Blake was still grinning when he stepped into his room and switched on the lights. The expression on Farrah’s face when he asked if she thought his pickup lines were cheesy?
Priceless.
She was in FEA, which meant she was off-limits. That didn’t mean he couldn’t flirt with her.
He had to keep life interesting somehow.
Blake tossed his keys onto his desk and surveyed his tiny kingdom. Technically, it was his and Luke’s tiny kingdom, at least until orientation week ended and Luke moved into his homestay.
But Luke wasn’t here, which meant Blake had all 150 square feet to himself.
Compared to his off-campus spread at Texas Southeastern, this place was a dump. The dark wood floors creaked. The cinderblock walls resembled those in a jail cell. The twin beds may as well be made for ten-year-olds. But the FEA dorm had one thing his TSU apartment didn’t: freedom.
For that luxury, Blake would give up all the plasma TVs and king-size beds in the world.
He flopped down on his bed and closed his eyes, luxuriating in the silence. No stares. No whispers. Nothing but the quiet peace of a small room in a big city halfway across the world from home. For the first time since February, he felt as though he could breathe.
The musical tones of Blake’s custom phone alarm interrupted his bliss. Cleo had downloaded it when they started dating last summer. He woke up before dawn every day for football conditioning camp, and she hated the sound of the default alarm at 4:30 am.
He should change it back.
Blake cracked one eye open. It was 7:30 pm, which meant it was 6:30 in the morning in Austin. Time to call home.
He rolled over onto his stomach and flipped open his laptop. He stared at the Skype icon, thinking of excuses why he needed to cut the conversation short, before hitting the call button.
To his relief, Joy was the one who answered his call.
“About time, loser.” Joy popped a potato chip in her mouth. “You’re late.”
“Remind me again, was it you who wrote How to Win Friends and Influence People?” Blake tapped a finger on his chin. “Oh, wait. In order for you to do that you’d have to, you know, be literate. My bad.”
“Ha. Looks like Shanghai hasn’t improved your terrible sense of humor.” Joy cocked her head. “You look terrible. Is that a pimple I see on your chin?”
No way. He didn’t get pimples.
Nevertheless, Blake rubbed a hand over his jaw to check for unwanted intruders. Nothing except for the scratch of his five o’clock shadow. “Bullshit.”
“Yes, but I made you worry.” Joy cackled. “You are so vain.”
“I’ll hang up on you right now.”
“Do it.”
“I will.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
They glared at each other.
Joy caved first. She grinned. “I miss you, big bro.”
“I miss you too.” Blake’s sister was a pain in the ass, but she was also one of his best friends and he loved her. Most of the time.
Some of the time.
“How’s Shanghai?”
“Great, for the most part. A bit noisy and polluted, but…” Blake shrugged. “You can’t have it all.”
He was happy to be in Shanghai—to be anywhere except Texas, really—but, truth be told, he found China strange and overwhelming. The food was weird, people stared at him wherever he went, and there was a lot of everything everywhere, all the time.
Noise. Lights. Cars. For a boy who grew up in the quiet suburbs of Texas, Blake felt like someone plucked him out of a fishbowl and dropped him in the middle of a highway during rush hour.
Not that he’d ever tell his family that. They gave him enough shit about his decisions as it was.
Besides, he arrived less than a week ago. He had plenty of time to get acclimated to Asia.
“You ready for TSU?” he asked.
“Of course. I’ve been preparing all summer. Besides, I’ve visited you on campus enough to know what it’s like.” After a stint at the local community college, Joy was transferring to TSU for her sophomore year. “Cleo’s been amazing. She gave me the lowdown on everything I need to know. Which classes I should take, bars I should go to, boys I should meet.”
Wariness settled in Blake’s stomach. “I didn’t realize you two were spending so much time together.”
“Um, she’s practically my sister.” Joy gave him a pointed look. “She’d be my actual sister—well, sister-in-law—one day if you hadn’t fucked things up.”
Here we go again. “Don’t start.”
“I’m not starting anything.”
“Good.”
‘All I’m saying is, Cleo is the best girlfriend you could’ve asked for—”
Blake groaned. “For God’s sake, we’ve been through this.”
“—and you broke up with her.” Joy shook her head. “What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking it’s my love life and none of your business.” This was one of those times Blake did not love his sister. She’d been on his case about Cleo all summer. He thought she’d be over it by now.
Apparently not.
“Mom and Dad are pissed.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” Between quitting football and breaking up with Cleo, Blake hadn’t exactly endeared himself to his parents this year.
“Joy? Is that your brother on the line?”
Joy smirked. “Speak of the devil.”
“Who are you calling the devil?” Blake’s mom scolded playfully. She poked her face in front of the screen. “Hi, dear.”
“Hi, Mom.”
“Are you eating enough? You look skinnier.”
Joy snickered. “That’s my cue. I’ll let you talk to Mom.” She stood up. “Don’t be a stranger, danger.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Whatever. Byeee!”
Blake’s mom wasted no time getting down to business. “How’s the food in China? Is that why you’re not eating? Oh Blake, you should’ve studied abroad in Europe.”
“I have been eating, and the food is fine.” It took some getting used to, was all. Turned out General Tso’s chicken was not a thing here, as Blake discovered when he tried to order it last night. “Don’t worry.”
Helen Ryan pinned her son with a glare. “I’m your mother. It’s my job to worry, especially when you’re spending a year in some strange country across the world.”
“Technically, any country except the U.S. is ‘strange,’” Blake quipped. He was the first in his family to travel outside the U.S. and Western Europe, so he understood their concern, but they acted like he was studying in a war zone instead of a major international city.
“You know what I mean.” Helen twisted her bracelet around her wrist. “I’m sure the people are lovely, but couldn’t you have gone somewhere more…familiar? London, for example. They speak English there. It might not be too late to switch programs for the spring.”
“Going somewhere unfamiliar is the point.” Not to mention Shanghai was way farther from home than London. “Besides, Chinese is a useful language to learn.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Helen sighed. “I’m worried about you, Blake. You’ve been acting strange all year.”
“I have a few things I need to figure out.” Like what the hell he was going to do with his life now that football was out of the picture. “I’ll be fine, I promise.”
“All right.” His mom didn’t appear convinced, but she dropped the issue. “Do you want to talk to your father? He’s around here somewhere.” She turned toward the living room. “Joe!”
“No!” Blake cleared his throat. “I mean, another time. I have an orientation thing soon.”
“This late at night?”
“Uh, yeah. We’re going to a…night market,” Blake fudged.
“Oh, ok.” Helen looked disappointed. “Have fun. I’ll talk to you soon. I love you.”
“I love you too, mom.”
Blake signed off. That was a close call. He didn’t need to speak with his father when Joe Ryan’s voice already echoed in his head like a bad dream.
Are you STUPID? Did you get hit too hard in the head during the game…Can’t quit football, it’s the only thing you’re good at…Quitters are losers…
A dull ache blossomed behind Blake’s temple. The mere thought of his father drove him crazy.
A loud slam caused him to jump. Blake thought the sound was an alarming escalation of his headache until he saw his roommate in the doorway.
“Sorry.” Luke Peterson grimaced. Standing at 6’2” and north of 250 pounds, he looked every inch the rugby player he was. “Had a few too many drinks.”
“It’s cool.” Blake eyed his roommate’s flushed face and short brown hair, which stuck up all over the place. “Where did you have drinks? A wind tunnel?”
“Har-har.” Luke smoothed a self-conscious hand over his hair. “I was pregaming the pregame in Courtney’s room. They’re at Gino’s now, but I forgot my wallet.”
Gino’s, a dive bar near campus, was fast becoming FEA’s favorite pregame spot. The food was crappy, but the drinks were cheap, which was all a college student could ask for.
Blake didn’t care about the food or drinks, really. He went to bars for the energy and solidarity. There, strangers could bond over the simplest things, from mutual love for a song to a goal scored by their favorite team on TV. Everyone was welcome, regardless of whether they were there to hang out, hook up, or drown their sorrows.
“Perfect timing.” Blake stood up and pulled his sweatshirt over his head. It got crazy hot in Gino’s. “I was about to head over there myself.”
Forget his father. He wasn’t going to let the old man ruin his time in Shanghai.
The great thing about being more than 7,000 miles from home? You can do whatever the hell you want.
