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The second I got back to my dorm room, I heard my bed calling my name. I must have slept for half of the next day, because by the time I had woken up, someone was knocking on my door like the world was ending.
“Kat! Get the fuck up,” someone shouted from the hallway. Leo.
With a groan, I lumbered out of bed, and grimaced at my body. I hadn’t even changed out of my clothes from the day before, and my suitcase was left unopened in the middle of the room.
Leo started banging on the door again. I wanted to tell him to fuck off, but at the same time, I was excited to see him again.
“Okay, okay,” I said, unlocking the door to find not just him. Elliot was there, too. It looked like they’d set up camp in the hallway, as if they had been waiting since dawn to revel in my presence. I snorted at the thought. And yet, they had sleeping bags under their arms.
My eyes went first to Elliot. He stood back a bit from the door. Rather than giving me a little room to breathe, however, he seemed to be shy about seeing me again. He felt ashamed, I could feel it—ashamed of how he’d treated me the last time we saw one another.
Whatever. I was over it.
“She’s alive!” Leo exclaimed, wrestling me back into the room. I had to practically push him off before falling back against my desk.
“Calm down, puppy dog,” I muttered, steadying myself and wiping the sleep from my eyes. Still, I was smiling as I said it. It felt weird to say, but seeing the two of them again felt like I had officially returned home.
“Calm down? Hell no,” he said, draping his arms over my shoulders so that he was almost hanging on to me for support. His bright eyes consumed my entire span of attention. “Kat Silver, you’re my drug. I need you. Withdrawal got me fucked these past two days.”
“Shut up,” I laughed, pushing him off me, turning to face Elliot. Just as always, he made himself appear dark and nonchalant, as if he couldn’t give a shit that we were coming face to face again. It made me want to punch him, and yet, I had to admit it gave him this extra layer of hotness—you just couldn’t help but be attracted to that sort of demeanor. I hated it.
“Hey,” he said, putting on a smirk. It’s like he knew his persona was getting to me. “You’re back.”
“I’m back,” I repeated, crossing my arms, giving myself the chance to look him up and down. Maybe it was just the fact that I hadn’t seen him, but for some reason, he looked ten times better than I had imagined him t be when he spoke to me over the phone. I nodded at his arm. “New tattoo?”
His right forearm was bound in some kind of bandage. He nodded. “Yeah. I think you’ll like it.”
“Oh, yeah?” I asked, my mouth curling up at the corners. Couldn’t help it. I took a slow step toward him. “Why’s that?”
He shrugged, still not budging from the door. If I wanted something, I had to come to him. That was the unspoken etiquette of his. Fucking macho prick.
“Because,” he murmured, waiting for me to come toe to toe with him. “It’s sexy.”
I scoffed at that, rolling my eyes. “Right,” I said, giving him a little push. “Should’ve figured.”
Suddenly, I felt Leo’s arms wrap around me, and he pulled me away from Elliot.
“So, what’s the verdict? London good, London bad?” he said, his cheek squished against mine.
“London okay,” I said, rolling my eyes at his baby voice. “Beats Raleigh, at any rate.”
“Oh, really?” Elliot said, finally stepping inside the room, dropping his sleeping bag onto the floor. “Is that because of the people, or the place?”
“The food.” I freed myself from Leo’s hold and went to close the door. “And memories.”
That last comment seemed to cut into Elliot a little more deeply than I thought it would. I had expected him to laugh it off, or ignore it altogether, but the look he shot me was more than empathetic. There was a flash of anger in his eyes, as if he was upset that I dared keep referring to the worst four years of my life.
“What?” I said, raising my eyebrows at him. “It’s true.”
When he said nothing, I shook my head, and leaned back against the door. I didn’t understand why he couldn’t just ask me how I was, like a normal boyfriend. A normal person. I mean, wasn’t he happy to see me?
Leo didn’t seem to have any trouble showing his feelings. It wasn’t much to ask.
“Anyway,” I said, nodding to the sleeping bags. Leo had also brought his backpack, but it was way too bloated to be stuffed with books. “What’s all this about?”
Leo looked to Elliot, who only shrugged, as if to say, You wanna explain?
“Wait,” Leo said, shutting his eyes before giving Elliot a hard stare. “You didn’t tell her?”
