When I finally recover, Logan is laughing.
"Now you get embarrassed? Seriously?" he accuses, and I focus on the road so I don't have to look at him.
"My bad, I didn't think you could hear that much."
"We share a wall, sweetheart. When your bed starts banging..."
The image of him being besieged by a sequence of knocks against the wall ends up turning my mild embarrassment into something really funny, and I'm forced to press my lips together to keep from cracking up.
"Got it. I'm sorry," I say, but then I think better of it and add. "Actually, I'm not that sorry, because I've suffered through your banging way more than you've suffered through mine." This time I can't resist laughing, and Logan joins me.
"Fair. But it doesn't mean I won't complain every time you two rob me of sleep, especially now with your girlfriend living with us," he accuses, and I park in front of the college gym before shooting him a big smile.
"Try not to die of envy in the meantime," I fire off, and Logan tries to elbow me in the stomach, but I escape out of the car just in time. We go around trading punches and knuckle-raps like a couple of idiots until the entrance of the building, where the coach looks at us with so much judgment that we stop instantly.
"Great. For a second there I thought I'd become an elementary school teacher," he sneers, and I fix my hair in a hurry.
"No, sir. Good morning," I greet, and he just nods, his lips pressed together in the usual bad mood.
We secretly bet on how long it had been since he last smiled. Logan's guess was that he'd been born without that function.
"Morning, coach," Logan greets him too and earns only a dismissive wave of the hand.
"Get inside already. I want you both on the treadmill running," he demands, and I avoid making a face because I know from experience that it would only make him increase our torture for today. "Twenty minutes. And I don't want to hear a single complaint," he adds, and we run to obey before it actually gets worse.
Damn. Today was going to be quite a day.
An hour of weights and two of tactical, technical, and physical training later, I'm exhausted and thanking the heavens we don't have class.
I let Logan drive us home, but first we stop at the market to buy what the team nutritionist recommended for the week. When we get to the apartment and unload the groceries, I look for Charlie. It doesn't take long to find her in the bedroom, lying down and messing with her phone. I knock lightly on the doorframe to announce myself, and the beautiful woman with the colored hair lifts her eyes and smiles at me.
Damn. It would be so much easier not to get attached if she weren't so pretty.
"Hi, kitten, how are you?" I ask, and she pats the mattress, signaling for me to come closer, and I do, sitting on the bed beside her.
"I'm good, all things considered. I talked to my mom and she's going to be able to help me pay for the things I need to buy, especially a new computer. She's going to send some of my clothes that are back home too."
"Good."
"I talked to Maddie too. We're going to look for an apartment near the university to share. Something small and not too expensive. I might have to give up the statistics assistant job and look for something that pays better, same as her, but it'll work out," she explains in a voice that tries to be upbeat but sounds more resigned.
I frown immediately.
"Why would you do that? I already said you can stay here," I reiterate, and Charlie reaches out a hand to stroke my arm.
"Yes, and I'm so grateful. But I can't stay here forever, right? Neither can Maddie at the Gamma," she says, laughing lightly, and I shake my head.
"Of course you can. And you should. You and Maddie, if she wants to. Stay here until the dorm is livable again, or the university manages to relocate you two to another building."
"No, this is your space! You never wanted to add a third person, it's not right for me to just barge in like this."
"Because nobody this pretty had shown up," I shoot back, and she gives me a little smack on the shoulder.
"I'm being serious!"
"So am I!"
"You're being thoughtful and sweet, but you're going to regret it real fast when you realize you won't be able to bring your other little hookups over here."
