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I snort into my cup, and he smiles at me, revealing an impressively straight set of white teeth.
“You have really nice teeth,” I note over the music.
“Thanks, it’s a long story, and you are?”
Frowning at his odd response, I motion between the two of us. “I’m Reanna, and this is Ali.”
“Roommates?” Evan speaks, and his player tone puts me on guard.
“Yeah,” I nod. “I’m guessing you’re not as sweet.”
Dropping his chin, he exhales a laugh. “I can be when I try.”
“At least you’re honest,” Ali shouts over the noise.
“Not always,” Ryan yells back, scooping four shot glasses of clear liquor off a passing tray.
The guy with the tray shakes his head, heading back to the bar, and my eyebrows rise.
“Don’t worry! The pledges are here to serve.” Ryan hands each of us a glass. “This beautiful new friendship calls for shots.”
We shoot what turns out to be straight vodka, and I’m the only one who doesn’t squint and yell, or shriek as in Ali's case. It’s pretty cheap shit, but it’ll do the job.
More shots follow, and as the night wears on, our small group tightens. Looking around, I notice the other groups leaning close enough to talk, drinking, holding up shot glasses and laughing. Excited energy hums in the air, and everyone’s smiling and ready to start the semester. It almost makes me forget why I’m here.
Almost.
I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to get to know a certain professor better and then take back what he stole—or what the old man hired Andre the rat to steal.
“I think I’d better head back to the dorm.” Ali sways, leaning heavily on my arm. “I’m never going to make it to class this way.”
Ryan and Evan follow behind us. “See you two later?” Ryan asks.
I hesitate, but Ali nods enthusiastically “For sure. We’ll look for you on campus.”
It’s small enough, I don’t think they’ll be hard to find. Evan starts to say something, but I put my arm around Ali’s waist, speaking with finality. “Have a great night.”
With that, we head for the door, and start the short walk back to our dorm. Ali wobbles all over the place, pointing out the dog statue at the top of the quad, the lights on the library bell tower, the welcome back banners on all the frat houses. They were all there before, but she’s an amateur drunk. I’m not even feeling much of a buzz.
When we finally get to the room, she goes straight and falls face-first on her bed. She’s breathing heavily as I walk to the bathroom to wash my face and get ready for sleep.
A text is waiting on my phone when I return. Of course it’s Natasha.Have you made contact?
Shaking my head, I quickly tap back.First class is tomorrow. I’ll see him then.
Gray dots, and her reply annoys me.We don’t have time to waste.
I’m tapping my reply before I even finish hers.Then you shouldn’t have given me a roommate.
My phone goes silent, and I plug it in before falling back on my bed. It’s been a while since I went to bed somewhat sober, and I’m not sure what to expect. Lying in the darkness, I think about how I’m going to do this. I’m not even sure what Dirk Winston looks like exactly. Hutch is a sexy giant with dark hair and muscles. I can’t picture a data-nerd, college professor looking like him.
He’s probably the exact opposite, glasses, skinny. Short. I expect it’ll be easy to get close to someone like that—he probably never gets any female attention in the shadow of a brother like Hutch. Not to mention Scar, with his tattooed, Viking-biker-thing going on.
My eyes grow heavy, and I feel pretty confident about my ability to manipulate Professor Winston. Then on a whisper, sleep takes me…
Gray clouds hang low overhead,and I’m sitting on a flat rock on the shores of a solid-black sea so big it could be the ocean. A cool wind pushes my pigtails behind my shoulders, and I’m carefully taking my favorite toy apart, arranging the pieces in a line.
It’s a simple Russian nesting doll, amatryoshka. She's nowhere near as ornate as the ones in the shops, but I love her so much. I open each cone, delighted as the dolls inside get smaller and smaller, until the tenth piece is so very tiny, the size of a grain of rice, with the same painted face and shawl on her head as the biggest one.
