“Fuck, I love you, you grumpy asshole,” he pants, heaving in the air as he turns to press a kiss to my cheek before moving to my lips, clearly unable to see.
“I love you too, Snookums.”
Isurvived the first week. After classes, I hid away in the library until either my next class or my stomach protested, and I had to leave to eat. Every time Julez was there waiting like he’s got some weird sixth sense. When I asked him about it last night, he laughed and told me, ‘I always know where my Pookie is,’ and waved me off.
I’d checked my uniform and bag for a tracker this morning and came up empty-handed, so maybe it really is luck?
Though I did find something else in my bag that had me itching to skip my meeting with Mr. Adler.
I wouldn’t because I didn’t want to get in trouble, but damn did I want to.
The dean had already bent the rules to let me attend and catch up. I needed to be invisible, not cause problems.
I’d had years of practice; maybe I’ll finally be good at it here. Heaven knows I was terrible at it back home.
I also need to talk to him about getting to a store. I’m in desperate need of snacks, especially with my period right around the corner.
The guys think I’m a terror now; they don’t even know the half of it.
We hadn’t talked about a specific time to meet, so I took the liberty of deciding now is good; hopefully he’s awake and here.
The halls are so quiet, I second-guess my decision with each step. Maybe nine in the morning is too early?
I’m already close enough that it would be silly to turn around without at least seeing first. Worst case, he’s not here; I can always come back later, after I’ve tried my new baby.
I stand in front of the door, listening for any kind of sound. I don’t hear anything, but for all I know, the room could be soundproof.
Only one way to know for sure.
I rap my knuckles on the door, and the sound echoes around the otherwise empty hallway, making it sound much louder than I intended.
“Gavin, I swear—” He cuts himself off as the door swings open and his eyes fall to me. “Oh, it’s you.”
“Yup.” I pop thepand press my lips together, unsure what to say. Clearly, he expected someone else, Gavin, from the sound of it. Did he meanmyGavin—I mean, Gavin as in my roommate, not like,mine,mine. Or maybe he’s not the only one in the school with that name, which also makes sense.
“Is now a bad time?” I ask when we spend another few uncomfortable seconds staring at each other.
“Time for…” he trails off, clearly having no idea what I’m referring to.
It takes all of my self-control not to roll my eyes.
Men.
“Our meeting?” I remind him, and now that I really look at him, I notice things I’d missed at first glance.
The left side of his face is red, with lines running down his cheek; his shirt is a bit rumpled and untucked; and his tie is missing.
Even more noticeable is the fact that his hair is down. His dirty blond hair hangs loose over his shoulders, and it’s areallygood look for him.
Like really fucking good.
I’m also clearly a little too obvious in my checking him out because he quickly straightens, running a hand down his shirt that does nothing before he gathers his hair into a low man bun that’s closer to his usual but still just unkempt enough to be sexy.
“Right, sorry.” He moves aside and waves me in, and as I sit in the same chair I did last weekend, it dawns on me why he’s so out of sorts.
"Do you sleep here?” I ask before I can think better of it, making him pause before he sits in the chair across from me.
"No, well, I’m not supposed to. Faculty housing is just past the recreation center.”
