More like I thought no girls would be tempted to come home with Matthew, who said his favorite food was mac and cheese—
“—but I’m totally serious. This would be our home, and I’d completely respect your boundaries. Fuck. Boundaries? Did I just say that? You know what I mean. And please don’t worry about Crosbie. He’s really not that bad, but I’ll keep him away if he annoys you.”
I force a smile. The place is great. And if not for Kellan, I’d be all over this deal. But telling people I live with Kellan McVey is like telling them I live in a candy store or a bank vault—they’re going to be friends with me for the wrong reasons. Not to mention my own…temptations. I’d like to say I’m above it all and I’m the one girl on campus who isn’t dying to date Kellan McVey, but I’m not. Even with the very offensive I-don’t-remember-having-sex-with-you issue, he’s still super hot. And he seems nice. And kind of dorky, which makes him surprisingly down to earth, and—
No. What am I doing? I can’t justify this. There’s nothing he can say—
“I can give you a break on the rent too,” he offers hastily. “How about until January, no rent? I already told you my parents are paying for this place, and I have some savings. You said in the emails you work at a coffee shop, right? So you can use that money for books or Christmas presents or whatever, and then in January, if you still like it here, you can pay. If not, no hard feelings. It’ll be like a trial run.”
Did I just hear him correctly? Free rent?
“Is it the bedrooms?” he asks, misinterpreting my hesitation. “You can totally choose—”
“The bedrooms are fine,” I say.
Don’t do it.
“Everything looks great,” I hear myself add.
Nice apartment, free rent, hot roommate?
I can’t.
“So… Are we doing this?” He shoots me a tentative grin, dimple flashing.
Stare at something besides the dimple.
I look at his chest and stick out my hand.
“We’re doing this,” I say.
chapter two
Okay, so today didn’t go exactly as planned. It went mostly as planned, in that I have to move out of my current place by the weekend and I found a great, free, apartment, but obviously my roommate is not the bookworm I’d been anticipating. And we once had sex in a closet and then he forgot about it.
I drop onto the edge of the twin mattress in my shoebox-sized dorm room and sigh, trying to convince myself I made the right decision. I mean, if I make a pros and cons list, the pros obviously outweigh the cons. And what’s the worst that could happen? I have a crush on my roommate for a while? Big deal. People live through crushes all the time.
The tiny dorm window is already open, but I still shove it up an extra half inch, as though it will make breathing any easier. After last year’s debacle I’d had to sign up for summer classes and move into Henley, the lone residence they keep open for summer students. The rooms are barely big enough to house a bed and an average-sized human, and the building is nearly deserted. Of its ten available floors only five are in use, and there are four other people on my level. Not that I’ve had a lot of time for socializing, with three classes, a full-time job, and three hundred hours of community service.
I wrapped up my summer courses and community service last week, and now all that’s left is my job at Beans, the coffee shop in town. I’d loved working there last year, but now it’s painfully awkward. The awkwardness is entirely my fault, but after nearly flunking out and getting arrested, I’d had to make some changes. One of those changes was ending things with my best friend and co-worker, Marcela Lopes. After getting my ass chewed in the Dean’s office, I’d flipped the switch on any fun and frivolity, and that meant getting rid of any bad influences in my life. Unfortunately Marcela fell squarely into that category, and she did not take being “shunned” too well.
I know I made the right choice in changing my circle of friends—more like, deleting my circle of friends and opting to have none—but I really miss Marcela. She’s smart and funny and a little bit insane, and she’s the only one in the world who knows about my hookup with Kellan. She’d die laughing if she heard about today’s events, but I can’t call her. And when I go into work tomorrow, I can’t tell her, either. She’s not speaking to me, and it’s for the best.
I’m pretty sure.
I strip out of the constricting interview clothes and toss on a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt. I unwind my hair from its bun, relieved when it falls in nice waves down my back instead of its usual tumbleweed nest. Though we technically have a small kitchen on our floor, it’s just a filthy microwave and a stove with one working burner, so I forgo eating in, grab a jacket, and head to the small campus strip mall, which has been a ghost town all summer.