recently stopped hurting with every breath, now felt hollow. Mason had promised to keep her heart safe. He’d promised to love her and make her happy.
    Despite knowing better, she’d believed him. Maybe it was a good thing that they’d never gone all the way.
    “Wrong door,” she said. “Sorry.” She slipped her engagement ring off her finger and let it fall to the ground.
    She turned just as Mason appeared before the other woman. He wore the silver boxer shorts Amanda had gotten him as a gag-gift on his birthday. She’d called it a gift-wrap, but he hadn’t gotten the joke. “Amanda. What are you doing here?”
    “Yeah, ’cause that is the question,” she said without looking at him. She ran down the stairs and all the way home. He didn’t follow.
    The world spun around her. She didn’t know how to feel. Hurt and betrayed, yes, but above all, there was anger. Anger at Mason for being yet another two-faced bastard. Anger at herself for letting him lead her on the way he had. She’d been such an idiot. Such an idiot. Her gallant fiancé was banging someone on the side, and she’d felt bad for kissing a guy while her inhibitions had been lowered by alcohol.
    That