2. Zoey
CHAPTER 2
ZOEY
“What do you mean you don’t have me down for a dorm assignment?” I slam my hands on the counter, glaring at the secretary behind it. She’s older, graying hair down to her shoulders and a pair of lime green reading glasses perched on the end of her nose. I’m not in the habit of snapping at older ladies, my mom raised me to always speak respectably, but in this moment, I can’t keep my temper at bay.
Transferring to Aldridge University for junior and senior year wasn’t part of my plan. But when I caught my fiancé cheating on me with my best friend of all people, I knew I had to get the hell out of dodge, and lucky for me my dad is a coach at Aldridge. He pulled some strings and now here I am. It’s a tad awkward since I haven’t been that close with my dad since he and my mom divorced when I was thirteen, but desperate times call for desperate measures. His eagerness to help me get in did leave me feeling a tad bit guilty for not making more of an effort to be involved in his life, along with those of my half-siblings as well with his new wife.
“It shows you were late enrollment, and all the dorms were full.” Her tone is calm but pointed. “There’s nothing we can do.”
Panic surges inside me. “B-But no one told me. There was nothing in all of this,” I wave my massive stack of papers from the university, “telling me that I didn’t have a place to sleep. This has to be a joke.”
Behind me, the door to the front office opens and a guy’s voice barges in. “Hey, Mrs. Jostin I lost my student ID again, can you help a guy out? I promise it’ll never happen again.”
In front of me, the woman sighs heavily, her shoulders sagging. “Teddy McCallister, you lose your student ID every three months. Classes haven’t even started yet. How is it possible you lost it already?”
The guy speaks from behind me. “Ah, Mrs. Jostin don’t be that way. I know I’m your favorite guy. I can’t help it that I lose everything. It’s a character flaw that most find endearing.”
“Endearing my ass,” she mutters under her breath, startled eyes darting up to mine to see if I heard. When she sees me trying not to laugh, she cracks a smile. “Teddy, let me finish up with this young lady and I’ll see what I can do.”
“Right on.”
Sighing, she adjusts her glasses and shuffles the papers in front of her. “I’m truly sorry, dear, but the dorms are full and there’s nothing I can do. There is plenty of off campus housing you can try. Rent is usually fairly reasonable.”
Tears sting my eyes, but I refuse to cry. I gave myself three days to cry over Todd and our broken engagement and then swore I wouldn’t cry again. Ever. I have a little bit of savings from odd jobs over the years, so I know I should be able to swing rent, but I wasn’t planning on that. I guess I should be thankful my mom always insisted I be smart with money and save a reasonable amount of every paycheck.
“All right,” I sigh in defeat. “Thank you.”
I can always suck it up and stay with my dad and his family, but I really don’t want to do that.
I turn around and come face to face with the guy. He’s fairly tall, with floppy brown hair, light stubble on an angular face, and bright forest green eyes. He gives me a lopsided grin, not hiding the fact he’s checking me out at all. I start to skirt around him, but he reaches for my arm. I give him a death glare and he immediately releases me.
“Hey.” He holds his hands up in surrender. “Sorry, I just wanted to say I might be able to help you out with the whole housing situation.”
I narrow my eyes on him. “I swear to God if you offer me your bed, I’ll cut your dick off.”
Mrs. Jostin laughs, quickly turning it into a cough.
“No, but that’s a good idea too.” I give him a menacing glare and he waves his hands for me to calm down. “I have a friend, yeah, he’s a guy but he’s kind of in a bind and needs a roommate. He’s cool. You’d like him. I think. You seem like you might not like anyone.” He rubs the back of his head awkwardly. “But I mean, it would be mutually beneficial. He needs a roommate to help with rent and you need a place to stay.”
“This isn’t some gross bachelor pad is it?”
“Uh … no. It’s a new apartment. It’s clean. He doesn’t smoke or drink much. He’s not much of a partier which kind of cramps my style but sounds like it would be good for you since you seem like the type to like the quiet.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” My glower deepens on the shaggy haired Louis Tomlinson lookalike except more jacked. It’s obvious he spends a lot of time in the gym and thinks his looks alone let him get away with anything. Typical. Todd was the same way. I should’ve known then to run far and fast.
“Nothing, I swear. Just that … look … I kind of had to back out of rooming with him last minute and now he’s stuck needing someone else to cover half the rent. He’s a good guy, I swear. At least come meet him and check out the place. I can take you as soon as I finish with the lovely Mrs. Jostin.”
I narrow my eyes on him. “Fine, but I’ll follow you in my car.”
“Whatever you want. I’ll meet you outside.”
I wait on the front steps of the main building on campus, toeing the end of my worn white Converse against the ground. I should probably stop, that’s why they’re so grubby to begin with, but it’s a nervous habit. I’m really good at appearing confident and in charge in certain situations, while on the inside I’m a freaking mess.
Five minutes later the large wooden doors creak open behind me and Teddy comes out, envelope in hand.
“Got your ID?”
“Mrs. Jostin always comes through for me. Don’t worry, I’ll send her some flowers to thank her for dealing with my shit.”
I arch a brow as I follow the long-legged guy to the parking lot. “You actually send her flowers?”
He stops dead in his tracks, causing a car to honk and speed around us. “Do you think so little of me? I’m a good guy. I even send my one-night-stands home with freshly baked cookies. I’m basically Betty Cocker.”
Don’t laugh, Zoey. It’ll only encourage him.
“Pretty sure it’s Crocker.”
“No, babe, I assure you I am all Cock … er .”
“Don’t call me babe.”
“Sorry, I can’t help myself sometimes.” He grins, green eyes shining with mischief. “I’m over here.” He points to a shiny Porsche sports car. “Where are you?”
I sigh and unlock my Honda CRV across from his. “That’s me.”
“Sweet. Follow me for a good time.”
I stare at him the way a mom looks at her unruly child—you know, the look that says shut your trap with your idiotic remarks. My glare doesn’t seem to bother him a bit. He laughs and goes to his car.
When he looks back and sees I haven’t made a move to my car, he says, “You’ll get used to it.”
If this guy thinks I’ll be getting used to anything when it comes to him, he’s sorely mistaken. I doubt I’ll want to live wherever he’s taking me and who’s to say the guy living there will even agree.
More than likely I’m going to be stuck living with my dad and his new family. It’s the last thing I want, but you know what they say about desperate times.
Slipping into my car, I follow the blue Porsche off campus and about five minutes down the road where he pulls into an apartment complex. We pass by a building that lists things like gym and pool and circle around to one of the apartment buildings in the back.
Parking beside Teddy, I get out and look around in surprise. It looks nice. He did say it was new but I kind of thought he was fucking with me just to get me here and hopefully agree to stay.
“It’s on the third floor.”
I grumble a little at that, not liking the idea of carrying groceries up them every week. But you know, that’s a small sacrifice to make if it means I get my own place. Well, sort of my own place. I’d still have a roommate, which is true if I’d been given a dorm on campus like I was supposed to.
“Did you let him know we were coming?”
“Uh,” he looks at me over his shoulder as we climb the stairs, “no.”
I roll my eyes, holding onto the railing. We reach the third floor and turn to our right where he knocks on a door marked 308.
Waiting with crossed arms, it isn’t but maybe thirty seconds later when the door opens.
My jaw drops at the sight of the guy standing there. Sure, I swore off men after Todd, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have eyes, and this guy? He’s the sexiest man I’ve ever seen. Tall, way taller than my five-foot-seven frame. His skin is a beautiful brown color, tattoos snaking up an entire arm from wrist to—well, I’m not sure where it ends since he’s wearing a shirt. His curly black hair is cropped close to his scalp. Eyes a unique shade of amber brown—honeyed—stare back at the guy at my side, his full and pouty lips turned down into a frown.
“What do you want?” He grumbles in a deep voice, glowering at my companion. “Come to deliver worse news?”
“Actually, I found you a roommate.” Teddy turns to me, sweeping his hands at me like I’m a prize on a game show. “Ta-da.” And then the goofball does jazz hands.
The guy’s eyes turn to me, elegant brows furrowed together wrinkling his forehead. “You?”
“Me.” I point to myself, pretending I’m not at all affected by the way those thick lashes flutter against his cheekbones. For months I’ve been mad at all men because of Todd, but apparently all it takes is one exceptionally good-looking guy to make me weak in my knees. “As long as this isn’t a total dump and you’re not a dick.” I straighten my spine, glad that despite my attraction to the stranger in front of me at least I still have my sassy mouth.
“Who are you?” he asks, looking confused, his gaze flickering between his friend and me. “Did you find her on the side of the road or something?”
My mouth pops open. “I’m not a prostitute!”
His eyes widen in horror and he puts his hands up in a placating gesture. “Fuck, that’s not what I meant. Just this fucker here bails on me last minute as my roommate, and even though he promised to find a replacement he doesn’t have a very good track record for keeping his word.”
“Hey!” Teddy protests.
The guy continues on like Teddy didn’t interject. “Forgive me for thinking maybe there’s a catch here.”
“No catch, I swear. I ran into her when I went to see Mrs. Jostin?—”
“Did you lose your fucking ID already?” He pinches the bridge of his nose.
“No.” When Teddy finds both of us staring at him in disbelief he gives a sheepish smile. “Yes, okay, I did. But that’s not the point here. The point is, I ran into the lovely Zoey there. Care to fill in the rest?” He prompts me to speak.
I eye the guy still standing in the doorway. “I’m a transfer and apparently somehow there was a mix up and I never got a dorm assignment. Now they’re saying there aren’t any free beds for me and I’m basically screwed.”
His eyes turn sympathetic. “Can you cover half the rent?”
“Depends on what it is?”
“Eight-hundred for half.”
I bite my lip, calculating in my head. It’s high, but I can swing it. I’ll have to cut corners in other areas if I like the place.
“Yeah, I could do that. Can I at least check it out first?”
He doesn’t answer, merely steps aside and allows entry. Teddy follows me in, muttering to his friend, “See, I told you I’d help.”
“Shut up,” my possible new roommate grumbles.
The place is gorgeous, well worth the eight hundred I’d be spending a month. Everything is new, from the floors to fresh paint, and the stone countertops. The kitchen has a decent amount of counter space for an apartment. In the living area, there are French doors opening onto a decent sized balcony. It’s sparsely furnished, but if this guy is so desperate for a roommate then I doubt he has the extra money to spend on things. Plus, he’s a guy, so décor and comfort probably aren’t high on his list.
I venture down the hall on my own, peeking into a bathroom that’s surprisingly clean—no pee stains on the floor or toilet, which is a total win. I was always grumbling at Todd to either aim correctly or wipe his pee up. He never did either.
Peeking into the first room I find a bare mattress on the floor with a blanket tossed over it with a pillow that still has an indent from being slept on. Moving on, I open the final door in the hall to an empty bedroom. It’s large, plenty of room for a bed, dresser, and desk.
I hate to admit it, but running into Teddy might be the best thing that could’ve happened to me. As long as his friend is okay with me living here.
Walking back out to the main living area, arms crossed over my chest, I stop in front of the two guys who cease conversation.
“Would you mind having a girl for a roommate?”
His brow curves upward. “I have four sisters. I’m used to girls. Will you mind having a guy for a roommate?”
I glance around quickly, trying to ignore Teddy’s giddy puppy dog like expression.
“Nope, not at all.”
“Welcome home then. I’m Cole.” He holds out a hand for me to shake.
“Zoey.”
“Oh, guys.” Teddy wraps an arm around each of us, pulling us into the most awkward group hug ever. “We’re going to be the best of friends.”