“Hi. You’re Cove, right?” His warm smile made me feel like we’d met before. “Or something?”
“It’s definitely Something,” a guy with short brown hair said sarcastically as he jammed the buttons on a controller. A toothpick was between his teeth and his voice laced with annoyance. “I thought we were supposed to warn each other when guests were on the way? This place is filthy.”
The common area could have used a little clean-up. Shoes were discarded in various locations. The coffee table was overran with energy bar wrappers and bottles of water. Someone had rolled up the standard dorm room area rug and laid it over the window, making the blinds bend in a direction I’m sure damaged them permanently.
“She’s not spending any time with you jerks,” Weston informed him. “Relax.”
I clutched my bag, trying to think of a way to introduce myself because that seemed to be the most logical next step. But between the loud shouting on the screen and the eyes of five very attractive guys studying me, well, I couldn’t utter a word. I stayed still and practically hid behind Weston’s broad shoulders.
“I’m Dakota, by the way,” the guy with the warm smile introduced and moved to offer his hand.
Weston adjusted his stance to block me even more as his friend neared us. The guy chuckled. “Just introducing myself, man. Not trying to steal your girl. Are we cavemen or college students?”
“Can never be too careful,” was Weston’s reply. He moved slightly so his friend could step closer.
“Nice to meet you,” Dakota said while giving my hand a light squeeze.
I nodded, feeling a little relaxed by his friendliness. “I’m Covee.”
“My apologies. I thought it was Cove.” Dakota swiped his dirty blond hair away from his eyes. The long strands brushed against his shoulders. All he needed was a leather jacket and then he’d fit right in with a motorcycle gang.
“The neat freak over there is David,” Weston informed, pointing to the guy with the toothpick. David didn’t remove his eye from the screen as he continued to play his game but briefly held up a peace sign in my direction.
“And Kevin,” Weston continued, gesturing to a dark-skinned guy with a large afro. He glanced over at me and nodded with a smile before turning his eyes back to the TV.
“Grayson,” Weston waved a hand toward a skinny redhead who had his arm thrown around the buffest guy in the room. “His boyfriend, Max.”
The couple smiled over at me but didn’t seem interested enough to join in the conversation. Their eyes went back to a video playing on one of their phones.
“You all are on the football team?” I dared to ask. My voice sounded mousy, and I tried to not visibly wince at its trembling.
“Yes, unfortunately,” David mumbled. “All of these assholes are on the team.”
“He’s joking,” Dakota said with a laugh. “We’re not all assholes.”
“Eh,” Kevin warned while briefly looking away from the TV at us. “I don't know about that one, Kota. Weston hasn’t returned one of our texts for about a month now.”
“I prefer face-to-face interactions,” Weston defended, chuckling. “We’ve discussed this.”
“Yeah, but sometimes I want a quick answer, not a long face-to-face conversation, man,” Kevin confessed with an exaggerated sigh. “You ramble and derail conversations too much.”
“Some conversations need to be derailed to get to more fruitful outcomes,” Weston challenged and wore an amused grin when Kevin rolled his eyes. Kevin also wore a smile and it reminded me of the one Ari gave me when I was bullshitting but she still loved me anyway.
David snorted, unimpressed and said, “Sounds like a very political way to get out of a conversation if you ask me,captain.”
There was salt in David’s tone, but the comment didn’t faze Weston. He simply replied, “Ah, well, I can’t please everyone.”
“Do you and Covee need some privacy tonight?” Dakota asked after he took a swig of drink. The liquid stained his lips blue, reminding me of a kid eating popsicles during summer vacation.
“Yeah, which is why we’re going up to the room,” Weston informed.
“I mean, for like how long?” Dakota continued as he started snacking on his popcorn. A few pieces fell on the floor as he carelessly grabbed a handful. I could see David’s jaw tightened as he watched the popcorn fall. I smiled a little at the tension, empathizing with how difficult it was to have a roommate on a different page than oneself.
“Because I have an exam at seven am. And you having company is kind of unprecedented,” Dakota added.
“You actually being on campus at night is unprecedented,” Kevin added with a laugh, but immediately stopped when Weston shot daggers in his direction.
So, Weston didn’t have girls cycling in and out of here like one would assume? Maybe that just meant he slept at their place. Which probably meant he didn’t see me as someone worth leaving his apartment over. God, I shouldn’t even care. I was here to do a project.
