Oh, I was.
I order pizza for everyone, of course, because otherwise the hungry drunks wouldn't leave me in peace, but I set Charlie's aside. I also put some beers in the freezer and stand guard in the kitchen so nobody grabs them. And that's where Charlie finds me, with Maddie and Logan on her heels. I know the blonde was already here earlier, tangled up with Zac, one of my friends who's also a linebacker on the Royals. They had some kind of friends-with-benefits thing too.
"Look who I found up at the entrance," my friend announces, gesturing to the girls. I raise an eyebrow seeing that his other hand is positioned on Charlie's back.
"Hi, kitten. I had to stay here guarding your cold beer," I explain as I pull her to me and give a quick kiss to the corner of her mouth. "You look beautiful." She looks amazing, to be honest. She's wearing a strapless black dress, glued perfectly to her delicious body, plus white Converse on her feet and a dozen metallic bracelets on her wrist. The pink hair loose in soft waves completes it all.
"Thanks. It was one of the rare days my hair decided to cooperate," she says, blushing lightly, which only makes me want to bite her. "You know my cousin, right?"
"Of course. Hi, Maddie, how's it going?" I greet the girl, who smiles back.
"All good, Clarke. And you, happy about the win?" Maddie asks, and I nod eagerly in agreement.
"So much. It was an incredible night for us." That's my brief answer, because I know she only asked out of politeness and not because she wants to hear about my whole experience in today's game.
"It really was. I've still got adrenaline in my veins," Logan remarks, leaning against the big kitchen island of the house. Maddie and Charlie smile at him.
"Congrats to you both. I promise to watch the highlight video when the university's Instagram posts it," Charlie assures, and I laugh.
"I'm moved by the kindness," I say sarcastically, and she shrugs, keeping a mischievous little smile. "But so... pizza?"
The offer makes her light eyes light up and she nods energetically.
"Please! Or I'll have to bite someone, I'm so hungry!" she threatens, and we all laugh.
"I volunteer as tribute!" Logan fires off, without any shame. I narrow my eyes at him, but the guy doesn't even flinch,keeps one arm raised while smiling at Charlie with all the power of his charm.
I control the urge to huff and let go of Charlotte so I can grab the pizza I left stored in the oven.
"Be the tribute to grab the beers then, fool. We'll eat outside," I demand, and my friend finally shifts his attention away from Charlie to obey.
I didn't know why it bothered me so much that he hit on her. Logan flirted with any woman who breathed and, in fact, we've even hooked up with the same girl before, but I hadn't felt a single drop of jealousy on that occasion. Now with Charlotte...
It just seemed to be getting worse. And I'd better put an end to this feeling soon, because besides possibly ruining my friends-with-benefits thing with Charlie, it could also end up making things really weird between me and my roommate. So I take a deep breath and try to chase away the crazy thoughts running through my mind.
Minutes later, we're sitting in a more secluded corner of the outdoor area. Charlie is in my lap while we share an armchair, and Logan, Maddie, and Zac, who met up with us on the way, squeeze onto a chaise longue.
I don't know how long we stay there shooting the breeze, drinking, and killing our hunger, especially that of the girl in my arms, who was more than satisfied with her special pizza and cold drink. And even though I love spending time with my friends, I'm at the limit of the torture I can stand from having a hot ass shifting around in my lap. I was ready to try to drag heroff to my place, or at least to some bathroom around there, when a bunch of phones start ringing a really weird alert sound.
First Maddie's, then Charlie's, and when we look over, another dozen girls grab their phones and open them.
A bad feeling settles in my stomach, especially when Charlie tenses up entirely against me, so I can't resist and look at the message on her phone screen.
EMERGENCY ALERT!
Lexington Crown University informs: fire at the Lovelace dormitory building. The fire department is already handling the situation, but we need all female students who reside in the building to come to the location, so we can account for every student and make sure everyone is safe! ENTERING THE BUILDING WILL NOT BE PERMITTED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! THE ADMINISTRATION HAS A TEAM OF PROFESSORS WAITING FOR YOU IN THE PARKING LOT!
Fuck. This I wasn't expecting.
Chapter 16
Charlotte
The Lovelace building was a tribute to the first woman to write an algorithm meant to be interpreted by a machine. In other words, she was the world's first programmer, which fit really well, since it was mostly occupied by students in math and sciences fields, like computing and engineering. It only had four floors, but it was home to eighty students, including me.
But that home was now nothing more than a pile of burned concrete, giving off so much smoke that the neighboring towns could have seen it if it were daytime.
I still couldn't believe it.
