Co-Ed

Co-Ed by Rachel Van Dyken




A Note From RVD


The first time I heard of the term reverse harem was actually a few years ago when I started the Eagle Elite Mafia series, there were four mob bosses basically all protecting and in love with one girl… because of that, I knew I wanted to take things a bit of a step further and write something where all the guys are a bit obsessed, a bit in love, but become good friends with the girl and the girl basically is only 'with' one guy. I know this term scares some people but it also excites some people, duh wouldn't it be fantastic to have a whole bunch of good looking guys chasing you around a college campus (in a totally healthy way mind you…)

This is my take on reverse harem, my fun way to add in a bit of sexy to a traditional college romance. I hope you like it!

HUGS, RVD





Dedication


To Nina, thank you for being such a support and encouragement.

I'm so happy to have you on my side :)





Chapter One


Shawn

It started with a really loud moan, the kind that makes your body tingle and your senses so alert you could swear you actually hear the silence crackling around your face. Another moan sent my lazy heartbeat into a full-on thudding rhythm that sounded as if I’d been walking too aggressively across cement in high heels. It was so loud I was probably keeping my new roommate awake. Another moan followed. I sucked in a breath.

I’d been in this stupid dorm for two nights of pure hell, where I’d watched gross guy after gross guy put socks on their doors, followed by girls doing the walk of shame.

It wasn’t my fault my name both looked and sounded like a guy’s. Shawn is the name you hear a dad yell at a boy with a Yankees hat on while they play catch in the backyard—lucky for me, it was passed down the minute my mom got pregnant; they decided boy or girl, the name would be Shawn. Sigh. That name came in handy most days. Except for the day they assigned me to the guys’ dorm.

And transferring at the beginning of spring semester meant they literally had no other rooms for me.

It was this dorm…

Or homelessness.

Okay, not really. I could technically find a place, but that would mean rent I couldn’t afford unless I found some other sad, unfortunate soul willing to live with me. And the thing about transferring to the University of Washington at the last minute in my junior year for softball? Well, that meant I had no other choice but to listen to the moaning.

Only this moan was different.

Really. Different.

The other moans had been sloppy, drunken.

This one sounded… nice.

Not that I ranked moans on a scale from one to ten.

But if I did, it would be a solid seven, maybe even an eight.

The moan was longer this time.

I shot up in my bed and listened.

“Go back to sleep.” The gruff voice came from the other side of the room where my very male, and very metrosexual, roommate slept with a stuffed unicorn and a humidifier that made weird puffing noises because of his apparent dust allergies.

“Did you hear that?” I whispered.

He flipped over on his side, giving me a generous view of his six-pack and plaid pajama pants. I’d think he was attractive if he wasn’t so bossy. The first day I unpacked my bags I had felt his judgement over everything I’d placed in my drawers, like they weren’t folded well enough to deserve a spot.

“Everyone on the floor heard that. Seriously, sleep. You came here with dark circles under your eyes, and they’re just going to get worse if you lay in your bed listening to the threesome across the way do their jobs.”

My ears perked. “Threesome? Jobs?”

He put the white unicorn over his face and screamed into it.

What? Like I was the one being disruptive? I had practice at five in the morning! It was one in the morning; some of us needed uninterrupted sleep!

“Shawn.” He said my name with a bit of disdain.

To be fair, he’d been open about the fact that he’d thought his new roommate was going to be less annoying than the last and, at the very least, packing a penis. I’d like to think he was right about the first and very irritated about the penis.

It’s not my fault I was born a girl, right?

“Just try to go back to sleep. It’s Friday, which means it’s going to be a long night of moaning. If you need earplugs, I have spares in my desk.”

“For situations like this?” Seriously?

“They give them out for free. Everyone knows it’s necessary.”

“Why the heck is it necessary?” My interest was more than piqued.

“Oh. My. Hell. What did I do? What? So I dumped her because she had a big middle toe! Everyone has their deal-breakers! Shit!” Slater threw his pillow onto the floor and stood, raking his hands through his hair, pacing like a madman.

Apparently, he had a thing about sleep, and apparently, I’d just made him irrationally angry over a breakup.

“So fucking what? Is this God’s way of punishing me?” He looked up to the ceiling. “You give me a girl who can’t even sleep through a few moans and doesn’t even wash her face before bed? Kill me and get it over with!”

I gulped. “Hey, you okay?”

“No!” He glared over at me. “I’m not okay.” The mocking air quotes gave it away. “I’m exhausted, and I need my sleep, and you talk more than my Aunt Gertrude who literally won’t even stop talking during mass.”