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His room. Of course. My startled mind finally catches up to reality, recalling the sound of the key in the door and the confident way he moved around the room. This must be Dominic. Eric’s best friend and roommate, who I haven’t so much as laid an eye on since we started dating. The only thing I know about the guy is he became friends with Eric and his twin sister, Mallory, when they were young and they’ve been joined at the hip ever since.
Usually, this information would be enough to make me change course and try to make a good impression, but there’s something adversarial about his tone that lets me know it won’t matter.
“Right, but there’s always the possibility your roommate could have company.”
He rolls his eyes. “My roommate has spent more time in your bed than his own in the last few months, so I tend not to worry about who I might find in a room I usually have to myself.”
The mention of the time Eric has spent in my bed is accurate since, thanks to my mother, I’m one of the only freshmen on campus with a single dorm, but his words still make me blush. They seem to be dripping with equal parts innuendo and disdain. Like he’s intrigued and disgusted at the idea of his best friend spending time with me.
“I-”
“Nic!” Eric yells as he walks through the door, dropping his basket of freshly laundered clothes to go hug his best friend. “I thought you were in class, man.”
“I was supposed to be,” Dominic says, clapping Eric on the back with his eyes still on me. “My lab got canceled, so I came back here.”
“Lucky bastard, my labs never get canceled.”
Eric crosses the room and wraps his arms around my shoulders, hugging me to him and pressing a kiss to my forehead that makes Dominic’s eyes flare. God, what is this guy’s problem?
“Yeah.” Dominic lifts both of his eyebrows. His gaze darkens as I lean into Eric’s touch. “I’m the lucky one. You’re the one spending the whole afternoon laid up with…sorry, what was your name again?”
“Stop being an ass.” Eric laughs, flashing me a reassuring smile. “He knows who you are, babe. I guess spending too many nights alone in this room has made him forget his manners.”
“Right.” Or maybe he’s decided to hate my guts based on a five second interaction.
Except that sounds kind of dramatic, so I push the thought down and force myself to smile back. It must be a little shaky though because Eric spins us around, turning his back on his friend and facing me with concern etched in his features.
“What’s the matter? Your mom didn’t call back again did she?”
“No. I’m fine.”
I can’t stop myself from looking over Eric’s shoulder at Dominic to see what he thinks of this little exchange. I half expect him to be fighting back a laugh or on the verge of telling me I’m not good enough for his best friend, but he’s not paying any attention to us. His long legs are stretched across his bed, his feet kicked up and there are headphones in his ears as he scrolls through his phone.
When I look back at Eric, he doesn’t look convinced but thankfully doesn’t press further.
“Alright, let’s go back to your room then.”
“Okay.”
It takes us all of five minutes to pack up our things, and Dominic ignores me the whole time. He makes small talk with Eric about the trip they’re planning to make to his mom’s house this weekend and doesn’t even blink in my direction until right before we’re about to walk out the door when he pins me with a hard stare and says:
“Nice to meet you, Sloane.”
.
10
Dominic
Now
Sloane: I know you said don’t mention it, but I have to say it again. Thank you.
I run my finger over the screen of my phone. Tracing the words of the message Sloane sent me on Saturday night. The ones I’ve read a thousand times since my phone pinged and my heart stopped when her name flashed on my lock screen.
I was at a red light less than five minutes away from her house when the message came through. My fingers were still aching from the memory of being in contact with her body, and that ache intensified as I held the phone in my hand and read her message. Shock slipped under my skin, quelling the fire that was still raging inside of me when I thought about what could have happened to her if I hadn’t been stalking her from across the room.
The light turned green, and I pushed the gas, throwing the phone in the passenger seat like it had burned me. She never texted me. Mama was the only reason I even had her number saved, and I knew that was true for Sloane too because I was there when Mama made us promise to keep each other’s contact information up to date. It was one of those requests she made after Eric died neither of us had the heart to deny even though we both knew we had nothing to say to each other that required an exchange as personal as a text. Apparently, now she feels differently.
