I nodded slowly. “I guess. Okay then.”
She whooped and thrust a fist in the air before covering her mouth with it. “Sorry. That’s the football nerd in me. You won’t want to sit with me at the first game we go to. Seriously, I’m nuts.”
I gripped my latte in front of me. “You know more about me than I know about you.”
Summer stilled. “Want to hear some embarrassing model stories? You think you’ve dealt with psychotic, catty bitches? You have no idea. I was at a shoot one day where one model mixed cream in with a girl’s fat-free milk, so she’d gain two pounds before another casting call the next day. Another girl changed the labels on cans of soup, so this other girl thought she was eating the light-calorie soup, but she wasn’t. She was eating the one loaded with calories. Ruthless, I’m telling you.” She shuddered. “I had one girl try to mess up my heel, so I would fall and break an ankle. She told me to ‘break a leg’ with such enjoyment that I knew she’d meant it literally.”
“Whoa.”
“Yeah. If you want tips and tricks on how to make a starving psychopath foam at the mouth, you’ve got an invaluable asset rooming with you. I’ve dealt with all of them.”
I could already hear Heather’s voice in my head. Do it. Get the info. One never knew when information like that would come in handy. I started to chuckle, but the laugh subsided.
I hadn’t brought up Logan to Heather before we left. We said our good-byes. It’d been awkward, but I knew most of that was because Heather was fighting back tears. I was already missing my afternoon shift at Manny’s. I knew Heather would want to know all about Summer. She would think it was hysterical that I was rooming with a model obsessed with football.
“Sam?”
“Huh?”
Summer was standing in front of the mirror, picking at a seam in her shirt. She pointed to the ringing phone next to me. “You want me to get that?”
Ring.
The phone was doing that.
I slumped back in my chair, but I jerked, almost spilling my coffee, as I reached for the phone. “He—” My coffee spilled over. I cursed, catching it and righting it before any more could get all over the desk. “Sorry. Damn coffee. Hello?”
“Samantha?”
I frowned. “Malinda?”
Summer stood and motioned for the door. “I’ll be in Ruby’s room.”
I nodded, and once she closed the door behind her, I said to Malinda, “Aren’t you and Dad on your honeymoon?”
“We are, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have time to stalk my new daughter-in-law.” She laughed. “Your father kept me from calling yesterday. I tried your cell phone, but Mason answered. He gave me your dorm number, and I’m supposed to tell you that he’ll track you down today to give you your phone.”
I groaned. “I forgot it in his room.”
“And I see you two are really sticking to the whole dorm-room-for-a-month thing.” Her tone sobered up. “I think that’s commendable of you.”
I sighed, standing and trying to reach for my clothes with the phone tucked between my ear and shoulder. “We’ll see how long it lasts. I haven’t lived with Mason in over a year. Everything in me wants to go and find him already and just be with him, not stay here with people I don’t know yet.”
“Yet. Yet is the operative word, and I’m so proud of you, Samantha. Your father is, too, and he’s harassing me, so he can get on the phone.”
I frowned, pausing, as I reached for a shirt in the closet. “No, he’s not. He was probably leaving the room as you said that, wasn’t he?”
She was silent for a moment before a rueful chuckle slipped out. “You and your father. You two can be in each other’s presence, and you think that’s bonding. You two should talk more.”
“We do talk.”
“Only when you have to.”
She was confused, and she had reason to be. I asked, “How’s Mark doing?”
A hiss came through the receiver before she grumbled, “That damn son of mine. I love him, but he can be an idiot sometimes. He decided to take a page from your book and prove he’s so independent. I wish he wouldn’t have. He locked himself out of his car and wouldn’t let me go to his campus with him. When he finally did get the keys, he didn’t have enough cash to pay the locksmith. He had to get a ride with the locksmith to a nearby ATM. He paid the guy and ended up paying an extra ten dollars just to get back to his car. He forgot to lock his car after all of that.”