Page 13 of Anchored To You

"I'll fix that," I tell them both, more determined than ever.

I'm definitely not looking for a boyfriend, but I can always use another friend.

A few hours later, I'm sitting on my bed, not so patiently waiting for Talon to come back. I have no idea when he's expected back, but I want to make sure I'm here when he finally shows up. Bouncing on the mattress, I look down when it creaks. I swear this mattress wasn't this uncomfortable the first time I moved in. There was at least a bit of a bounce to it.

My gaze pings over to Talon's mattress, and I narrow my eyes. He wouldn't have switched our mattresses, would he? I quickly get up from the bed and rush over to his side of the room. Staring at the mattress, I try to see if there's a way to tell if it's mine. Of course, there's no way to know, since it's covered with his blankets and pillows. I look over at the door, then take a quick seat on the bed. My jaw drops as I bounce twice on his mattress. Oh my god, he swapped our mattresses! I knew the bed I chose wasn't that uncomfortable. Wow, I smile hard, shaking my head. Someone is full of surprises.

Wanting to get him back, I jump up from the bedframe and lock the door. Using my phone, I take a quick picture of his bed so that I'm able to put everything into the correct position again. Once that's done, I get to work. I rip ‌the blankets and pillows off my bed, tossing them onto the floor. Then I carefully do the same thing to his, only putting his stuff on top of his desk so it doesn't get dirty. After I strip both mattresses down, I work on swapping them. The mattresses aren't heavy, but the room isn't that big to begin with, so trying to maneuver them is harder than I thought. It takes me longer than I anticipated, but I finally get the cushions switched and back to their original spots. I keep my phone in one hand with the picture pulled up as I work quickly on putting all of Talon's belongings back onto his bed. My bed is easier; I only need to toss things onto the mattress.

The doorknob jiggles, and I panic, my heart beating fast as I fling the last pillow into its spot. I sit down on the bed, trying to act nonchalant as Talon enters the room.

"Are you okay?" he asks, looking concerned.

"I'm fine," I puff, trying to catch my breath. Fuck, who knew moving two mattresses around was such hard work? Plus, attempting to be sneaky? I am not cut out for being sly and stealthy. Putting my hands on my knees, I try to steady my breathing.

"Oh god, ew, were you jerking off? Oh god, oh god, oh god, I didn't mean to barge in. Fuck, maybe we need to have a system in place for this. I mean, there's no way you could have been normal and done it in the shower, right? Like, that's what I do. Nope, you did it here. Which I mean, okay, yes, it is your room, but oh god."

"What?" I say once he finally stops talking. "I wasn't jerking off," I rush out, standing up.

"Did you run a mile in the room or something?" He asks, cocking his hip.

"Uh, no," I reply, rubbing the back of my neck. Well damn, I can't quite tell him why I'm so out of breath. Then he'll know I switched the mattresses, and he'll want his own again. He stares at me, and I'm about to crack when I blurt out, "fine I was jerking off."

Talon looks surprised I admitted it, and I'm shocked I even said those words. He clears his throat, looking at the ground. "Oh, um, nice? Well, maybe we should come up with a system for when we're jerking off in the room. Or if we ever bring someone over for some fun. Maybe like a sock on the door or something?"

My brain sticks on bringing someone over for fun. I already know that's not going to be me, but I didn't think about the fact that Talon might want to take someone home. Ugh, I don't like that idea. Not at all.

"Yeah, a sock is cool," I mumble, sitting back down on my bed.

"Good, I'm about to head over to the food court and get something to eat if you want to come. I bet you're pretty hungry after working up an appetite," he winks at me as he takes off his Waffles and Werewolves shirt and tosses on a plain black tee.

"Mmm, yeah, I could use some food," I reply, my thoughts stuck on his body he just briefly showed me without realizing it. Also, moving those mattresses was a workout. "Let's go."

Talon heads out of the room, and I follow along happily. This roommate thing might be harder than I thought.

Chapter

Seven

TALON

Professor Falcon has us highlight another section in our syllabus, and I do it quickly before stifling another yawn. Despite being a hardass, Professor Falcon is the best damn professor for child psychology. Based on his name, many people come into his class thinking he's some type of monster, only to be surprised when they find out he's actually ‌human. He's on the shorter side, with black hair and grey streaks throughout it. He's constantly wearing a three-piece suit, and whenever he's walking around campus, he always has a briefcase in his hands. When I was talking to my advisor about law school, she suggested I take a psychology class that is geared toward the type of law I wanted to do. My plan for the future is to practice family law, so I thought taking child psychology would make the most sense. My advisor warned me that Professor Falcon is hard and fails easily, but I only want to learn from the finest.

Looking over my syllabus, I might be regretting that choice. He has everything laid out for the semester, which includes a ton of reading I'm not prepared for. Glancing around the room, I see a few familiar faces, so I hope that we'll be able to get a study group together. But damn, this is only my first class of the day and I'm already feeling overwhelmed.

A ton of heads turn to face me as I yawn again, stretching my back. I had the absolute worst sleep of my life. And no, it wasn't because I walked in on Beck jerking off. My bed was so damn hard, I couldn't get comfortable at all. Not only was I tossing and turning most of the night, I then had to listen to Beck who snores like a freight train all night long. Each time I would finally fall asleep, he would snore this deep snore that I guarantee woke up the entire floor. And then I would be wide awake once again, staring into the darkness.

Not the way I wanted to start the school year, so this morning I got up extra early and headed straight to Mummy Mocha to grab the biggest latte they had on their menu. I have a feeling I'll be sneaking over to the library again to get another coffee at some point today.

My thoughts drift back to last night when Beck and I went to the food court. We didn't talk much, but when we did, our conversation was pretty easy. He told me he's majoring in education, hoping to become a high school baseball coach one day. I shared with him my goal to become a lawyer, and he told me he figured it was that or pursuing a career as a doctor. I had to laugh at that because I originally wanted to go to medical school with the goal of becoming a pediatrician before eventually changing my mind.

The door to the auditorium slams shut, everyone in the room looking up to see who's coming into the class late. My eyes widen when I see Beck barreling down the aisle, trying to find an empty seat. His hands are full with textbooks, a backpack slung over his shoulder as his eyes scan up and down each aisle, trying to find an unoccupied chair.

Please don't see me, I plead, making an effort to sneak down in my seat. I really don't want any attention drawn to me, and from Professor Falcon's face, Beck has not made a good first impression by being late.

I glance up quickly, regretting it when Beck sees me. A huge smile forms on his face as he cuts through students struggling to get to the empty seat next to me.

"Hey man," he says, once he joins us.