Her Rogue Mate

Chapter Twelve

 
It was two pm and Lisa and I took our time walking back to the apartment building. The paved streets were less crowded than they'd been in the morning, although they weren't really quiet either.

  We chatted mindlessly as we walked along, about anything that came to our minds. I felt extremely comfortable around Lisa, as if I'd known her all my life, instead of less than a week.

  "Are you going back to your house today?" I asked. I didn't want to seem as if I wanted her to leave, but I had been wondering all the same. I mean, she was welcome to stay another night, but if I were her parents I would be freaking out by now. As far as I knew, they hadn't received a call or any other kind of notification to say that Lisa was staying over, and they should be worried.

  "Yeah. I'm going to go home for dinner, my parents know I'm at a friend's anyway", she replied with a laugh. "Relax, they're pretty laid back."

  "Okay", I said, slightly relieved. "I'm just scared they'd be worried, that's all."

  I looked down at my feet to make sure I didn't trip, but out of the corner of my eye I could see Lisa waving her hand in the air. "I'd say you should be more worried about yourself, and what Aiden will say."

  "I'll just blame you for everything", I said, grinning. "And you can hide out at Rian's or something."

  "Hell no", she commented back. "I don't know how Mark puts up with that idiot so much; I'd kick him out within half an hour."

  I laughed a little - I could just imagine Rian and Lisa sharing an apartment, and none of the situations my imagination conjured up ended prettily. It would be absolute chaos. "I'm surprised the landlord hasn't evicted him already."

  "Ah, he's pretty sound, as long as he gets his rent he's okay", she shrugged. "Aiden's the only one of us who actually owns his apartment though, so he doesn't have to worry regardless. He paid a lot for it too, it's the only reason the landlord sold it to him."

  "I didn't know he was rich." I frowned, sidestepping a kid who was speeding past on a bicycle. We were nearing the apartment building, meaning that my footsteps were getting heavier so that I was almost dragging my feet along the footpath.

  "He isn't," she told me, shooting me a sideways smile. "He just got a job and saved up."

  The frown stayed on my face, for a whole other reason this time. "I've never seen him work, what does he do?"

  "I think he has a couple jobs." She said vaguely. "I'm not really sure - he doesn't talk about it much."

  "Oh", I replied plainly, making a mental note to ask Aiden about it after he was done yelling at me.

  The now-familiar building came into view, and I hurried up the front steps, my feet tapping against the gray concrete. Lisa brought out the spare key she somehow had and unlocked the door, giving the two of us access. I briefly wondered how any visitors to this place would get in, but then I figured the tenants would just have to come down and meet them.

  We stepped into the foyer, which was completely deserted, save for a ratty old woman who sat on a wooden chair in the corner, mumbling incoherent words to herself.

  I didn't spare her a glance and practically ran up the stairs, now eager to get this over with. I didn't want Aiden to be mad at me more than he already was; my wolf was really uneasy about it and wouldn't shut up about how I was a complete idiot.

  Lisa puffed along behind me, catching hold of my arm after a minute, "Slow down, tiger."

  I smiled at her apologetically and obediently slowed my pace to match that of a normal person. We crept along the carpeted hallway when we reached the right floor until we came to number 24, which to me, looked intimidating in the current situation. Behind that door was an angry mate, who I really did not want to deal with right now. I just wanted to drop my bags, lie on the couch and cuddle. And if Aiden wouldn't cuddle me I'd have to go and find Rian.