CHAPTER TWO
GRANT
F uck. My. Life.
All I ever agreed to was going over to Meredith’s apartment with Braxton to help him hang a picture on the girls’ wall.
I tried to deny the offer too, to make it seem like I had something going on.
The only reason I’m standing in this girl-owned clusterfuck of an apartment right now is because Braxton pulled the “Dude, you’ve been hooking up with my little sister for years. Do you really need me to start being a dick about it now?” card.
“She’s not your little sister!” I had called back, but it was a lost cause, considering I was already slipping on my shoes.
“Two whole minutes, Vandy!” was his reply.
Now I’m here, in a much too girly apartment, prepared to get bossed around by Meredith and Eden, her redhead roommate, until I see an unfamiliar face.
“Lina, this is Grant,” Eden introduces.
Like I said, Fuck. My. Life.
Leaning against the wall of the living room opening, I’m not expecting much when the girl in the kitchen turns to face me.
But it takes everything in me not to make an audible sound when I catch a glimpse of her. It forces me upright, so I’m no longer leaning on the wall.
She’s tall for a girl, maybe 5’7”, considering she comes to my shoulders. Even without the long legs, she looks like a doll, with those huge doe eyes. Full lips, high cheekbones, and a heart-shaped face.
This might be the most devastatingly gorgeous girl I’ve ever seen, and that’s the honest truth.
It shouldn’t mean anything to me, though. I’m sure her friends have already given her the rundown of who I am and what I’m like. If she’s smart, she’s already made up her mind about me.
“Hi,” she says plainly, clearing her throat as she heads toward the fridge and uses the water dispenser to fill her glass.
“Hey,” I reply, forcing myself to drag my eyes off her as I join Braxton in the living room.
“ That’s the painting?” Braxton asks, looking at the giant canvas leaning up against the couch.
“Yeah! Isn’t it cool?” Eden replies cheerfully. “I found it on an online art gallery.”
Braxton glances between Meredith, Eden, and the painting. “Yeah. I’m just thanking God you girls didn’t try to hang this yourselves.”
By the look of the painting, I know what he’s getting at. “If that thing were to fall, it could kill one of you.” Especially since I’m assuming their plan is to put it above the couch.
“Exactly what I said,” Meredith mutters, narrowing her eyes on Eden. She’s snarky, for sure, but she and Braxton even each other out in that way.
“Alright, we’ll let you boys get to it!” Eden claps, grabbing Lina’s hand and dragging her into the nearest bedroom.
Meredith gives Braxton an apologetic look before following her friends and shutting the door behind them.
“Fucking hell,” Braxton groans as he begins gathering materials from his toolbox, glancing between them and the painting.
“No one says you have to hang it,” I tell him.
He shoots me a blank expression. “Yeah, I’d rather not let the three of them die trying to do it themselves.”
On second thought, it’s probably for the best that we’re here.
We get to work, putting up the bracket mounts, making sure they’re centered and level. While Braxton uses a stud finder on the wall, he asks, “Are we going to ignore your reaction to Lina, or would you like me to say something about it?”
“What?” I look up from the drill bit I’m in the middle of changing. “Man, don’t be ridiculous.”
He raises a brow. “Are you saying you don’t think she’s hot?”
“Just because I can acknowledge that she’s attractive doesn’t mean I’m dreaming of babies and white-picket fences. I don’t even know her.”
Of course Lina’s hot; anyone with eyes would be able to recognize it. That doesn’t mean she would want anything to do with me.
He holds his hand out for the drill, and I pass it to him.
“Look, Lina is hot, but there’s a reason she went MIA for an entire year.”
That makes more sense. I’m not necessarily friends with the girls in the same way Braxton is, but I’d been over here a few times last school year.
Never once did I see the fourth roommate they spoke of. Lina. Now that I think about it, they may have told me she was taking a year off because her mom died, but that might’ve been someone else.
“In the same way Meredith did this past summer?” I ask, obviously striking a nerve.
Braxton’s shoulders stiffen, and he begins drilling in the wall. “Don’t go there, dude.”
“Well, then what are you getting at? I’ve said one singular word to the girl.”
He glances away from the wall and back at me. “I’m just saying, she’s not your type of girl.”
What he really means is, she’s not a girl who’s down for casual, which is all I really look for. I’m not sure how much he really knows about her, but I would think it’s enough if he’s already warning me off her.
“But your sister is?” He’s well aware of the situation I have with his sister, Savannah.
It’s why Braxton barely reacts. “My sister is also anti-relationship. I’m not saying she has the greatest choice in men, but regardless, that’s her choice. Not mine.”
Having that perspective toward his sister is likely the only thing that has kept him from having an aneurysm. Savannah is entirely her own person. Carefree, unfiltered, and does what she wants, when she wants. Braxton sitting around worrying about her would only be doing himself a disservice.
I tip my head back. “I don’t even know why I’m talking about this with you. We both know you’re going to tell Meredith all of it.”
“Tell me what?”
“Jesus.” I flinch, cursing under my breath when I turn to find all three girls standing in the doorway of the bedroom they were just in. “Don’t do that shit.”
She still looks suspicious, in her normal, flatly unimpressed way. “What are you guys talking about?”
Out of any girl I know, Meredith is definitely the scariest, and not because she outwardly poses threats or will scream in your face. She’s so eerily disinterested, almost as if nothing fazes her. Though, in her head, she’s probably ten steps ahead of all of us.
“Nothing important.” I shrug, trying to play it off.
“Can you hand me another screw, Vandy?”
I pick one up off the coffee table, holding it out for Braxton to take. “Where’s Kara?” I ask.
“Out,” Meredith answers.
There’s only been a few occasions where I’ve seen Kara while being over here, and even those times, she was either getting ready or just leaving.
“Makes sense.” Braxton nods before drilling one last screw into the wall. He steps off the couch and says, “Alright, let’s get this beast on the wall.”
With one of us on either side, Braxton and I heave the massive painting into our grip, step up onto the couch, and get it situated on the mounts.
When we step down, all three girls are standing on the other side of the coffee table.
“Good?” I ask them, examining each of their expressions. Braxton nudges me when I spend a moment too long fixated on Lina.
But damn it, I can’t help it.
Eden tilts her head. “It’s a little crooked.”
Meredith reaches over, not saying a word as she grabs Eden’s jaw and shifts her head so she’s looking straight, making her smile and nod.
“It looks good to me,” Lina says, her shoulders hitching. The motion makes the collar of her crewneck fall off one shoulder, and my eyes instantly fall to the bareness of her collarbone.
Jesus, I need to get my shit together.
“Does anyone want to get dinner?” Braxton asks, wrapping his arms around Meredith’s shoulder. He messes with the zipper of her jacket, and when it falls open further, he fiddles with the strap of her tank top underneath.
He scans the room, waiting for a response.
“We could order food!” Edens suggests, bounding toward the kitchen to grab the copious amount of takeout menus they have stacked on top of the fridge.
“Yes, and we can enjoy it while sitting on the couch, admiring our new painting,” Lina adds, a bit sarcastically.
“While also praying that the boys mounted it correctly and that it’s not going to fall off the wall and kill us,” Meredith deadpans, stepping away from Braxton and toward the counter.
“Your faith in us is truly astounding, Mer,” Braxton drawls.
Lina picks up one of the takeout menus, turning it around and asking, “What about Chinese?”
“Classic.” Eden nods strongly. “Everyone in agreement?”
There’s a chorus of nods while we all surround the kitchen island. Eden opens one of the drawers beside her, pulling out a strawberry-themed pen and paper set. She jots down what everyone wants before making the call to place the order.
I can’t stop myself from constantly glancing in Lina’s direction. She’s in the kitchen now, leaning against the sink while still sipping on the glass of water she poured.
I’ll never be able to describe the feeling in my chest, one that says, “I know I’m not meant for this, but God, do I want to be.” It’s one that’s nearly suffocating me.
And I’ve been here maybe twenty minutes.
Shit.
“So,” Lina says, her voice breaking me from my daze. When I look up, her eyes are directed at me. “I’ve heard you have a bit of a playboy status.”
Oh shit. “Sure, you could say that.”
“Have you ever had an STD?”
“Lina!” Eden shouts, smacking her in the arm.
She doesn’t look bothered whatsoever. “Am I not allowed to ask questions?”
I nearly crack a smile. I can’t stop myself. This girl is as blunt as can be, and it’s more entertaining than annoying.
“You can ask whatever you like. The real question is whether I’ll answer or not.”
“Alright, well, pleading the fifth in this case is an answer within itself.” She pauses, stepping closer to the island, resting the weight of her head in her hands, with her elbows on the counter in front of me. “So, back to my question. Have you had an STD?"
“Isn’t the technical term STI now?” Meredith asks before I get the chance to answer.
“Hell if I know,” Lina says sharply. “I’ve never had one.”
“Those are simple semantics,” Braxton interjects. “That answer better be no regardless.”