Yes, Sirs (Book 1 of Desire's Den)

Chapter 136 - Emma

My alarm woke me up the next morning, and with blurry eyes, I turned it off. I'd barely slept the whole night, continually waking up shortly after I'd fallen asleep. The last time I looked at the clock was an hour ago, and it felt like I'd only closed my eyes for a second before the alarm blared.

I knew part of the reason I'd slept poorly was because of nerves. Even when I'd already gone to NYU for two years and knew where everything was located, the first day of school was always nerve-racking. Another part was the emptiness beside me in bed. It was too cold beneath the covers and too quiet. I didn't have the heartbeat of another, or the sound of steady breathing, lulling me to sleep.

Yawning, I hauled my ass to the bathroom and jumped in the shower. God, I wished for one of those waterproof speakers so I could listen to music; it would've made the shower experience less tedious.

It took several minutes before I froze—not because the water grew icy cold, but because it didn't. It still held the perfect temperature I'd set before I got in under the stream.

Fuck me. Either this was a total coincidence, or it had gotten fixed. In my two years in this apartment, I'd never showered without the water turning cold at least a couple of times, so I was betting on the latter. Since I knew my landlord would've never use the money on his tenants when he could spend it on himself, I only think of one person, or three, out there who would. Of course, I'd showered a couple of times in my apartment after that time Callan stayed over, but it had only been quick ones before I'd hurried off to work.

Why I did what I did next, I had no idea. Call it intuition. I hurried out of the shower and wrapped myself in a towel before I went to the living room. Looking first at my ever-present bucket, which was still there, my eyes went to the ceiling—my perfectly none hole ceiling.

Holy shit.

I'd gotten so used to the bucket that I hadn't noticed it wasn't being filled with more water. I usually poured it out when it held so much water it almost ran over, which I now realized hadn't happened in a long while.

It could've been either of the guys. Still, my money was on Callan, seeing as he was the one who knew about the temperature fluctuation in the shower.

How had he even managed to open my apartment door without me here? Stupid question, seeing as they knew who my landlord was and had probably gotten access to my apartment through him. I had a feeling my asshat of a landlord was scared of the guys after Mateo's visit, though I still didn't know what exactly had happened between them.

Grabbing my phone, I tried calling Callan but only got to his voicemail, and I remembered he mentioned he would be busy today with meetings. I would have to talk to him later about what he'd done to my apartment, though mainly, I just wanted to thank him. Accepting help didn't take away my independence, and I was starting to learn that.

Throughout my life, I'd been too proud for my own good. I'd seen people offering help as a dig to me like I couldn't do it myself. It took me twenty-two years to realize people could take care of me because they cared for me, and it didn't make me less than to accept what they were offering.

I still had twenty-five minutes until I had to leave for the bus, but I was too nervous to eat. If I felt like it, I could grab a sandwich or something at Peet's.

Seeing the warm weather outside, I chose a pair of shorts and a tank top, along with my favorite pair of sneakers. It was a chill look, but I didn't have anyone I wanted to dress up for. Not that women needed someone to dress up for, but...yeah.

For the millionth time, I checked my bag to make sure I had everything I might need for school. Some professors let us leave after the initial introduction to their class, but others started teaching right off the bat.