Co-Ed(9)

Her eyes fell to my lips then slowly she looked her fill, from my feet all the way back up. Her chest rose and fell. I knew that look. Her heart was racing, her thighs quivering. Ten seconds. I could get her off in ten seconds. Maybe six.

“Nah.” She finally shrugged. “I think I’ll just stick to my popcorn and Netflix.”

“Hurry the hell up!” Slater yelled from the room then opened the door, took in our exchange, and paled. “Shawn… back away from the man whore… slowly. If you walk too fast, they take it as a challenge and pounce.”

“Bite me!” I snapped at him.

Someone I used to call friend.

Someone I didn’t want to see but had no choice to communicate with since we’d been wrongly placed in the same college suite in the same dorm.

He flipped me off.

I was too focused on Slater to notice that Shawn had actually listened to the dipshit and was already safely back in her room.

The door clicked shut.

I heard Leo’s low whistle first, followed by Finn’s slow clap. I turned and glared. I had no words. Maybe it was the pounding headache, but I’d never been turned down by a woman, man — human. They all wanted me, or something from me. So, I was about as angry as I was confused and in utter shock that she’d just turned around and walked away as if I wasn’t everyone’s perfect brand of drug.

“Shit, you look more confused than Finn does in Human Anatomy,” Leo mused while Finn rolled his eyes. “Did she just… reject the great Knox Tate?”

“Maybe she was busy,” Finn added.

“Washing her hair?” Leo snorted with laughter while I wondered how much trouble I would get into if I pushed them out the three-story windows in our shared dorm room.

“Forget it.” I stomped past them and went back to work, back to the texts, back to the schedule.

Back to my own personal hell.





Chapter Five


Shawn

I was eating burnt popcorn. Drinking lukewarm Diet Coke.

And dreaming about the ice in the freezer that I refused to walk back to, especially if the tall one was standing there guarding it like a prison guard.

I chomped harder on the popcorn and must have growled or something because Alexa started giving me a side-eye as if I was the problem, when everything wrong with the universe was living across the shared space.

“Taking out your frustration on the popcorn?” she asked.

I stopped chewing and stared at the TV. What were we even watching? I literally had to mentally backtrack to our conversation about Marvel versus DC before it registered that it was Thor in front of me.

Which didn’t help the situation.

Thor had long hair.

Hot, rude guy had long hair.

It was a serious problem.

Made worse by the fact that he and Slater seemed to have some sort of beef that made my entire room smell like testosterone. I could actually feel his man-juices getting pissed off and swirly inside his body. He also kept punching his stuffed unicorn every few seconds.

“And here I thought you guys were supposed to be cheering me up.” Alexa blew out an exasperated breath. “All men suck, burn, burn, burn…” She elbowed me and laughed while Slater stopped punching the unicorn long enough to stare at the two of us with heavy skepticism.

“So…” I cleared my throat. “…you and the tall one? Used to be… friends?” I guessed.

“Lovers?” Alexa just had to add.

I tossed a piece of popcorn at her face while Slater groaned and moved to a sitting position.

His six-pack was in full view. He clearly had something against clothing; he was in nothing but a pair of black jogger pants and a Nike beanie. Pieces of his caramel-colored hair were plastered against his forehead and tucked behind his ears, making him look younger.

“How does, ‘I don’t want to talk about it’ sound?” He cracked his knuckles. “And do I really look gay? He wasn’t my lover.”

“Ri-i-ght.” Alexa nodded. “Says the guy with enough face products to open up his own Sephora. I totally believe you, though.” She winked slowly.

He gritted his teeth. “I like women—” He stopped then eyed her up and down. “—not that you would know if one hit you upside the head, but do you even own a brush?”

She glared. “Why? Are you offering to give me your favorite horsehair one? I’ve heard it makes things really shiny.”

“Shiny, my ass!” Slater ground out through his teeth.

“Guys…” I stood, ready to separate them. “…play nice.”

“I would if we had popcorn that wasn’t burnt — and ice, the crushed kind.” Alexa frowned into her cup. “Why are we trapped in the room again?”

“Because…” I crossed my arms and swallowed hard then shared a knowing look with Slater. “…the tall one…” I left out the hot part. “…was offering to share… things…” I gulped. “…and we don’t do things like that.”

“Good girls go bad…” Slater started to sing then hummed the rest.

I grabbed his unicorn and tossed it at his face.

He caught it just in time.

“Fine. You want ice?” I jerked open the door and whispered in a low voice, “I’ll get the damn ice.”