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I can’t let her go back to her room, but staying with Charlotte and Samantha is obviously not the answer. She needs somewhere quiet. Somewhere I know she’ll be safe.
“Listen, thanks for trying to help me, Jace, but it seems like a lost cause. I probably just need to suck it up and go back to my room with Creepy Cate. Even if I had slept well with Charlotte and Samantha, the dorm rooms are impossibly small. I can’t expect them to let me live there for the next six weeks; we’ll be tripping over each other, and the last thing I want to do is annoy them because they’re becoming really great friends.”
“You arenotgoing back to rooming with her.” My mind conjures the image of the naked dude in Cate’s bed, blitzed out of his mind. “If she’s doing drugs out in the open like that, who knows what kind of people she’s also going to bring by. I don’t want you wrapped up in that mess. And Teagan wouldn’t either.” She opens her mouth to protest, but I stop her. “Listen, just . . . go back to your room and I’ll meet you there, okay? We’ll figure something out.”
“What are you gonna do?” she asks, eyeing me warily.
“Go back to housing and throttle that guy’s neck until his eyes snap back in his head and he gives you a new room?”
Her eyes widen. She thinks I’m serious.
“Nothing.” I sigh and place my hands on my hips. “I just need to think.”
“Okay. But I don’t see what you’re going to be able to do to help.” She starts walking backward, shifting her book bag over her shoulder. “Thanks for trying, though.”
I nod, offering a small wave as I realize this is probably the first time in her life Brynn has ever thanked me for something.
Once she’s out of earshot, I pull out my phone and dial Teagan’s number because in truth, I’m stumped on what to do. I know Brynn doesn’t want her parents to worry about her, so they have no idea her roommate’s a freak, but maybe they can calland throw a fit. The housing department might be more inclined to do something about the situation if parents are involved.
“Yo, what’s up, man?” Teagan answers.
“Houston, we have a problem . . .” I say, squinting up at the blue sky as I fill him in on everything I witnessed last night.
He’s so silent on the other side of the line, for a minute I think he’s hung up. Once I finish, I have to pull my phone away from my head to check he hasn’t.
“Shit, man. Are you fucking with me right now?” he finally says.
“I wish I was, dude. Her roommate is bad, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t get a warm and fuzzy feeling with her anywhere near there. I see this going wrong in a million different ways.”
Teagan exhales. “I’ll talk to my folks. See if they can make something happen with the roommate. Why didn’t Brynn call them in the first place?”
“Dude, hell if I know, but I honestly think it’s because she doesn’t want to worry them. She made me swear I wouldn’t tell you.”
“I get that. With us out of the house and the girls growing up, my parents are busier than they’ve ever been. They barely have time to take a piss let alone fight this, but I’m not sure what choice we have.”
“I know, and she looks completely exhausted today. I can tell she got zero sleep this weekend. I’m sure she could hold on another night or two if—”
“Or she could just move into your place.”
My brows rise to my hairline.
Did he say what I think he said?
“Uh, what?”
“Dude, it’s perfect,” Teagan says, and I can hear the relief in his voice.
“Um, exactly what about this proposal is perfect? Brynn and me living together? Sounds like a fucking death wish for both of us, if you ask me.”
“Your roommate Chris is gone half the time, you said so yourself. It’s like living alone all over again, so she won’t be in the way, but at least you’d have some company.”
Fuck. Why’d I have to run my mouth?
“Okay, but that still doesn’t mean—”
“Come on, man. She can’t go back to that psycho, and if the housing department doesn’t budge on this, then she’s going to need somewhere to stay for more than a night or two. And we wouldn’t even have to involve my parents.”
I pull on the back of my neck as I think about Teagan’s proposal. Logistically, it makes sense. But practically, it’ll never work. We’ll rip each other’s throats out if we’re confined to a space together. Not to mention the fucked-up thoughts I’ve been having about her lately.
