I suck in a sharp breath without meaning to. I glance up at the top bunk, which might as well be on the ceiling, and my life flashes unceremoniously beforemyeyes.
Lucky postures between us and I’m hoping she’s about to rip my roomie a new one for even thinking of making me climb an entire story to catch some z’s. “I’m Lucky,” she introduces herself. “And this is my roommate, Ava. I’m sorry I didn’t get your name.” Wow, Lucky actually sounds kind and accommodating herself. Little does she know this girl and her crooked spine just hijacked mysanity.
She pokes her head from beneath the bunk and sneers at the three of us. “That’s because I didn’t give it. I’m Sabine, but you’ll call meGarfield.”
The three of us exchange a brief yet highly curiousglance.
“Garfield?” Ava asksforus.
“Yeah, you know, like the cat. All my friends back home used to call me that because I used to dye my hairorange.”
Lucky’s chest pumps. “You sure they were yourfriends?”
“Very funny.” She bites the air with her words as she scans those squinted eyes over Lucky. “I think Ilikeyou.”
“Great.” I look to Ava while suddenly basking in two rejections in a singlenight.
I give my two best friends a quick hug goodbye as I dig for my sweats, which I find rumpled in the corner of the bottom drawer. I may as well have to stoop to hell to reach them. I bashfully get dressed in the privacy of the corner and eye the top bunk as if my mattress were sitting on the Empire State Building. My heart begins to pound as if it’s attempting to shatter itself, and my body breaks out into a cold sweat as fight-or-flightkicksin.
“You know”—I swallow hard as I grab my Kindle off the desk—“I think I’ll go read a book in the commons room.” And accidentally on purpose fall asleepdoingso.
I grab a blanket and head down to find a cozy spot by the fire, but my mind is buzzing too much to focus on any one book. Instead, that steamy kiss plays on a loop, and each time I think about Knox Toberman’s strong tongue penetrating my mouth, my entire body sparks to life in the sweetest form ofelectrocution.
I fall asleep and dream of that kiss allnightlong.
Knox Toberman is the sweetest form of revenge that I could have everthoughtof.
Knox
Thatkiss.
It was bad enough I was losing sleep over the fact Janelle chose to pull my balls up through my throat, but after landing a wet one on Harper, my mind keeps drifting to her sweet lips, those cushioned lips that gave me the invite to the warm nexus of hermouth.
A day goes by and I dodge phone calls and text messages alike in lieu of losing myself in a day of lazying around in bed. I need it. I need to try to wrap my head around this new world I’ve been thrown into. But come Wednesday, I’m right back at Forest Orville’s realty center looking over the Capwell file. Forest gave me an empty cubicle to hang out in and review all the paperwork I needed. Plus, he gave me the access codes to the available houses in the area. It’s twenty minutes past the hour and Harper isn’t here yet. I’m half-tempted to ask Rush for her number to see if she’s okay. Hell, I know she’s not. What Janelle did was horrible, but the way Justin treated Harper was downright cruel. How dare that asshole look her in the eye and tell her she meant nothing to him. Yes, she’s cutting and a little rough around the edges, but they were together just as long as Jen and I were. There’s no way you’re with someone for that amount of time and not feelanything.
A dull laugh pumps through me. And by the end of that kiss Harper and I shared, he was definitely feeling something. You don’t give someone a Coke bath, followed up with dumping your dinner on them, just because the mood strikes. Nope, that kind of rage is fueled by emotion, deep-seated passion that at the end of the day you wish you still hadaccessto.
The bell attached to the front door gives a little rattle and a balmy breeze floats in. I hear Happy give a cheery hello and another female voice grumble out something just this side of an insult. Then in a moment she’s standingbesideme.
“Morning, sunshine.” I give a short-livedsmile.
“Whatever.” She falls into the seat beside me and pulls the file over before gutting its contents and strewing the papers across the desk. “You talktoher?”
“Laney Capwell? The woman we’re helping buy ahomeor—”
“The she-devil that’s turned my life upside down.” She sneers at the insult amoment.
“I’ll agree with you on the she-devil part, but I’m not sure she exactly ruined your life. Your ex-boyfriend played a little handinit.”
“Wow.” Her eyes enlarge a moment, a gorgeous shade of green just like my mother’s, and I can’t help but give a little smile even though I know I’ve got it coming. “You just defend and defend and defend, don’t you? Honestly, the girl dry-humped another guy in front of your face, and you really can’t find it in you to say one nasty thingabouther.”
“I can.” I frown into the admission while racking my brain, and shockingly, I can’t think of anything disparaging I’d like to say. “But I choose not to.” Almost the truth. “That’s not the point. The point is, you need to focus on the fact that toad you were kissing was no Prince Charming. He’s a scammer. Every time I saw the guy, he was leering at someone else’s girl. He didn’t seemtocare.”
“Oh? Did you follow him around campus? As I recall, you were nowhere near Whitney Briggslastyear.”
“No, but I’ve been hanging out with Lawson and Rex enough to become a fixture at the Black Bear. Look, Lucky mentioned something last spring about him having wandering eyes. And when Ava said she didn’t trust him, it put my radar up. Every time he was nearby, it seemed he was trying to get the attention of some other chick and itwasn’tyou.”
Her mouth opens, those pretty pink lips struggle as she grasps for words. The urge to cover her mouth with mine comes in strong and I give a few quick blinks trying todeflectit.
