Chapter 13
Oliver
While I secured the banner to our table in the courtyard, I glanced around.
There were a lot of students milling about already, which was a good sign.
We needed a fair number of surveys in order for our sociology project to be effective.
Getting them to actually stop and talk to us might be the biggest hurdle, but I was confident we could manage it.
“Looks good,” a soft voice said from behind me.
Tilian appeared at my side, staring at the sign.qa
“Counting on you to start corralling people,” I joked.
His nose wrinkled. “I’ll . . . be over there.” After dropping his backpack beneath the table, he went to lean against the building.
Not caring if it made him uncomfortable—everything did—I studied him. His blue eyes were less bright than usual, and even his general air of simmering anxiety seemed muted. He was just flat. Soulless.
“You think the others will be on time?” I ventured.
Staring down at his phone, he tapped a finger on the side absently. “Not sure. I’m surprised you didn’t carpool.”
“Dean’s first class is later than mine. I thought I’d let him sleep in since he worked pretty late.”
“He got a job?”
“Yeah, at The Commons. You know it?”
For a second, there was the barest hint of a smile on his face, then he ducked his head. “Uh, yeah. Been there.”
“My buddy owns the place.”
“Remi? He seems like a cool dude.” He grimaced. “I might’ve accidentally compared him to the rat.”
I snorted a laugh. “Bet he thought it was funny.”
His gaze went behind me, and somehow, I knew it was Dean.
When I smelled his cologne, like vanilla and musk, I turned around a little too fast, bumping the table with my hip.
I put my hand out to stabilize it and myself, which made Dean raise a brow.
As if he wanted to make it a million times worse, he put his hand on my upper arm.
“Careful there, hotshot.”
I laughed, but it came out more breathy than anything. “Yeah, that’s me. Just bumping into things and causing a scene.”
“Mm. You should’ve woken me up so you didn’t have to get all this together by yourself.”
Rubbing the back of my neck, I lazily shrugged one shoulder. “It wasn’t hard. You seen these beasts?” I rolled up my sleeve and flexed my bicep.
When he did the same, his eyes glinting with competition, I nearly started salivating.
It was Tilian’s little chuckle that drew my attention.
Clearing my throat, I pulled out my phone.
Brooks was the only one we were waiting on, so I took it upon myself to make sure he didn’t forget.
Not that he would, but he hadn’t been himself lately.
“Oh, Oli.” Dean’s use of my name, shortened like that, made me stare at my phone blankly. When I failed to respond, he punched me in the arm.
“Bro,” I said, rubbing the spot and trying not to pout.
“Thought you were having a stroke.”
“Why?”
“Probably cause your eyelashes were fluttering and you moaned,” Tilian pointed out.
The horror.
“Anyway,” Dean said, seemingly oblivious to the awkwardness. Tilian was definitely still aware of it, judging by the way he watched us. I narrowed my eyes a little, hoping he’d know that I was on to his meddling. “The Wi-Fi wasn’t working today.”
I looked at Dean. “Weird. Did you try unplugging it and plugging it back in?”
He pulled a face that made me feel dumb for asking. “Yeah, I tried that. I didn’t see any outage on the website, but I also can’t call them cause it’s not in my name.”
Navigating to the site, I logged in. It took me a few tries to remember my password, but once I did, I pulled up the account information. “Oh, that makes sense.”
“Is it an outage?”
“Nah, I didn’t pay it.”
“Do you . . . need help with it?”
I glanced sidelong at him. “No.”
“Are you sure?”
Ignoring the question, I logged into my bank account to make sure.
Damn. Why was my balance so low?
As I scrolled, I was aware of him watching, but I didn’t really care. We were college students living in Seattle where just existing cost a fraction of your soul. We were all broke.
When I found the issue, I snorted a laugh. “Forgot about that. Ultra Instinct Goku figure I pre-ordered.”
“Oh.”
“It’s cool. This is what credit cards are for, right?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Once it was paid, I slid my phone into my pocket. The look on Dean’s face was different than before, but he wasn’t paying attention to me anymore. I didn’t like the way he seemed to have gone into his head. Was it because of the Wi-Fi thing?
“Sorry it was off today,” I said, hoping to thaw the ice. “Sometimes, I forget.”
“You don’t have to explain.” He offered me a smile before he headed over to Tilian. They said some things to each other, too low for me to overhear.
Chewing on my lip, I couldn’t help but glance over at Dean every couple of minutes.
The whole exchange was weird. He probably thought I was irresponsible.
I sort of was, but I’d been working on it for a while.
Trying, at least. Every time I tried, I just got stressed as hell, and generally, I’d divert to playing games online to distract myself.
When Brooks arrived, he looked as casual as ever. Looked being the keyword. I could practically smell the chaos on him. He was put together, but his hands were in his pockets to hide the tension. I wondered if Tilian had noticed it yet or if they were still trying to figure each other out.
Just get together already, I wanted to scream. They were obviously miserable with this distance.
Tilian’s entire demeanor shifted as soon as he saw him. He was just dying to run and leap into the guy’s arms. It would be freaking movie-worthy.
Brooks smiled, showing his canines in a way that looked dangerous. “I’d love to answer some questions about mental health. Lay it on me.”
The ice in Dean’s expression was back again. “Nice of you to show up.”
Brooks showed him the time on his phone. “As usual, I’m absolutely perfect.” Finally, he looked at Tilian. His eyes softened so much, I wanted to shake the both of them.
“Hey,” I said. “I haven’t seen you all week. You okay?”
He turned toward me. “I’m great. Just got this stomach bug that tried to kill me, but I’m better now.”
“That’s good to hear. If you need notes from class, I can share.”
“Actually, yeah. Thanks, man.”
“Of course.”
Leaving him to do his own thing, I wandered over to where Dean was talking to a couple of girls. He was being professional, going over the purpose of the survey, but they were ogling him. One tucked her hair behind her ear, and the other giggled as if he’d said something funny.
“So, will you help us out?” he asked, slipping into something that was downright alluring. His smile could draw in his prey as soon as he flashed it. And here I was, wanting to offer him my neck.
“Sure,” the blonde one said. “Can you go over it with us to make sure we do it right?”
He passed them each a pamphlet and a pen. “It’s pretty straightforward. If you have any questions, though, just shout.”
She started to say something else, but I stepped up beside Dean. “I’ve gotta ask you something. Do you think question four is too confusing?”
He looked down at the pamphlet, and the girls moved over to the table. “Uh, I think it’s fine.”
“Oh, I don’t care about the question,” I said. “I know it’s on point. They just looked like they wanted to take a bite out of you.”
“Okay. And?”
“Well, they were going to keep you talking. We have dozens more surveys to collect.”
“You’re keeping me talking,” he pointed out. “You should be engaging the people too.”
“Are you upset with me?”
His mouth opened, and he blinked a few times. “Um . . . What?”
“You probably think I’m super irresponsible, forgetting to pay bills and stuff.”
“Dude, I already said it’s not a big deal. Maybe that mail on the counter would’ve reminded you, though.”
Rolling my lips, I thought about the stack he’d brought in. “Fair point.”
“Do you not have a system or anything?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Calendar reminders. Bill trackers.”
I shook my head. “That’d be a good idea.”
It was hard to tell if he laughed or sighed.
Before I could try to get more out of him, a guy stopped at the table to read our info pamphlet.
Dean joined him, striking up a conversation.
Deciding I should do the same, I targeted a group of jocks I was vaguely familiar with.
They might end up writing ‘Suck My Balls’ under the question ‘What actions could the university take to improve your mental health?’ but that was a risk among all college-aged guys. Probably even beyond.
Just as I was about to engage, one of them perked up with a grin. “Yo, Kennedy!”
Dean’s expression was bright as he jogged over to them.
As the group spread out a little to talk to him, I stopped, trying to decide if it’d be weird to join them now.
He’d probably think I was being relentless.
And I probably was. People tended to think I was annoying when I attached myself to them.
Except for Remi. He was the only one who understood it without me having to explain, which was good because if I explained it, people got even weirder, then ghosted me.
I guess hearing about someone’s past made them uncomfortable.
And that was how I’d learned not to overshare.
“Hey, you’ve got to do this survey,” Dean said. “All of you.”
One of the guys wrinkled his nose. Matt, if I recalled correctly. Some of the women on the swim team called him Micro Masculinity Matt. Based on their stories, he deserved the name.
“What’s it for?”
“Mental health,” Dean replied.
Matt snorted, then jabbed his finger toward Linc. “Give it to him. He’s in touch with his sensitive side.”
Linc turned to him, half amused and half annoyed. “Because I’m a musician, right?”
“Totally. A master of those long instruments.”
With a huff of laughter, Linc held his hand out for a pamphlet.