I took the long way to the dorms from Dean Chiffon’s office, which only added forty seconds onto my trip, but the need to wind down before being trapped in a small space with Bexley U’s most popular hockey player was the most pressing thing at the moment.
My head was throbbing from stress. I rubbed my temples gently as I let the cool air seep into my car from my open door—because every time I used my window, it got stuck, and the last thing I needed was to wake up and have rain or snow covering my seat. I had just gotten the smell of mildew out of the carpet from the last time that had happened.
“Why aren’t you answering your phone?”
My hand flew to my heart as I jumped in my seat. My seatbelt locked up as I turned and looked at Chad, who had pulled up right beside me in his black BMW. “Gosh, Chad! You scared me.”
A short chuckle came from him as he began rolling up his window. He stepped out of his car a moment later, placing his black-rimmed glasses on the dash before shutting his door, seemingly waiting for me to exit mine.
There was no, “Hey, baby. How was work?” Instead, it was a deep scowl and an annoyance flowing from his stance that I could sense the second I met his eyes.
“Where have you been?”
I crossed my arms over my Bex shirt. “I could ask you the same. You were supposed to help me move into the dorms, remember?”
He rolled his eyes, and the feeling of loss caused me to stare at the pavement below our feet. It hadn’t always been like this with Chad. I could still taste the tender sweetness of his mouth on mine from years ago, when he was gentle with me and kind. Now, he was only like that when he wanted something from me—like the security of a girlfriend who he knew was selfless.
Standing in front of him, I was reminded of the situation I was in. Every time I felt a brush of his skin against mine, a faint threat came soon after, reminding me of the war zone that I often forgot I was in the middle of. My mom’s face flashed before mine, and the thought of ruining everything she worked so hard for was like a shot to my chest.
“Claire.” The impatient sound of Chad’s tone snapped me out of my stupor. “You know that I’m busy. I told you I might not be able to help you move in.” I said nothing as he checked his watch. “Where have you been? Did you just get off work? It’s a little late to be working, isn’t it?”
A soft laugh left me. “It’s only eight, Chad. Some of us have to make money.”
He rolled his eyes. “One day, you won’t have to worry about money. You’ll be living under my roof.”
“Actually…” I treaded lightly, feeling unsteady on my feet. I cringed internally because I wasn’t as docile as I acted. I was only like this with Chad, and I hated to admit it, but I knew he liked me like this. He enjoyed having the upper hand, and he enjoyed thinking I’d have to rely on him one day. He and his family scoffed at my dreams of having my own career. It honestly didn’t get more anti-feminist than that, did it?
The sound of cars pulling into the student parking lot left my ears as the words spewed from my mouth. “There was a mix up at admissions, so they put me on a male floor.”
“What? What do you mean?”
I crossed my arms over my chest as a gust of wind surrounded us. I paused before ripping the Band-Aid off. “I mean…my roommate is a guy.”
His brow furrowed, and his thick dark eyelashes fluttered as he took in the information. “You’re rooming with a guy?”
I nodded. “Yeah. And you know I can’t afford to live off campus.” Remember? We already chatted about this, and you turned me down when I suggested we move in together.
“Definitely not,” he agreed. “So…who is it? Do I know him?”
“You probably know of him.” I put my back to him and began grabbing a box from my backseat, knowing that I was unfortunately stuck rooming with Theo. Disappointment ran through my veins, but I was so used to the feeling that it was like my blood type. “He is the star hockey player of Bexley U.”
Chad rubbed his jaw, seeming impatient. “You know I don’t follow sports. They’re a waste of time.”
The one thing Chad and I had in common? Neither one of us was big on sports. It wasn’t that I thought the game was silly or fruitless, because that would make me a hypocrite, thinking someone else’s passion wasn’t important, like Chad often did with mine. But I’d admit, I had a bitterness for jocks. Between my mother’s distasteful whispers in my ear from the moment I could ask about the absence of my father and the popular jocks I had to put up with in high school, I wasn’t a fan.
“Right. Well, his name is Theo. He plays hockey. We’ve already talked to the dean, and there isn’t anywhere else open, so I’m kind of stuck.”
Unless…
He blew out a breath, trying to figure out a solution. “I’d offer for you to move in, but I can’t be distracted with it being my senior y—”
Checking out of the conversation, I moved my gaze past Chad and settled on the doors to my dorm room and froze at the sight of Theo standing against the railing of the stairs with his black hoodie pulled up over his beanie, staring directly at me. His expression was hard to read, but I had a feeling he was trying to figure me out, and I couldn’t blame him. He was going to be living with me, and I was pretty certain he had heard part of the phone conversation I’d had with Taytum after the meeting with the dean—you know, the one where I was openly referring to my mother and how she attempted to seduce a married man to pay for my tuition.
My face burned at the thought, and I quickly looked away from Theo and straightened my shoulders as I checked back into the conversation with Chad.
“So, yeah. Anyway, I have to go.”
“What?” I asked, confused. “Where are you going?”
“I just told you,” he scoffed, acting as if I were stupid, but to his point, I did just completely blank out our conversation. “I have to go get things ready for my classes next week.”
I slowly blinked, still confused. “It’s a Friday night, though. You have all weekend to get prepared for next week.” Shaking my head, I changed directions and faked a smile. “Never mind. I know how you are. Call me later? I guess I’m gonna carry the rest of my boxes in and get settled too.”
“Sure, baby.” Chad leaned in, not bothering to take the heavy box from my hands, and pecked me on the lips. Before he climbed into his BMW, leaving me standing alone in the student parking lot, he shot me a look that made him identical to his father. “Make sure he knows you’re not single.”
And there it is.
“No need to be insecure, Chad. You know you can trust me.”
His forehead furrowed. “I’m not being insecure. I’ll see you later.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but he disappeared in his car and slammed the door before speeding away angrily, as if I had done something wrong.
Blowing out a breath, I stepped forward and began walking to the doors, hoping Theo was no longer standing there watching me. My eyes stayed trained to the black pavement beneath my feet, and the second I took the first step, a heavy presence made itself known. The box was nearly jerked out of my hands. Theo’s finger brushed over mine, and it stole every bit of my attention.
“So that’s why you were so adamant that you wouldn’t be a distraction to me.”
I pulled the box back from Theo’s steady grip and peered up at him. He was even taller, standing on the top step, and I ignored the touch of his hand against mine as he slipped his grip from the box. “What are you referring to?”
Theo leaned back against the railing and crossed his arms over his chest. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he angled his chiseled chin to the parking lot behind me. “You have a boyfriend.”
I shrugged. “That’s not why I said I wouldn’t be a distraction.” I began climbing the stairs, quickly moving past him. “Jocks really aren’t my type.”
Theo opened the door, and I walked inside, not bothering to say thank you because it felt like a surrender of some sort. I was generally a nice person, but Theo’s presence irritated me. Maybe it was the fact that he was a jock, or maybe it was the fact that he oozed arrogance and turned heads every three seconds. The short walk to the second floor was like we were being followed by paparazzi. There was no doubt in my mind that I would be featured in the school newspaper by tomorrow morning. The Bex Daily News: Popular hockey star, Theo Brooks, was seen walking with the poor girl whose mother tried seducing the dean for tuition money.
When Theo and I reached the top of the stairs and began walking down the hall, he tried grabbing the box from my hands again, but I quickly pulled it back. A chuckle rumbled from his chest. “I’m not trying to steal your box, Bryant. I’m just trying to help you.”
“I don’t need help,” I snapped. He stopped walking for a brief second, and I instantly felt guilty for being rude. He was my roommate, after all. I softened my tone. “But thanks.”
Theo walked ahead of me and opened our door, and I shuffled in after him, feeling the air stiffen with an awkwardness so cold I got a chill. The lamp on his desk was still on, and when I dropped my box to the floor, I turned around to grab the rest of my things but nearly choked at the sight of Theo leaning against his desk casually with his hands in his pockets. He watched me for a second that seemed to drag on for eons before I placed my hands on my hips and asked, “What?”
“Does your boyfriend live on campus?”
I wasn’t sure why that mattered, but I shook my head no anyway.
“So, he lives in an apartment?”
“Yeah…so?” I slowly walked to the door, wondering how the hell I was going to live with this guy when just a single look from him made me feel seen. I didn’t like his attention on me because it wasn’t brief by any means. His eyes lingered.
When I peeked over my shoulder at him, he had his hand on his chin, as if he were lost in thought. My blood rushed with his next question. “Why don’t you just live with him? It’s apparent he doesn’t enjoy the idea of you living with me.”
“How is that apparent?” Annoyance began to simmer as I turned and faced him.
“I heard what he said to you.” He shrugged as he bent down and grabbed his gym bag that was near the foot of his desk. “He wants me to know you’re not single.” Theo wasn’t looking at me as he said the next words, but I knew that he was skeptical. “Just seems weird to me. How long have you two been together?”
I bit my tongue because I didn’t want to admit that we’d been together for far too long for him to 1) not want to live together, and 2) say something like I needed to make sure another guy knew I wasn’t single. Not once in the last several years had I ever given Chad a reason not to trust me or, better yet, given him a reason to think I’d ever be a distraction to his studies. I knew how important academics were to him. They were to me too.
My hand was on the doorknob when Theo posed another question. “He looks familiar to me. What is his major?”
I knew, without doubt, that he had never seen Chad a day in his life. Chad wouldn’t be caught dead near the hockey rink, and there was no way they took any of the same classes.
“I doubt you’ve ever seen him before. He is in some of the hardest classes that Bexley U offers.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
There was an edge to Theo’s voice, and I apparently struck a chord. I peeked over my shoulder again, and his golden-boy looks had been replaced with something much harsher—probably the same expression he wore on the ice.
I knew of his campus nickname. During his games, he wasn’t the golden boy who offered to help me carry my boxes up to my dorm. He was known as the wolf. He attacked his opponents like they were mere scraps of food.
“It’s just—”
“A little judgmental, yeah?”
My lips parted, and he put his back to me. “Not all jocks are stupid, Claire. You should remember that.”
A second later, I walked out the door and into the men’s hallway and cursed under my breath when I saw that several eyes were set on me. Not only did I have to live with a guy who was beginning to dislike me as much as I made it seem like I disliked him, but I was going to have an audience every single time I left my room.
Great.
