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He took my schedule out of my hand and looked it over. I stared at his fingers. They had remnants of grease stains on them, and I couldn’t help but smile. He worked so hard, even at such a young age. Even if his parents wanted him to go to school, get a degree, financially, it just wasn’t possible at this point, even with the help of student loans. So, he worked his ass off, saved up his money, and one day, I knew he’d get that business degree he wanted so he could own his own body shop.
And Max was so driven and responsible I knew he’d make that his reality.
“Hey, don’t look so scared,” Max said, and I looked over and up at him and smiled.
“Easy for you to say. Nothing scares you.” The way he looked at me in that second was an expression I’d never seen from him before.
He was nervous.
“Are you okay?” I felt my brows knit. “Did I say something?”
He swallowed roughly and shook his head. “Sorry, I’m good.” He gave me one of those genuine, blinding smiles I loved so much.
“Really? Because you look like you’re almost as nervous as I am.” I started laughing when he rolled his eyes, shrugging one of his shoulders. That laughter died in my throat as I watch the muscles underneath his sweater flex.
“Why aren’t you wearing a thicker jacket?”
He looked over at me and whiffed, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
“Max, it’s like thirty-five degrees.” And here I was, wearing a thick-ass jacket, three layers under that, and had a scarf and was still cold.
“It’s not that cold.” He winked at me.
I just shook my head, assuming it was a guy thing. He’d helped me and my parents move into the dorm last weekend, and although I could’ve probably stayed there, my parents wanted to spend that extra time with me.
And I’d been fine with that—loved it, in fact. And Max had spent just as much time with us, even if he was only a short car ride away.
We headed inside and straight to my dorm room. He held the door open for me and I walked in, my backpack slung over my shoulder, half of the rest of my things shoved inside. Max had a duffel bag with the other half, mainly clothes, but also things my mom had put in there right before I left. More clothes, a couple new packs of socks and underwear, bottles of water, and a whole lot of junk food. She’d said it was for late-night studying.
I’d already met my roommate last weekend, Della. She was the complete opposite of me, with long, black wavy hair, big brown eyes, a nose ring, and a tattoo across her chest of angel wings. And because she was my opposite, I knew we’d get along great. I was reserved, an introvert. She was an extrovert all the way.
Maybe she’d help me come out of my shell over time.
She was lying on the bed with her cell phone pressed to her ear. Della lifted her hand in a wave toward me. I dropped my bag on the mattress, and Max did the same with my duffel. Then I sat on the edge, looking up at him, feeling trepidation fill me.
“This feels a little surreal.” I hadn’t really been nervous about starting school, living in a dorm, being away from my parents, or really just the stress of college in general. But now as I sat here, looking around, knowing this was the first day, all that scared the shit out of me.
“Hey,” he said softly and sat on the bed next to me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me in close. I rested my head against him and exhaled. “You know if you need anything, I’m just a phone call away, just ten minutes down the road. Five if I don’t go the speed limit.”
I chuckled and nodded. “I know, but you’re gonna be busy at the body shop. I’m going to be busy with school, and I think the thing that scares me the most is that our friendship will suffer because of it.”
He made a deep rumble in his chest, one I knew was disapproval. “Abigail, you’re insane if you think I’m not going to visit you every single day, that we’re not going to be hanging out every free chance we have, or that for one second I’m going to let a busy schedule stand in the way of our friendship.”
I pulled back and looked at him, smiling, hearing the truth in his words. “Good, I was hoping you’d say that.” He gave me a wink and a crooked smile, one that had my heart flipping in my chest. God, could I be in love with this boy any more than I already was?
