Page 2 of The Rent Just Went Up

His phone vibrates yet again, and I do something I totally shouldn’t do; I grab it and glance at the alerts.

Biggies LLC: Chris where are you?

Biggies LLC: Chris what the hell?

Biggies LLC: Are you playing hard to get again?

“Biggies LLC?” I say softly to myself. “Isn’t LLC a company or something?” I don’t completely know, but I’ve heard my dad say the term before. There’s no reason a company would be texting Chris in this fashion, especially at this time of night.

My guess is Biggies LLC is just a made-up name to hide whoever the real person is who’s texting him.

There’s one last text I haven’t checked yet, and it’s a picture message. I kind of don’t want to open it. My heart rate has increased, and I can feel myself starting to sweat, but I can also hear Chris in the kitchen. And by the sounds of things, he’s almost done getting our seltzers and will be back here any second, so I want to be fully prepared and on top of whatever the hell this is…

So I go ahead and slide open the message to an enormous pair of tits staring me right in the face. And I’ll tell you what, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out who they belong to either.

Right then, at that exact moment, Chris walks back into the room, a seltzer in each hand.

“Hey, snugglebutt, I got our seltzers–” The smile freezes on his face and instantly transforms as his jaw drops and he stares at me with anoh-shitlook of nothing but pure guilt.

I twist the phone in his direction so he can see what I’ve been looking at and force the fakest smile I can possibly give.

“So how’s Jaime?”

2

Erika

“This isnotwhat it looks like!” Chris replies, his voice filled with panic.

“Oh, it’s not?” I respond, scrolling up to reveal the rest of their conversation, which goes backs weeks, if not months. “Because it looks like you two have been texting for as long as you and I have been dating.”

Chris rushes in and snatches the phone from my hand. I’ve never seen him stumbling over himself in such a way as he scrolls the screen like he doesn’t know what he’s looking at.

It’s a performance he’s putting on, and I have to admit, it’s almost convincing. But I’m already standing up and going to the door for my things.

My phone vibrates in my hand, and I quickly check it.

Sarah: I’ll be there in five.

“I’m sorry, Erika!” Chris protests, coming after me as I grab my purse and my coat. “I just didn’t want to upset her–”

“Riiight.” I nod as I reach for the door. “That’s why you haven’t blocked her and why she’s in your phone under a fake name?Biggies? Quite apt, if I do say so.”

Chris opens his mouth to continue the argument but closes it again when he realizes he’s got nothing left to say. Thank God I was smart enough not to put out for this idiot.

“We’re done, Chris. I’m leaving now,” I reply as I open the door. I take a few steps outside into the cool night air, then stop and turn and glance back at him. “You know Ihatestrawberries. I don’t know how many fucking times I told you.”

I leave Chris behind, go down his steps, and walk toward the sidewalk, moving as quickly as I can while still trying to look like I’m a total girl boss who’s in control of her emotions and couldn’t be more happy than to have just dumped her lying, cheating boyfriend.

And in a way, part of that’s true. I was kind of looking for an excuse to get rid of Chris, but at the same time, nobody likes being cheated on, especially with a girl like Jaime, the girl with the best rack in a 50-mile radius. Now I just feel like an overcooked Wendy’s hamburger while Chris was off indulging himself with three-star Gordon Ramsay cooking.

I’m two seconds away from throwing my phone into the bushes when Sarah pulls up beside me, rolls down her window, and shouts, “Hey, bitch!” She’s smiling at me, doing her best to lighten the mood as she leans over and shoves open the passenger side door.

“Get in!”

Thank God, I think as I suck a deep breath and practically hurl myself into the seat and slam the door behind me.

“Drive,” I tell her.