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“I’d love for you to show me around the city one day...since you grew up here,” Archie said. “You probably know where the action is better than my mate here.”
I felt my blood pressure rise. He certainly wasn’t wasting any time trying to get into Teagan’s pants.
She paused, seeming unsure whether to agree. Then she shrugged. “Sure.”
Archie looked over at Maura. “Again, I can’t thank you enough for the offer to stay here.”
“My mom loves to rent rooms to strangers,” Shelley said.
“Don’t misinterpret that,” Maura said with a laugh. “They have to come carefully vetted. But if we have the space, why not? This city is full of international students and people passing through who need a place to stay.” She smiled. “Anyway, you’re not a stranger like some of the people who have rented a room here.”
“It used to be stray cats. Now it’s stray people,” Lorne cracked.
Archie smiled. “Meow?”
Everyone laughed except me.
The comfort level I’d found here, the feeling that I’d somehow stepped into an oasis away from England, was over. But my hands were tied. What was I supposed to tell Maura? To renege on her offer, because even though Archie and I were friends, he irked me? I couldn’t put her in that position. She’d already offered him a room. He’d already accepted. So now my job was making sure he didn’t lay a hand on Teagan.***That night when I went to Teagan’s room for our study session, she immediately asked, “So what’s the deal with you and Archie?”
“What do you mean?” I asked as I took a seat in her chair.
“You seem uncomfortable with him staying here.”
Here I was thinking I’d done a good job of hiding it. I didn’t want to throw Archie under the bus, so I made it more about me than him.
“It just took me by surprise. I’ve been enjoying the break from home—and all the things that went with it.”
“And you feel like home walked in our door tonight.”
“Yeah.” I sat back in my seat and kicked my legs up on the end of her bed.
“That would piss me off, too.”
It was a relief that she understood where I was coming from. I suppose if anyone could relate to the need for space, it was Teagan.
“Where is he now?” she asked.
“He went to meet some of his colleagues for drinks downtown.” I opened my laptop. “Anyway, enough about him. We’re behind in our studies, thanks to me.”
“That’s because you’re spending more nights at Veronica’s lately.”
Her voice held a hint of disdain. Or maybe it was my imagination.
“Does that bother you?” I asked.
“No. Why would it bother me? She’s your girlfriend. I was just pointing it out. If you’re there, you can’t be here, thus the lack of studying.”
Despite her claim, her face turned red.
“Of course,” I said.
Teagan got up shortly thereafter and opened the window in her room, though it was freezing out. I found this a little bizarre and wondered if she was lying to me.
Thankfully, after a few awkward minutes we returned to normal. Teagan quizzed me on my history questions, and things seemed as comfortable as they usually were. However, deep down I was still fixated on how red she’d turned before. Did Teagan have feelings for me that went beyond our friendship? I felt an uncomfortable excitement. I knew nothing could ever come of it, but the thought of being with someone unattainable was arousing in its own forbidden way.
We managed to keep our noses in our books for a while. Then I gave incorrect answers to nearly half the questions on the second round of quizzing.
“You’re off your game tonight, Yates.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll do better next time. This day has thrown me off course.”
“Well, your exam is tomorrow, and it unfortunately doesn’t care what kind of day you had.”
“Can I borrow your brain?” I asked. “I promise I’ll take good care of it.”
“Hmmm. I don’t know if it wants to spend the entire day in your head. I might end up having a little too much fun and get in trouble for being overly snarky or something.”
“Very funny, Dolphina.” I crumpled up a piece of paper and threw it at her.
“Oh, is that my name?”
“It is now, yes. In fact, I think I might have an uncontrollable urge to get to the dolphin show this Friday so I can see you in that getup. That is the day you hand out the tickets, yes?”
“Yes. I hand them out to actual people who want to see the show, not to annoying friends who want to make fun of me in my costume.”
“How much money would I have to pay to get you to let me take you to dinner in the North End dressed in your dolphin suit?”
She laughed. “Seriously? I can be bought.”
I lifted my chin. “How much?”
