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Haven blurted out a watery laugh. “You two,” she started, shaking her head affectionately, only for tears to glisten in her eyes. “I love you both so much. And of course, my first instinct is to just go with you right now and let you take care of me. But this is like a test to myself, to see if I have what it takes to manage my own problems.”
“But where are you going to stay?” her mom repeated.
“I don’t know yet.” She looked like a small, helpless child when she hugged herself with her shoulders curling in and hunching miserably. “Just give me a second to think.”
I couldn’t handle seeing her fall apart again, so I turned to Izzy beseechingly. She didn’t have a roommate in her dorm room. She usually just dumped her unfolded laundry on the spare bed in there. It was still in the same building as her last apartment, so I bet Haven could get transferred to Izzy’s room without any issues.
Except when Izzy lifted her hand to get everyone’s attention, what she said was, “Wick’s been looking for a roommate.”
Wait, what?
My mouth dropped open. “Izzy!” I gasped incredulously. What the hell was she doing? That wasn’t what she was supposed to say.
“What?” she asked defensively. “It’s true. You were telling me just earlier tonight how tight your budget was going to be until you found someone else to sub-rent the extra room to.”
“Yeah, but—”
“There’s an extra room here?” Haven asked, the curious hopefulness in her tone making me gape at her as if she were as crazy as my sister.
“There sure is. And it’s a pretty decent size too,” Izzy answered, bouncing like she did when she got excited. “Do you want to see it? There’s no private bathroom to your room, but Wick’s room has one that he uses, so I’m sure you could just take over the guest bath down the hall and have that one all to yourself, which has a full shower and tub in it and everything, and you guys wouldn’t have to share bathrooms at all.”
Haven blinked before murmuring in awe, “I could have my own bathroom?”
“Yes! You totally could.” Izzy nodded with an eager smile. “Here. I’ll show you around.”
“Um...” I lifted my hand to intrude.
But Izzy was already leading Haven away, down the hall and explaining, “I would’ve moved in myself if it weren’t mandatory for freshmen to stay in the dorms if they’re not living at home.”
As they disappeared out of sight, I turned to Haven’s parents, thinking they would back my reluctance to such a ridiculous plan, because there was no way Haven should live here. No way at all. Playing hero and holding her while she fell apart was one thing, but living with her? That was the most insane thing I’d ever heard. It just…it couldn’t happen.
But, oddly enough, her mom and dad didn’t seem as appalled as I thought they’d be, which freaked me the fuck out.
“Um...” I repeated, not sure what to say but feeling the need to speak my reluctance aloud. And insistently.
“You hadn’t considered the idea of having a female roommate, had you?” Her mom guessed, seemingly more amused than alarmed.
“No,” I answered, shaking my head slowly. “I hadn’t. At all.”
Her dad nodded, glancing around as if mulling the thought over in his head. “You throw a lot of parties here?”
“No. Never.”
Wait. Why was I answering him? Hell, why was I answering him honestly? I should be scaring him off right about now.
But why the fuck wasn’t he already scared? Hadn’t Nicholl told these two enough awful shit when he’d been bashing me to them?
So I bluntly demanded, “Why do you guys even look like you’re considering the idea? Don’t you hate me?”
Yes, remember the hate. Please remember that you hate me.
Mr. Gamble chuckled as if surprised. “Oh, we’re not considering anything since we’re not the ones moving in. Haven is, and she makes up her own damn mind about shit, whether we like it or not. Besides, how could we hate you? We don’t even know you.”
“But you helped our daughter in her time of need,” his wife added. “And that goes a long way with us.”
“What about drugs?” her husband went on, still freaking considering the idea. “Alcohol?” Finished scoping out the room and nodding as if satisfied with how well it had been constructed, he returned his gaze to me with a sharp kind of dissection. “Women?”
“Dad, please,” Haven groaned as she returned to the living room, Izzy trailing along behind her. “Everyone on the team gets screened for drugs every couple of weeks. And I’ve honestly never seen Wick at a party with the rest of the guys. So he probably drinks less than I do. And women…” With a shrug, she added, “That shouldn’t be an issue either. I heard he was gay.” Then she pointed at me and narrowed her eyes. “Just don’t sleep with any of my boyfriends, and you’ll be a better roommate than my last one.”
