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I grab her a Gatorade and some potato chips. Sounds weird, but Trevor swears it helps sop up the mess, and since they practically dissolve in your mouth, there’s not much to throw up. Then I grab her some ibuprofen. I take it all to her room, then go back for her. Scooping her in my arms again, I carry her to her room, set her on the edge of her bed, strip off her clothes and put one of my T-shirts on her. Then I prop her against some pillows and grab the bag of chips as she sips the Gatorade. When I hold a chip up for her, she grimaces and shakes her head.
“Trevor says.”
She wrinkles her nose but reluctantly takes it and eats it. Her face goes through a range of expressions from disgust to uncertainty to nausea to acceptance. Then she smiles softly and opens her mouth for another. I laugh and gently feed it to her.
“Am I gonna have to feed you the whole bag?” She smiles and nods as some of the brightness returns to her eyes.
Once she’s finished most of the bag and some more Gatorade, she slides down into bed. Pulling the blanket over us, I slide down too and wrap my arm around her.
“Thanks for taking care of me,” she whispers.
A smirk plays on my lips as I press them against her neck. “Don’t you know I’d do anything for you?”
She flips over and stares into my eyes. I sweep her tangled brown hair off the side of her face and lean in for a deep kiss. This feeling is like nothing else in the world. It’s my own personal drug, and it has been since the first time my lips ever touched hers. All of ourfriendlykisses were born out of both of us needing that high again and again while trying to pretend it didn’t make us feel such intense things.
Her lips slowly drop from mine and she nestles into me. “I love you, Ace.”
“Love you too, Beautiful. Night.”
She breathes deeply and her head grows heavy against my shoulder. I close my eyes and rest my cheek against her head. This is my safe place. And I’m hers. I love taking care of her. I love protecting her. Tonight made me feel a bit like myself for once.
Maybe I just need some time.
Need to settle in and adjust.
Everything will be fine.
I’ll be fine.
I hope.
Chapter two
What I Have to Lose
Rae
“Nickels!”Milesyells,toall of our annoyance. This used to bemygame. He’s already good at Bullshit. Why does he have to be good ateverything?
We hear the door shut and look over to see our suitemate, Lila, enter. She looks at us equal parts annoyed and horrified. How she ended up with us for suitemates I’ll never know, but I feel a little bad for her. I know we’re an intense group to be around. She’s extremely quiet and introverted. I walk the line between introvert and extrovert, but as a group, we’re loud and boisterous—every introvert’s worst fear in their own space. Luckily, with Mackie sharing a room with her, she gets a fair amount of quiet time, but still.
“Hey, Lila!” Sarah calls cheerfully.
Lila waves. She just looks uncomfortable now. I hop off the couch and slowly walk over to her. “Hey, we can take this to the boys’ room if it’s too loud for you. I know we’re kinda… wild.”
Lila shakes her head. “It’s your room, too. I’ll put on my noise canceling headphones.”
“If you’re sure. Oh, you’re always welcome to join us, by the way. It doesn’t seem like your thing, but if you wanted to… the boys’ roommate, Tommy, is here tonight.”
She glances toward the coffee table and locks eyes with the boys’ baseball-player roommate, Tommy Hart. He’s a quiet kind of extrovert. Likes being around people but doesn’t talk much. Lila blushes when she sees him glance back at her. Tommy is hot as sin. Maybe they’d be a good match. Hot-but-quiet extrovert meets intense-bookworm introvert.
No, Rae. Stop matchmaking.
“Uh, that’s okay,” Lila says. “I want to read more of that book series you recommended. I really like it.”
I give her a soft smile. “Okay.” Before she gets in the room, I gently grab her arm and whisper, “Text me if we get too wild.”
She nods and scurries inside. Poor thing.
