Chapter 11
PENN
“Oof,” she groans as her body collides with mine.
“Someone’s eager to see me,” I say with a grin as I move my hands to her arms to steady her.
“No!” She looks up at me, her eyes wild and unfocused behind her glasses.
“I was in a hurry so I wasn’t looking where I was going,” she explains, a little breathless as she takes a step back and smoothes her outfit—today, it’s a short, gray skirt, paired with sheer tights and loafers.
The skirt shows off those sexy, long legs of hers.
“Nah, I don’t buy it.” I raise a teasing brow, then let go of her arms, letting my palms slide against her soft sweater as I release her. “I think you just missed me so much you couldn’t bear another moment apart.”
She rolls her eyes. “I don’t know how you walk around carrying an ego that large. Surely the weight of it is crippling.”
I flex my arms so my biceps strain under the thin fabric of my long-sleeved shirt. “Muscles, Bubbles. They come in handy for carrying heavy things.”
Hazel putters a laugh, her cheeks going pink. “You are so ridiculous. And if you must know, I was in such a rush because I was trying to get away from Chadwick before he asked where I was going. He’s driving me insane.”
The mention of Chad-dick’s name alone is a total buzzkill, never mind the thought of him following her out into the hallway and me having to talk to him, so before I can think too much about it, I grab Hazel’s hand.
“Come on, then. Let’s get out of here!” I pull her along behind me, and we run towards the stairwell.
“Elevator would probably be quicker,” she observes.
I turn around to grin at her as I push open the door to the stairs. “Nah, if we take the stairs he can’t follow us on his crutches.”
“Smart,” she replies with a nod as we step inside the stairwell and let the door close behind us.
“Not just a pretty face and great body.” I wink at her, then let go of her hand and hold my palm out in front of her. “Gimme.”
She blinks in confusion. “Give you what?”
I nod at her shoulder. “That ridiculously heavy-looking satchel you’re carrying. What you got in there, encyclopedias? Because you know we have Google for that these days.”
“Library books for research. And my laptop.” Hazel laughs. “And no, it’s totally fine. I’m used to carrying it around.”
“Not anymore,” I tell her. She still makes no move to give it to me, so I go ahead and take it, sliding it off her shoulder and then slinging that strap over mine.
The thing is as heavy as it looks. Hazel must be stronger than I gave her credit for to carry this heavy load, because from the outside it looks like she’s built like a baby deer.
Her poor shoulder must be in constant agony.
“Why?” She looks up at me questioningly, and I feel terrible as I realize Chadwick treated her like even less of a gentleman than I thought he had. And the bar for him was already six feet underground.
“I carry the heavy things in this relationship,” I say firmly. “Egos, book bags, whatever.” She looks like she’s about to protest, so I add, “It’s not up for debate.”
The corners of her lips pop upward as her green eyes soften. “Okay. Thank you, Penn.”
“What can I say? I’m a world-class fake boyfriend.”
“You’re something, that’s for sure.” She chuckles and then starts walking down the stairs.
“So I was thinking we could grab coffee and make a plan for how to piss off my annoying temporary roommate to get him to leave. We can also coordinate our schedules to see if I can make your next home game? I want to make sure I’m upholding my end of the deal.
There’s a good place on the way to the metro station. ”
“Planning on skipping town?” I ask, amused. “Because if you want to be less subtle than us fake dating to get rid of Chad-dick from your apartment, me and the guys can go in there and forcibly remove him anytime.”
She sighs happily. “As much as I love the thought of that, no. I’m house sitting for his aunt and uncle…and I can’t risk upsetting them.”
I nod in understanding. Right now, in terms of her living situation, she’s kind of wedged between a rock and a hard place.
“Chadwick is family, and now I’m just an ex-girlfriend,” she adds.
“You’re not just anything, Hazel.” It’s wild to me that this smart, beautiful, feisty woman could have such a low opinion of herself. And it kind of makes me want to kill Chadwick for contributing to her feeling that way.
Hazel flushes, then turns her face away and looks down as we step outside into the street.
It’s chilly outside today, and she crosses her arms to keep herself warm. I wish I’d brought a jacket to give her—but I always run hot, and San Francisco winters are a cakewalk compared to the tundra I grew up in, so I hardly ever bother with a coat here.
“I’m taking the metro to Berkeley today to lock myself in one of the silent study rooms on campus,” Hazel explains as she bristles in obvious annoyance.
“When I said earlier that Chadwick was driving me crazy, I wasn’t lying.
I can’t concentrate on anything with him bugging me all the time and parading his PT around trying to make me jealous. ”
“He did not!” I have to laugh. What a putz.
Hazel rolls her eyes. “I think he’s jealous of you, so he’s got a two can play that game mentality right now.”
“Look on the bright side. At least our plan’s starting to work if he’s retaliating.”
“True.” She nods, then blinks at me as I veer right on the sidewalk, adjusting her book bag on my shoulder as I turn.
“Hey, where are you going?” She places a hand on my arm, and I feel the cold of her fingers through my sleeve. “The metro station’s this way.”
“We’re not going to the metro,” I say.
“Yes, we are!” Hazel’s fingertips dig into my arm as she tries to stop me, and her gaze heats with frustration. “I really have to get some work done today. I want to be on campus by noon at the latest, so if we even want to have time to grab coffee first, we have to start walking that way now.”
“If you think I’m going to let you walk all the way to the station while you’re shivering, you’re sorely mistaken,” I tell her as I keep walking, now almost at the side exterior door of our building that leads to the parkade.
She makes no move to follow. Instead, she shakes her head stubbornly. “It will take longer to drive to the metro station than to walk there. Plus, finding parking will be a nightmare.”
“Like I said, we’re not going to the metro,” I say patiently. “I’m driving you to campus.”
Her mouth falls open. “That’ll be over an hour round trip for you. You can’t do that.”
“Sure I can.” I lift a shoulder. “Plus, it doesn’t have to be an immediate round trip.
I’m off today, and my sister’s a freshman at Berkeley.
I could visit her and hang out for the afternoon and then drive you home again later when you’re done studying.
” I fix my eyes on hers, trying to gauge her expression.
“If you’re comfortable with that, that is. ”
Hazel blinks, lost for words—for once—and I can’t help but notice again how gorgeous she is.
There’s something about the combination of those intense eyes with that wild curly hair and the freckles dancing across her cheekbones that’s uniquely pretty.
She’s the kind of pretty that makes you look then immediately want to look again.
Her throat moves as she swallows. “Thank you, Penn.”
“It’s no biggie.” I shrug again, then grab my phone from my pocket and shoot off a quick text to Cassie, telling her I’m heading her way today.
Fifteen minutes later, when my phone buzzes with a message from my sister, we’re already in my truck and well on the road to Berkeley. The heat is cranked, we have drive-thru coffees in hand, and beside me, Hazel is smiling and relaxed, her head lolling back against her headrest.
“Can you check that for me?” I ask her, nodding to my phone sitting in one of the cupholders between us as I change lanes. “It’s probably Cassie responding.”
Hazel startles. “You want me to look at your phone?”
“Sure. Passcode’s 032956.”
“But what if it’s a—” Hazel hesitates, then waves a hand awkwardly and clears her throat. “Girl?”
I grin. “My sister is female, yes.”
“You know what I mean,” Hazel tuts. “What if it’s not her, but a girl you don’t have an, um, brotherly relationship with.”
“How many times do I have to tell you I’m not hanging out with any other girls right now?” I look at her over the top of my sunglasses. “I’m a fully monogamous fake boyfriend at all times, and that includes textual chemistry.”
She gives a delighted little chuckle that fills the cab of the truck as she finally reaches for my phone. The smallest things—like common decency—make this girl so happy.
“Okay, I believe you.” She smirks as she taps in my passcode. “But if I open this and it’s a sext, I will be sending you my therapy bill, Penn Matthews.”
“It won’t be,” I tell her.
A moment later, Hazel smiles. “Okay. Cassie sent you about a hundred party popper emojis and a message saying she’s done with class at one, and asks if you want to meet her for lunch and then go thrift shopping.” She hums in approval. “Sounds like my kind of girl, honestly. I’d love to meet her.”
“You already have. Remember, when you stormed upstairs and accused her of being the girl I was ‘just sleeping with’ that week.”
“Oh no, I forgot about that.” Hazel groans and smacks a palm to her forehead. “Maybe before we leave campus this evening, you could reintroduce us so I can apologize for being so rude to her.”
“No apology needed, our music was super loud that day. She felt bad for disturbing you.”
“Ugh, she probably thinks your new girlfriend is so uptight.”
I shake my head. “She wouldn’t judge you from one five-minute interaction. She’s not like that. She’s cool. She’s five years younger than me, but we were always tight growing up.”
“You guys grew up in Canada, right?”
“Bubbles, have you been Googling me?”