She grinned at me, her familiar features the same and yet so different than mine. “I love it. Seriously.” Her face warmed, but her attention moved to someone inside the bar. She jutted her chin toward the door. “Want to grab a drink with me? I don’t have to be at the party for another hour.”
“No, it’s fine,” I said, taking a step back. “I gotta go. My roommates are waiting for me to start the episode of our murder podcast. You know how it is,” I said, desperate to leave. Lilly, Mona, and Kellie would talk me through this and help me come up with talking points because while Ineededto confront my sister, hard conversations weren’t my forte. At all.
She stared at me a beat, her eyes flashing with hurt, and it pissed me off. She slept with Gage! While I was with him! She was the favorite daughter! She could have anything in the world and chose to go after the first guy I dated after my terrible break up last year. My throat felt like I’d swallowed an entire bag of cotton balls, and I took off.
Attending the same school as my sister where my dad coached seemed like an okay idea three years ago. Now, it brought a storm cloud whenever I saw them.
I could graduate in a year and eight months and be done with them. I just had to nail this final project. Even if it meant working with the guy who made my pulse race.
CHAPTER THREE
Michael
Frederick Brady the IV might’ve been one of the best roommates I’d ever had, but he was the oddest study partner. We headed to the library together for a few hours, and during that time, I’d gotten to learn his odd habits.
When we had to do team studies back at Moo U, the twins would get into it, but that was nothing like watching Freddie line up his highlightersandSkittles.
“Stop staring at me, man. Makes me self-conscious.”
“You’re matching the Skittle color with the highlighter. I can’t look away,” I said, amused as hell. The guy was six feet tall, wore thick black glasses, and had the body of a linebacker. Yet, he’d never played a sport a day in his life. “So, when you finish three pages of reading, you eat the yellow Skittle?”
“Reiner,” he said, staring at me with wide eyes. “I will smack you if you mess me up.”
I grinned and let him be. We’d been living together for over a year now when I answered his roommate ad, and he was my first friend at Central. He knew enough about me to be friendly, and having a fresh start that wasn’t clouded in grief was nice. No sympathy looks. No cringe-y smiles. I put on my headphones and got my economics book out. I had assignments to do that weren’t all based on shadowing Simpson.
I read a chapter and took notes, using red ink to jot down the key points. Someone told me back at Moo U that using red inkandchewing gum while studying helped trigger your brain to remember. I never looked into the validity of it, but I did both every time. As I organized my notes filled with definitions and applications of finance—when it came to athletics—I almost snorted at myself.
I always did okay in school. My sister was the overachiever, but this past year? I worked my ass off. Earning those A’s meant more than before. I couldn’t pinpoint how or why, but they did. My parents would’ve been proud of me. Sure, I liked partying and having a good time, but without hockey...I needed a challenge.
There was a soft thud to my left. Then another thud. Someone knocked over a large stack of books at a table. The hardbacks dropped in slow motion as a girl covered her face before sliding off her chair to pick them up.
Recognition flared through me.Coach’s daughter.Klutzy McGee was at it again, and without overthinking it, I pushed out of my chair. The movement caused Freddie’s Skittles to wobble, and he shot me a death glare.
“Shit,” I said, reaching to reposition the sweets, but he swatted my hand.
“Don’t even think about it.”
I backed away from the table slowly and walked toward Naomi, or Fletcher, the moment she slammed her head under the table. It’d been four days since we got that beer, and she’d crossed my mind more than a few times. Her adorable nose scrunch and full lips caught my attention, but it was the passion she had talking about data that intrigued me. I was a fan of people wholovedsomething as much as I loved hockey.
“You should come with a warning sign.”
She rubbed the spot where her skull met wood and winced. “Approach with caution then.”
I bent down to help her pick up her books, and charts and numbers jumped out at me. Made sense if she was going to do stats and report the trends to me. I set the texts on top of the table as she plopped into the chair. She wore a faded blue shirt that said GO TEAM, and she had two braids going on. Neither of those things drew me in, but the intelligence in her eyes, the smooth skin, and the damn lemon scent coming off her did. I pulled out the chair across from her and sat down.
She arched a brow. “Please, sit, join me. I’m at your leisure.”
“I’m sensing a tone here,” I said, unable to stop my lips from curving up. This woman was a puzzle, and I had questions.
“I’m not being subtle.” She blew out a breath and played with the end of one of the braids. “What are you doing here?”
“At the library? Studying with my roommate. Or did you mean, life in general? Because I’m not sure. I have moments of clarity at times but then I feel purposeless, you know? Oh wait,” I teased, blinking and putting a hand on my chest. “Did you meanhereat your table?”
Her mouth twitched, and she shook her head. “Obviously the last one.”
“I saw you and wanted to say hi.”
“Well, hi.” She waved, and a light blush crept on her cheeks. She chewed the inside of her cheek as she stared at me, and there was something about her that made me want to stick around. She had an air of loneliness that I understood, but there was no real way to explain how I knew that.
