It was going to be a long semester.
2
Chase
This semester was goingto be better.
It had to be.
Itwould be, as long as I didn’t do anything stupid that sent my new roommate running to housing, demanding he not be forced to live with me through the end of the year. The only thing saving me from an interrogation from my parents about that one, was the fact my younger brother was acting out and taking all the attention off me. I was okay with that because it had allowed me to make up a flimsy story about how sometimes roommates just can’t get along, and they didn’t question it.
I stared across the room, squinting to try and see if my new roommate was actually asleep or not. It probably wasn’t a good start that I’d been so freaked out after he’d turned on me that I hadn’t bothered asking his name. It was going to be awkward going through the whole introductions phase in the morning.
Don’t do it.
I wanted to sneak out of bed and get my bag. I knew I shouldn’t because it would only lead to the same trouble I’d had before, but I couldn’t sleep. He’d told me I could decorate my room however I wanted; that should have included my blanket. But I’d been harassed enough over it, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be comfortable having it on my bed. Maybe I could take a nap when I knew I’d be home alone. Then again,thathadn’t worked so well in the past either.
“Go back to sleep, Chase,” my roommate whispered.
How in the hell did he know I was awake?I closed my eyes, pretending I hadn’t heard him.
“Anything you want to talk about?”
Three in the morning was a horrible time to have a meaningful conversation, especially when both of us had to be up at some point for our first day of classes. But hehadoffered, so maybe it wouldn’t be so hard to talk in the dark.
“What’s your name?” It felt important to get that out of the way. If there was any chance of me opening up to him at all, he needed to be humanized.
“Jayden,” he responded. His voice was still barely above a whisper, but my mind amplified the sound. I imagined him waking the rest of the suitemates with the low rumble of his voice. “But I highly doubt that’s what’s keeping you awake.”
It was risky to trust anyone. Jesse and I had been roommates for two and a half years before everything went south. He hadn’t been thrilled when he realized I would never be bringing a parade of women into the dorm, but he’d accepted me. Or so I thought.
And, eventually, I had let down my walls a bit. It only took one time of him catching me when I thought I’d have the room to myself for a few hours, and the next thing I knew, I was being called into the housing office. That had been the beginning of the end of what I’d thought was a decent friendship. Losing the first person I’d gotten to know outside my sheltered childhood stung, but even more, it had shown me that trust was a dangerous thing.
“Like I said before, it was a long day. My parents questioned why I wasn’t going back to my dorm as soon as the cab dropped me off.” That much I could admit without too much of a threat. “I might get up and go to the lounge. At least one of us should be able to sleep.”
I hoped Jayden didn’t agree that was a good idea. It was horrible. I could only imagine the trouble I’d work myself into if I had five hours to kill before my first class.
“Sleep, Chase,” Jayden said, a bit more insistently this time. “You know, I’m surprised you didn’t bring your own sheets and blanket. I wouldn’t be able to sleep with the scratchy shit they provide. Would it help if I loaned you a set of mine? I’ve only got two, but we can strip both beds before I go home this weekend.”
“Do you go home every weekend?” That would be wonderful. The perfect solution, really. If I knew he’d be gone on the weekends, I could have a little time to myself. The weeks would still trudge on, but I’d get through having something to look forward to.
“Most of them, yeah,” he responded. “I grew up not far from here so it’s easy to do my laundry, sleep in my own bed, and fill up on Mom’s cooking. You’ll get used to that, too, because every week she sends me back with leftovers and sweets.”
“Cool.” That was a good response, right? I clenched my eyes shut when Jayden turned on his lamp. “Warn a guy next time, would ya?”
“Shh, we don’t want to wake Brandon and Matt,” he scolded me. “Come on, get up so we can change the sheets on your bed.”
“It’s fine, really.”
Jayden cocked his head to the side, lifting one eyebrow. That shouldn’t have been as hot as it was.
“Ugh, okay. But I’m only doing this because I’m pretty sure you’d drag me out of bed if I protested.” I held a pillow in front of me as I got out of the bed. I knew it was a completely natural bodily reaction to experience an erection when you first woke up, but I didn’t need him thinking this situation was because of any attraction to him. I mean, Iwasattracted to him. I thought he was handsome when we first met, but seeing his hair all messed up from sleeping, shirtless and wearing nothing but a pair of sleep pants that barely clung to his hips, elevated his appeal to the next level.
“Thank you for your cooperation,” he teased me. His gaze drifted over my body and I hugged the pillow tighter against my belly. I wondered what he saw when he looked at me. Then, he smiled and what was an inconvenient, involuntary reaction turned even more embarrassing. “Sit on the bean bag while I take care of this. You make me nervous when you hover.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
“Relax, Chase.” I could feel the heat of his palm through the cotton of my t-shirt, and I wished I was comfortable enough to sleep shirtless so I could have felt his skin against mine. He gave my biceps a gentle squeeze. “I don’t want you feeling like you have to apologize all the time. It’s not a problem, really. Sit.”
