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My hands twist together, nerves tightening my stomach with every step down the loud corridor. I dodge people racing past, some looking like they’re late to something, others running away from someone chasing them.
It’s hard to believe this is what college is.
“Excuse me,” I mutter, grabbing hold of a random guy’s shirt. He pauses, an annoyed expression on his face until his eyes meet mine. Then a lazy grin spreads as he leans into me.
“Hey.” He tips his chin, his gaze raking down my body. I tuck my hair behind my ear, feeling uncomfortable. “You go to school here?”
“I’m looking for someone’s room,” I say softly. “Can you help me?”
“Whose room you looking for, pretty girl?” He steps even closer, his strong cologne invading my senses. Heat rushes to my cheeks as I stumble backward. He chuckles, leaning his forearm on the wall above my head.
“Roman Payne’s room.”
My eyes flick between his dark ones. His brows bunch together.
“I don’t know who that is.” He shakes his head as he shrugs. “We can try to figure out where his room is if you want to come back to mine.” That same sleazy smile spreads as he throws his thumb over his shoulder.
“Um. No.” I’m not stupid. “Thanks anyway.”
I shuffle away from him before he can say anything else, before he can move any closer.
Find Roman. That’s what I came here to do.
“Hey!” the guy calls, but I wave at him over my shoulder and hurry down the hallway, scanning the doors until I find the one I’m looking for.
Chase Tanner is written on the whiteboard stuck to a door, and my heart lurches into my throat. Chase is Roman’s roommate, so this has to be his room.
Can I do this?
I take a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down enough to knock. But I can’t. What if he doesn’t want to see me? Was he serious about never contacting him again?
He couldn’t be. After everything we shared, after everything I’d given him…
Raising my hand, I tap my knuckles lightly on the wood. My stomach twists when no one answers. Maybe they’re in class.
Or maybe they’re ignoring me.
I knock again, a bit harder, and hold my breath as I wait. People continue running past, pushing into me and forcing me closer to the door.
Seconds pass, and disappointment blooms in my chest. He’s not here.
But then the door opens, and my mouth parts. My gaze travels up long bare legs, the short hem of a Divinity Falls Varsity t-shirt that hits her mid-thigh. Then I meet a pair of bright brown eyes. Her auburn hair is gathered to one side of her head, her lipstick smudged.
She’s pretty. Gorgeous.
And she’s in Roman’s room.
I blink, the memory fading away and Roman’s current room settling around me like a dream. Drawings cover the wall by his bed, like he spends his time sitting right here, drawing things before tacking them to the wall to remember for later. Beside the lamp, a haphazard stack of books lay on the bedside table, a long forgotten bottle of water pushed behind them.
Swinging my legs off the bed, my feet hit the wood floor, so unlike the worn slats at home. Here, it’s smooth and cool, more like tile than actual wood.
Fancy.
The soft glow from the lamp illuminates the room enough for me to look around, to see the pieces of Roman I haven’t had the last four years. His room is the same as it was in Divinity, covered in books and art and clothes. But here, it feels right. There, at home, it felt like a crypt of all his favorite things.
Here, his books aren’t hidden away like a dirty secret, his art is proudly displayed. His room doesn’t feel like a cage. It feels like a home.
His home.
