Death of Me | Now Published to Kindle and Paperback!

A New Venture

Chapter Eight – A New Venture

"Fat ass," I grumbled as I woke up, shoving Dexter off of me. He made an indignant snuffling noise before crawling to the edge of the bed. Glaring at him, I rolled over and eyed the alarm clock sitting on my nightstand. It was ten on the dot. How did that even happen?

Sighing, I threw my blankets off and immediately regretted it. The cold air washed over me and caused a series of shivers to skitter down my spine. Apparently I had forgotten to turn the air conditioning off the night before. Dexter's eyes followed me as I left the bedroom. Once in the hallway, I switched off the air and enjoyed the silence left in the apartment after the fan quit running. A small smile tugged at my lips as I headed to the kitchen. As soon as sound of dog food hitting plastic rang through the still air, I heard a thump come from the bedroom that signaled Dexter getting up. He trotted into the kitchen only a few seconds later, and as he began to eat I started a pot of coffee.

Once the coffee maker began to bubble, I filled Dexter's water bowl as well. He glanced up at me for a split second before returning to scarfing down his food. I couldn't help but laugh at him; he was acting as if he never ate. Which was nothing new, but it made me giggle every time. Shaking my head at him, I left the coffee to brew and crossed through the living room back into my bedroom. I rummaged through my dresser until I found a pair of destroyed skinny jeans and a faded band t-shirt, and then I tossed them onto the bed along with my undergarments. Satisfied with my outfit for the day, I headed to the bathroom.

I switched the water on to let it warm up as I stripped out of my oversized t-shirt and underwear. After I tossed them into the hamper that sat in the corner of the room, I stepped into the tub and pulled the tab for the shower. The hot water hit me and caused a content sigh to slip past my lips. The heat eased the tension that had built up in my shoulders over the past few days and I couldn't help but to revel in the feeling for a little bit. Before I was ready, I felt the slight temperature change in the water that signaled the iciness that would hit me within the next five minutes. As fast as I could, I washed my hair and my body. As I let the conditioner sit in my hair I debated whether or not to shave my legs. Deciding I might as well get it over with, I grabbed my cream and razor.

I stepped out of the shower just as the cold water started to pelt me. Thankful that I beat the freezing water, I wrapped my hair in a towel as well as one around my body. When I emerged back out into the apartment, the strong smell of fresh coffee enveloped me. Another smile fitted itself onto my face as I hurried into my room to get dressed. It took me four tries to get my jeans on because my foot kept going through the hole in the thigh instead of the one it was meant to go through. Huffing, I sat down on my bed to fight with the wretched things that I loved so much, but my entire body went rigid when I heard a knock on my door. It wasn't a dainty knock so I knew it wasn't Devyn – not that she didn't pound on my door every once in a while, but it was never with as much force as was being hammered upon my poor door.

There was a moment of silence before the three strong knocks sounded again. Cursing, I hurried to pull my shirt over my head and threw the towel that had been around my hair onto the bed. Making as little noise as possible, I dashed into the kitchen and grabbed the largest knife out of my chef's block. If whoever it was broke down my door, I was not going down without a fight. I crept towards the door, holding the knife close to my side. Dexter walked right next to me, a low growl rumbling in his chest as he picked up on my anxiety.

"Juliette, are you in there?" a familiar voice called.

"Oh, for God's sake," I spat, dropping my tense stance and crossing to the door. Swinging it open, I glared into Lucas's sparkling hazel eyes as he smiled at me.

"Morning!" he exclaimed.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.