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“Liam, meet our new housemate, Noah.”
I ignored Travis’ voice, still staring over at the dark-haired guy who was lounging onmysofa, feet kicked up onmycoffee table, withmygame controller in his hand. He looked over at me, and something that might have been shock or apprehension flashed in his bright amber eyes before he quickly masked it.
Wait a fucking minute.
“Did you say housemate?”
“Yeah.” Travis raised a brow at my expression, which I could tell was murderous even without a mirror. “Noah. He moved in today.”
The guy,Noah, put his controller down and stood, crossing over to me and holding out his hand for me to shake, like he hadn’t driven into my car just a few hours earlier.Wanker. “Hi, Liam. Nice to meet you.”
Ignoring his outstretched hand, I clenched my jaw as he stood there smirking at me. But I could feel the stares of my housemates, and it was clear that Noah wanted me to cause a scene in front of them. Too bad for him I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. So I pasted on a fake smile. “Alright, mate. Hope you’re all settled in. Can I speak to you for a minute?”
The smirk was instantly wiped away, and he followed me out of the room without question. I headed into the kitchen, assuming he would follow me. When we were a safe distance from the others, I stopped, spinning to face him. “Are we gonna have a problem?” I stared him down, arms crossed over my chest.
He shot me an unimpressed look that made me bristle. “Is this about the car? That was your fault, if you recall.”
“Myfault?” My voice dropped dangerously, but he either didn’t care about the threat in my tone, or he was too dense to notice it.
“That’s right.” Giving me a tentative grin, he shrugged. “Okay, I know I was angry at the time, but I’m over it now. And I’m taking care of the ding in your car, so no harm done.”
I gaped at this delusional idiot. “It was your fucking fault. And I told you, you’re not coming near my car again. Pay for my repairs, and stay out of my way in future.”
“Uh, yeah, about that.” His smile dropped, and he stepped back, running a hand through his tousled dark hair. “There was a mix-up in the student loans department, so I don’t have the money just yet.” He lowered his gaze, and his voice grew quieter. “I…uh, won’t be able to afford to get food otherwise. If you refuse to let me knock out the dent myself, you’ll have to wait a bit, but it should only be a week, max.”
“Yeah, no. That’s not gonna work for me. Pay up. I’ve booked the car in with the garage, so I’ll give you twenty-four hours to come up with the money. Four hundred quid for the repair and paint job.”
“Do you want me to starve?” Finally, his eyes darkened with anger, and I almost smiled.
“Not my problem, dickhead. Maybe it’ll teach you to stop and think before you try taking someone else’s space.”
The fuming silence lasted for all of two seconds before the anger disappeared from his face. His gaze tracked across my body, and his tongue came out to slide over his lips. What the fuck? Was he actually standing here checking me out? “Or I could pay the debt off another way.”
I jerked backwards. “Fuck. Off. I’m straight, so no, and also.Fuckno. Not if you were the last person on earth.”
His eyes widened. Holding up his hands, he backed away from me. “What? I wasn’t implying— All I meant was if you wanted any help with coursework, or chores, or whatever.”
I breathed deeply through my nose, attempting to keep my control. Clearly, this guy was trying to fuck with my head and get a rise out of me. “I don’t want any help with anything, especially if it comes from you. Find me the money within twenty-four hours.”
Pushing past him, I stormed out of the door, taking the stairs two at a time to get up to my bedroom.
He’d been the one to run into my car, and yet he was somehow under the mistaken impression that it wasn’t his fault. How the fuck had he come to that conclusion?
Fucking deluded wanker.
* * *
For a few blissful hours, I managed to forget all about my new dickhead housemate until I was rudely awakened by Travis banging on my door at some ungodly hour the following morning.
“Get up! Last day before freshers’ week starts! Time to see what the new recruits are made of.”
I groaned. “Have you seen the time?” I called through the door. “Come back in an hour. At least.”
“No can do. I’m meeting Kira at twelve, and anyway, I booked the pitch for 8:00 a.m.”
Burying my face in my pillow, I groaned again before raising my head, blinking the sleep from my eyes. “Fine. Give me a few to shower.”
