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Sterling was the asshat, and he and Madeline had to agree on stuff that affected the whole floor.
"Jesse, spin," I ordered, hoping to show her that he was obedient.
He gave me a dry stare but then he slowly spun around.
"Look, he's a big sweetheart. My mom's an overbearing single mother, and she's worried about me. She found this guy and brought him to me, and wouldn't take no for an answer." I tried to appeal to Madeline’s empathetic side. Squatting down, I wrapped my arms around Jesse’s neck to cuddle him just so I could make a statement. He licked my cheek, then my nose, and then my neck. "See?" I looked pointedly at her.
She sighed. "I'll go talk to Sterling. I can't make any promises, though. You know he's an ass."
"I know. Thanks, Del." I gave her a big smile and used her nickname just to sweeten her up, releasing the wolf and straightening. He licked my wrist, and I resisted the urge to lecture him again.
"You're lucky I'm so cool," she reminded me.
"I know." I gave her a quick hug before heading down the hall a few doors, to my room.
Ebony was sitting at her desk, already buried in a video about anatomy again. She was in the same second-year anatomy class I was taking, and the damn thing was hell for our minds. There was so much memorizing to do, and that made it a struggle just to stay sane while spending so much time trying to embed the names of bones and muscles in my brain.
Our room was pretty simple. White walls, brown carpet flooring. We'd thought about putting a rug on the floor, but all of the ones we’d both liked were even more expensive than our textbooks, so we’d decided we loved the color brown.
My twin bed was fairly tall, made of a light yellowish wood that I didn't love but didn't hate either, and the dresser was built into the bottom of the bed. All of the clothes stuffed into the dresser had come from thrift stores, same as the pink and gray floral-patterned comforter I'd had since I was twelve.
My mom and I had survived off a high school teacher's salary, so we used things until they wore out.
My desk was at the end of my bed, and I could tell Ebony had straightened up my books, papers, and laptop. We'd reached a truce ages ago. She didn't complain about my messy desk, as long as I didn't complain if she organized it when it bothered her.
Ebony's bed was across from mine. It was a loft bed, with the desk and a small set of drawers both built in underneath the raised mattress. She'd offered that bed to me on the first day we moved in, but I could tell she wanted it. And I didn't particularly like the idea of waking up and smashing my head into our short ceiling in the process, so I didn’t have a problem telling her it was all hers.
Jesse hopped up on my bed without bothering to ask if it was mine. Given that he was, you know, a wolf, I was sure he could smell me on it.
Digging into my bottom dresser, I found the small first-aid kit I'd put together before moving into my dorm. I set it on the bed and unzipped it, rifling through. Luckily, I found some gauze pads and a roll of medical tape, plus some antibiotic ointment.
It was a little ironic that I was a nursing student who didn't actually know how to deal with injuries, but I was just barely starting my second year. All I'd really taken was the basic classes and an intro to nursing course that was meant to scare students into abandoning their degree in favor of something easier.
Grabbing the supplies, I told Jesse to stay there and hobbled to the bathroom.
To my surprise, he stayed.
I rinsed my feet, dropping enough curse words to make the damn wolf blush as I tried to clean the wounds. They were looking worse than they had before, which didn’t strike me as a great sign. But it was my fault, since I'd been walking on them.
After rebandaging them, I hobbled back to the dorm and grabbed some thick socks out of my top drawer. I pulled them on, then looked between my desk and the bed.
My feet were throbbing, and I was pretty sure elevation would help them.
But the wolf was on my bed, and there wasn't much other space for him to sit. Ebony wouldn't like him sitting on the ground for long, and he'd be a tripping hazard.
With an inward groan, I grabbed my laptop and slipped up onto the bed. The wolf made space for me, but it wasn't a big bed. Our sides pressed together as I opened my computer.
I sent off a few emails to my professors, apologizing for missing class and claiming a family emergency that I knew my mom would back up if asked. I turned in assignments I was supposed to have in hours earlier, and then pulled up the same anatomy video Ebony had been watching and taking notes on.
The video was boring. I set it on double-speed, and got comfortable in the bed. I hadn’t eaten dinner and it was already nine PM, but food would’ve required getting up and leaving, which I didn’t want to do. So, I stayed in bed.
I found myself snuggling up to the wolf while I pulled my blanket up to my chest and watched the video. I typed notes into the document I had pulled up on the bottom of the screen every now and then, but I was so exhausted that I was having a hard time focusing.
My eyes grew heavy when Jesse ducked his head under the blanket, cuddling up against my legs. My leggings stayed on and kept his fur from tickling me, which he didn’t seem to mind one bit. The old familiar comforter and Jesse's body heat lulled me to sleep halfway through the video.
I jerked awake a few hours later to a knock at the door. Something wet was on my chin, so I lifted my hand. When I pulled my hand away and found drool, I cringed.
Ebony opened the door, revealing an annoyed-looking Madeline.
"Hey, ladies." She gave us a grimace that told me she was going to say something I didn't like. "I've got bad news."
Crap.
I rubbed at my eyes, and she came the rest of the way inside. Ebony shut the door behind her.
"I've been arguing with Sterling for hours, but he won't budge. Jesse can't stay. He's big enough to be considered a threat to safety and property." Her eyes were apologetic. "You have forty-eight hours to find another home for the dog, or to find another place to live."
