3. Hailey
3
HAILEY
The next morning, it was nearly impossible to concentrate in class. That was a shame, because normally I enjoyed Professor Whitmore’s class. She was a gifted speaker, and a nice woman. I knew that because I regularly walked her golden retriever.
As much as I usually liked the class, it was unfortunate that it was only offered during the summer this year. If it had been in the spring or fall semester, it would’ve been covered by my scholarship. But Professor Whitmore had been traveling most of the past year for her research.
After class, I gathered up my things while the other students filed out. Some smiled, but mostly they had their own lives, and their own concerns. And their own friends, who likely dressed a lot better than me.
I lingered until the other students left, not wanting them to find out that I walked the professor’s dog. They just wouldn’t understand.
“Hailey.” The teacher gave me a smile as she peered over her glasses. She had a librarian look to her. “I’m taking Sunny to the vet today, so you don’t need to walk him.”
“Oh, okay.” That would certainly give me more time to move my stuff into the frat house, but I’d miss spending time with Sunny, who was a sweetheart. Plus, I needed the money. “Is he okay?”
“Yes, it’s just a checkup.” She studied me. “And I’ll still pay you your normal weekly rate.”
I blushed. “I wasn’t worried about that,” I lied. Because I was—I had to be.
“Well, then, I hope to see you tomorrow,” she said. Not for class, it was Thursday, but for regular dog walking. She wasn’t often at home when I showed up, but sometimes she was. I had a key to her townhouse in either case.
My brain wouldn’t shut off and let me enjoy the scenery as I walked back to the hotel. It cost an arm and a leg—a town like this didn’t have any cheap hotels. But at least it was summer. In the winter it probably would have cost three times as much. This area had the best skiing in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The young man at the front desk remembered me and let me into the locked room where I’d stored my luggage. I didn’t have a lot—I’d had to get rid of most of my things when I moved out of the house my grandfather had rented.
“Do you want me to call you a taxi or Uber?” he asked as I slung a beat-up old duffel bag over my shoulder. It dated back to my grandpa’s army days. I picked up several smaller bags, hoping I could do this in two trips.
“No thank you.” There weren’t many such things in our small town. Most students had their own cars. Even if there had been, I didn’t want to waste the money.
I wove my way across campus, earning some odd looks for my luggage. But I was used to it. No matter what I did, I didn’t fit in here. That was okay, though. I was here to earn my degree and get out of Haverford. There was nothing else here for someone like me.
The engineering hall was at the edge of campus, and I paused to admire the wall of glass at the front of the magnificent building. Then I trudged onto Skyler Street, which everyone thought of as frat row. The fraternity houses got bigger and grander until I got to the Rho Kappa Alpha house, which made the others look puny by comparison.
My steps faltered as I made my way to the large front door. It felt like every step was taking me closer to my doom—but that was stupid. I needed the money and a place to stay. Therefore, I wanted this job.
Or at least that’s what I told myself.
I hesitated on the front step. The guys from yesterday had said to come around noon, but they hadn’t given me a firm time. There were only a few of them living here this summer… what if the door was locked?
I knocked.
No response.
I knocked again and then tried the door.
It opened, and I stepped into the common area where the interview had been yesterday. Except there was nothing common about the interior, not the marble floors, leather furniture, or artwork on the wall. I imagined that there’d been an interior designer—I couldn’t imagine college guys picking out paintings.
My footsteps echoed in the empty room, and I jumped when the door shut behind me.
“Hello?”
Nothing except more echoes.
“Um… I’m here. Hailey, I mean.”
I strained my ears, but I couldn’t hear any sounds. Surely a house this size wouldn’t be empty. I made my way further into the house. I’d been given a quick tour yesterday, but I’d only seen parts of it. I passed the dining room with an enormous table that could seat at least twenty. Then I poked my head in the kitchen with its gleaming stainless-steel counters and its three refrigerators. No surprise that that was empty.
My arms ached, but I didn’t want to set my scuffed-up bags on the fancy flooring. Instead, I made my way to the end of a hallway where there was a staircase. I hadn’t been upstairs yet.
I was a bit winded by the time I got to the second-floor landing. Possibly it wasn’t wise to climb stairs while carrying half of your belongings. I left some bags in the corner of a stairwell and pulled open the heavy door. There was a long hallway with at least a dozen doors leading off of it.
I stepped inside, wondering how many led to bedrooms. Some had to be bathrooms or other kinds of rooms, like maybe a study area. And didn’t fraternities sometimes do secret rituals and stuff? Hopefully that was just in the movies.
Turning, I reached for the door to the stairwell, but it burst inward. I stepped back so hastily that my duffel bag slid off my shoulder and landed at the feet of a guy I’d never seen before.
A half-naked guy I’d never seen before. Wow. He was wearing shorts and sneakers and absolutely nothing else, though he had a white towel slung over his shoulder. He took a step around my things and wiped the towel across his brow as he stared down at me.
His broad chest was dotted with sweat, and he had a water bottle in his hand. I suddenly remembered overhearing that there was a full gym in the basement here, but I didn’t know how accurate that information was. A girl in one of my classes had bragged that she’d banged one of the frat bros on top of a weight bench down there.
“Sorry, I, uh, didn’t know anyone was here.”
In order to keep from staring at his flat abs, I bent down and collected my duffel bag. But that gave me a closeup of all of him as I straightened back up. Finally, I met his eyes. They were green.
“It’s a big place.” His voice was deep, but quiet. It was like he knew he didn’t have to project his voice to be heard. To command attention. And judging from the way my pulse sped up in reaction to his body, attention came his way quite often. “I’m Ian.”
“Hailey,” I said, managing not to stammer.
“Ah, the new girl,” he said. His eyes swept down my body once, but it wasn’t in a lingering way like Grant and Bennett yesterday. “Let’s hope you last longer than the last one.”
What? The summer semester had barely begun. Someone had already taken this job and quit it? Or been fired. I didn’t know which option was worse.
“Uh, do you know what room I’m supposed to stay in? They said it was on this floor.”
He nodded. “Edward’s old room. It’s just up there on the right.”
“Thanks.”
He nodded and turned away. His back was every bit as muscular as his chest and arms. But then he stopped, peering back at me over his shoulder. “Do you need help with that?” The way he’d asked made it seem like an afterthought, but at least he’d offered.
“I’m fine, thanks.” As I watched, he shoved his short brown hair away from his eyes. “Besides, you’ve already done your workout.”
A grin crossed his face and then disappeared as quickly as it had come. “I did indeed. Now, I have to take a shower and study. Nice to meet you.”
That last part was curt, but I echoed it as I headed back to the stairs to get the rest of my things. I was curious about what Ian’s major was. He seemed like a no-nonsense kind of guy. But that wasn’t all I wondered about. Try as I might, I couldn’t get the vision of him stepping into a hot shower, his tan skin bare, out of my mind.
Living with these guys probably wasn’t a wise choice, but I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be a boring one, either.