Page 3 of That's Not a Thing

“I’m sorry—is there a reason you should have anything to do with this situation?” I don’t know what possessed me to go straight-up bitch on him, but it’s what I did. Maybe I already knew then how easily he would burrow himself into the deepest recesses of my heart. Maybe I just wanted to protect myself.

“Whoa, don’t shoot.” He held up his hands in surrender and took a step back. “I was just trying to commiserate a little, be friendly. My freshman roommate used to barricade me all the time. It sucks not getting to use your own space.” He shrugged, like everything in life was obvious to him, like things came easy.

“If you’re not a freshman, why are you skulking around Carman Hall like a creep?” I could feel my spine straightening, preparing for battle even as I continued to wonder why I was being so antagonistic. “And why are you covered in paint, anyway?”

“Jeez, take it easy,” he chuckled, and I got the distinct impression that he found my agitation amusing— endearing, even. “I’m your new RA. Wesley Latner.” He started to reach out his hand again, but then seemed to think the better of it and curled his fingers into a fist at his side.

“New RA? What happened to Keith, or Craig, whatever his name was?”

“Kevvvin,” Wesley answered, dragging out the word like he was trying to prod my memory about the other guy’s name, “transferred to some school in California, so this position opened up and I skated off the waiting list.”

I realized then that I ought to be a little more cordial if this male pinup was supposed to be the resident advisor for my dorm, especially since it seemed like I might soon need permission to sleep on the withered brown carpet of the hallway floor. There was only so long that I could expect to freeload off Bina and her suitemates. I blinked hard a couple of times and tried to start over.

“Sorry.” I tilted my head to the side in a gesture of surrender. “Meredith,” I offered, along with my hand. “It’s been a long day, and I really didn’t feel like sleeping on a couch tonight. I’m not usually such an ass-wipe.”

He reached out to shake, and his warm hand felt callused and rough as it met my own. “Apology accepted.” He was smirking. I looked down at our hands, wondering if he was holding on for a beat too long, as he added, “I’m actually already aware that you’re not usually an ass-wipe.”

“You are?” I glanced back up, wary now.

He shrugged again. “I’ve seen you around, at the soup kitchen on 116th Street. You seem to be a fan favorite up there.”

I felt my eyes narrow. “Since when have you been at the soup kitchen? I don’t recall meeting.” It was a small place, and I would have remembered him.

“I’ve been working construction next door. I get a pretty decent view of the sidewalk servers when I’m up on the scaffolding. It’s hard to miss that pink streak in your hair, even from the rooftop.”

I tucked a piece of blond hair behind my ear, pushing at it like I was driving away everything my pink stripe represented. There was no reason to bring my mother’s illness into this conversation. I looked him over again from ears to ankles, taking in the worn jeans, the paint splatters covering his heavy gray Henley, the weathered Timberland boots. “So, I don’t get it—are you a college student or a construction worker?”

“Both.” He smiled with apparent pride. “This was just a job I was working with a friend.” He gestured toward himself, indicating his current painty mess.

A muffled cheer sounded from a room down the hall, likely guys watching sports or getting overly excited about a video game. He glanced over his shoulder, where the hall was still empty, and then asked, “So, is there somewhere you were planning to go for the night?”

“Yeah, no worries. I’ve got it covered. It was nice meeting you.” I lifted my silver backpack from where I had dropped it on the floor before reading Daphne’s note, and I started to move around him so I could make my way to Bina’s.

“Boyfriend’s?” He leaned against the cinder block wall and crossed his arms across his broad chest, as if to watch me go. As I slung my bag over my shoulder, I noticed the bulge of his forearms, sinewy and dusted with golden-brown hair where the sleeves of his shirt were pushed to the elbows.

“No, Nosy,” I quipped, as a corner of my lip lifted, and I realized that I was flirting in spite of myself. “Difficult as it may be for you to believe, we females are actually capable of solving problems without male intervention. So, uh, see ya.” I raised two fingers in a half wave and started down the hallway.

I had made it nearly to the stairwell when Wesley called out after me, “So, does that mean there is no boyfriend?”

I kept on walking but couldn’t stop myself from responding, even as I marched farther away. “No boyfriend,” I called back without turning, glad that he couldn’t see the smile still playing at my lips.

After I veered into the stairwell and started up the steps to Bina’s floor, I heard Wesley jogging after me. “Wait,” he said, “hold up.”

I paused on the second step and turned to see that I was now eye-level with him where he waited on the landing. I heard the fire door open on the floor below, then female laughter and fast steps advancing toward us. Twin towheaded girls whom I recognized from around campus appeared, chasing each other up the stairs, one of them holding a box of donut holes. Wesley and I nodded at them as they raced past us and continued up another flight.

He waited for the sounds of their boots to recede before he turned back to me and continued.

“Come with me.”

“Come with you where?” Was it against the rules for me to sleep in another student’s suite? If I couldn’t concoct a way to talk myself out of trouble, this jackass might be writing me up all semester long.

“Come for the night, on an adventure,” he clarified. He raised his eyebrows a couple of times, as if to add to his intrigue, and it was disarmingly cute, even with the faint scent of turpentine he was emitting.

“What are you talking about? It’s already one o’clock in the morning.”

“It is?” He glanced at his wristwatch. “That’s perfect.” He smiled cryptically and motioned for me to come back down the stairs. “Come on, it’ll be fun. You can’t go back to your room anyway, and if you have to know the truth, I’ve been wanting to hang out with you since the first time I saw you ladling soup on 116th. Come on, don’t rob a guy of his opportunity to woo the girl.”

“What are you talking about? Woo.” I laughed out loud. “You’re totally crazy. I just met you ten seconds ago, and what about sleep? I have class in the morning.”