“I know. I’m really sorry. I wanted to stay here, but I just think it will be better this way.”
There’s a knock at the door. “Come in,” I call out, knowing it’s Reid.
He steps inside, and his eyes find mine. “You good?” he asks in a quiet voice.
“Yeah.” I turn to Ashley and Stephanie. They’re staring at Reid with matching looks of surprise. “Uh, this is Reid. Reid this is Ashley and Stephanie.”
Stephanie turns to me. “Can we have a word in private?”
“Um, what—” I don’t get any further than that before she loops her arm through mine and pulls me into the bathroom. Ashley joins us a second later, closing the door behind her.
“That’s who you were thinking about,” Stephanie says in a whispered shout.
“What?” I am officially confused. “What are you talking about?”
“When you said she wasn’t the one you wanted to share a bed with,” Ashley fills in, oh so helpfully.
“You were talking abouthim!” Stephanie adds. I am very aware of the fact that Reid can hear everything being said in this bathroom because of his shifter hearing.
“No, I wasn’t.”
“Well, what guywereyou thinking about sleeping with?” Ashley asks.
“I wasn’t thinking about another guy!”
“So, you were thinking about Reid,” Stephanie pushes.
I close my eyes. “Okay. Let’s try this again.” I open my eyes. When I catch the smile on Stephanie’s face before she quickly erases it, I realize I’ve been had. “You two are awful.”
Stephanie laughs. “But it was so easy to get you riled up.”
“All right. I need to actually pack up now.”
Stephanie puts her hand on my arm. “Seriously, though. You would tell us if something was wrong, right?”
I feel my heart tug and feel so much gratitude for these two. “I really am okay. I just think with my schedule and everything, it’s going to be better for me to be off campus.” I don’t really want to move, but I know it’s the best decision. “But can I come back and visit?”
“Of course!” Ashey says, and then they both move in for a hug.
“Don’t forget about us,” Stephanie says, giving me a wink.
“That’s impossible. I won’t. Now, can we please get out of this bathroom? Reid’s going to think we disappeared.” I open the door and find Reid leaning against the desk with his long legs out in front of him. “Okay, they’re done interrogating me; we can get to the packing now,” I tell him.
“Hey, we were not interrogating you,” Ashley pipes up.
“Well, whatever you call that; it’s done.”
Keeping with Reid’s suggestion, I don't pack everything. I explain to the girls that I’ll be back to get more once I get things cleared up with admin, and then I’ll bring Zane’s truck to get all my stuff. I change into shorts and a shirt and my sneakers and get to work. The girls help, and it goes pretty quickly. After hugging each of them and promising to stay in touch, I follow Reid out into the hallway. He’s got my bag slung over one shoulder and my bedding and pillow in his other hand. I follow, carrying my backpack with all my school stuff and my laptop and another bag with odds and ends. We load everything into the backseat of his car. I pull my sunglasses off the top of my head and put them on. “All right.Now,we can play a game of basketball.” I expect him to start backing out of the parking space but he doesn’t. Instead, he drapes one arm over the wheel and turns to look at me. “What?” I ask.
“Are you sure you want to do this? I know you just moved in. If you want to stay here and enjoy dorm life, you can do that. We’ll make it work.”
“Right. You’ll just stay outside my dorm every night.”
His eyes are serious. “I would.”
I smile. “I know; and that’s what makes you such an amazing guy. I’m good. Really. Honestly, I don’t know how any of you did it. I haven’t even had to stay in there yet since I shifted, but I think I would go crazy. I’m going to need to be able to go outside and shift and run. Thanks, though. I really appreciate it. Can I take your old room in the basement?”
“No.”
