“Wanna tell me why your roommate hates you or do you want me to guess?” Nathan leans back on an elbow, his long jean-clad legs splayed out in front of him. Most of the athletes here tonight are dressed up, but he pulls off the dark jeans and black t-shirt like he’s red carpet ready.
I shift my weight, giving one butt cheek a reprieve from the hard ground. We’ve been sharing information for the better part of two hours, or rather, we’ve been trying to guess information about the other. So far, I haven’t learned much, but he’s been surprisingly accurate in his assessment of me.
He takes my silence as an indication I want him to guess.
“You slept with her boyfriend?”
“Oh, my God, no, of course not.” I laugh, and he joins in.
“Kidding.” He considers me for a moment, his blue eyes scrutinizing me in such detail, I feel the blush creep up my face. “She’s jealous of you.”
“No.” I roll my eyes at the thought of Bri being jealous of anyone. She’s captain of the team, she’s beautiful, she seems well-liked, if not a tiny bit feared. It’s more like the other way around. I’m jealous of her. Of her position on the team—one she earned—and the respect and friendship of her teammates. Our teammates. I’m jealous that she doesn’t have to start over with a new college, different city, and an altered perception of the past three years.
“You’re gorgeous. In my experience, that’s all it really takes for other chicks to be jealous.”
“That’s not it,” I say more adamantly. He cocks a brow like he doesn’t believe me. “I got kicked out of my last school for fraud or bribery. Honestly, I’m not sure what the official ruling was.”
I cannot believe I just told him that. Maybe he already knew. That douchebag who tried to hit on me earlier with some sugar momma pick up line certainly did. Nathan’s face gives nothing away. He doesn’t speak so I keep going.
“I didn’t know. Not that it seems to matter to anyone, but I had no idea it’s how I got into college. Anyway, I’m pretty sure that’s why Bri hates me. She thinks I don’t deserve to be here or maybe she just doesn’t like having someone with a scarlet letter on her precious team.”
I slam my lips shut to keep from blubbering on, but he’s looking at me so intently, I can’t not say more. “I’m sorry, I’ve totally ruined the moment.”
I go silent again and stare down at my hands, wishing I could sink right into the concrete.
“I might have heard something about that floating around earlier,” he says. Screw sinking into the concrete, I want to run far, far away. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” I ask, meeting his gaze and finding it sincere.
“Yeah, I know all about screwing up. It changes the way people treat you. Doesn’t matter your culpability or even the reasons behind what you did—they only see how it affects them.”
“Thank you.” Something like shock or relief washes over me at his understanding.
One side of his mouth pulls into an awkward smile, and he shrugs like it’s no big deal, but it means everything to me. Absolution, even from a near stranger, brings a little more of my old confidence to the surface.
“I bet you get along with your roommates.” I check his face to see if I’m right and he nods.
“Off-campus?”
Another nod.
“Okay, tell me something real about you since I just unloaded all my baggage.”
His body visibly tenses, and I’m afraid I’ve ruined the mood for good this time. We’re in this bubble, partially alcohol-induced, but I haven’t felt like this in a long time.
Finally, he smirks and lifts the flask. He’s run to get us fresh drinks twice, but we’re down to just the ridiculously strong liquor again. “I’m gonna need more booze soon.”
“I’m serious.” I shove at his shoulder playfully, but the contact makes me intensely aware of the heat of his skin and the hum coursing through my veins.
“I’m really having a good time. Been the best part of my day.” He sits up and brings his flask to his lips, tips it all the way up and then frowns. “Empty.”
Both of us fall silent as we stare in the direction of the party. We’re just out of view, but the noise has died down so my guess is it’s dying off. I had my picture taken with the team and walked around by myself for half an hour dodging reporters so I don’t feel the least bit guilty about disappearing. Plus, it feels amazing to be having good conversation. I’ve got that light feeling in my chest, and it’s not all thanks to the drinks.
“Well, I guess it’s time to call it a night.”
Neither of us moves and I scramble for ways to keep us here. I don’t want to go back to being ignored after being seen again.
“We could go back to my place. I don’t have any Everclear, but I’ve got a couple of bottles of wine stashed under my bed.” I can barely believe I’ve offered, but I really don’t want the night to end. There’s something about Nathan I can’t quite put my finger on. He seems to get me, and I’m not even sure I get myself these days.
“What about the evil roommate?”
“If she’s going to hate me before I do anything to deserve it, I might as well do what I want.”
“Let’s do it.”
We take our time walking back to my dorm, talking about nothing and everything. His fingers brush up against mine accidentally, and I cast a side glance in his direction. He tosses that sexy smile back at me and my stomach flutters.
His hair is the color of sand and sticks up around his head in an unkept but not homely way. If I were to describe Nathan’s style, I’d call it the I-don’t-care-about-my-appearance look. And he’s very much pulling it off.
The halls of Freddy are quiet, and I let out a sigh of relief when I open the door to my suite and find it empty. I didn’t have a plan for dealing with the roommates if they were up, but it looks like I’m in the clear. Both bedroom doors are closed and all the lights are off the best I can tell.
I flip on the light in the common room and Nathan takes a seat on my floral chair. He’s probably the first person to sit in it, which seems sorta fitting. “Give me just a minute. I’m going to grab the wine from my room.”
I kick off my heels and hold them in one hand as I slip quietly into my room. Sydney is asleep and the lights are out, making the room pitch black. We’ve taken to falling asleep with music playing to drown out the deafening silence between us.
Khalid plays softly and it’s enough that I don’t worry that my rummaging under my bed for the wine will wake her.
He’s scrolling through his phone when I return with two bottles, a wine opener, and one cup.
“I could only find one of these in the dark.” I hold up the hot pink cup.
I waffle on where to sit until he slides down to the floor. The way he moves, so effortless and comfortable in his skin, strikes me. It’s attractive for a man to be just so… himself.
I sit across from him between the couch and coffee table. “Red or white?”
He smirks. “Can’t guess which I like better?”
Both bottles are some cheap bottom-shelf brand. Neither can taste that great, but considering the nasty alcohol he had on hand earlier, I go with the dryer option and grab the red.
“Lucky guess.”
I scoff. “That was not luck. If I’ve learned nothing else about you tonight from this weird back and forth guessing game, I took note of your choice in alcohol. Potent and rough around the edges.”
Sort of like him.
He wraps his long fingers around the bottle and slides it closer to him while grabbing the opener with the other hand. He has the cork out and the cup filled quickly and offers it to me. “Ladies first.”
Just the very tip of our fingers touch as I grasp the cup, but I can tell by the way his eyes lock onto the contact that he’s as aware of it as I am. His presence in my dorm is heady and relaxing all at once. The first real friend I’ve made in Valley.
“Cheers,” I say before taking a drink.
The wine hits me hard after the various types and large consumption of alcohol I’ve had. I’m giggling and smiling at Nathan as we continue our guessing game—bouncing from favorite foods to middle names. My face actually hurts from smiling. And the more I learn about Nathan, the less I care about the answers and the more I realize just how good it feels to be sitting on the floor of my dorm sharing a cup of wine. Though, he’s pretty interesting too. And not at all hard to look at as we’ve established.
“Alright, Chloe, give me the important details. Name, age, hometown, major.” My name on his lips is the final shot to do me in.
“Chloe Marie Macpherson, twenty-one years old, originally from California, senior, communications major,” I rattle off the facts that make up who I am and yet say so much less than we’ve already shared. I set the cup down in front of him. “Your turn.”
“Nathan Robert Payne, twenty-one years old, from Michigan, senior, business.”
“Soccer?” I ask, returning to our earlier conversation.
“No, and you’re running out of sports.” His eyes narrow on me again as he delivers a question I didn’t expect. “Single?”
I nod because I’m holding my breath and I’m afraid if I speak, it’ll come out all breathless and needy.
He moves closer with that sexy smirk and fingers a strand of hair. “Good.” He leans in so his lips hover over mine. He smells of liquor and wine and awesomely bad decisions. “I don’t have to guess if some dude is gonna track me down tomorrow for doing this.”