Chapter 19
Ethan
Even though classes had been suspended for the whole week, the Royals had games every weekend from now on, so we had to go train.
That's why I get changed in silence and leave a Charlotte sprawled asleep in my bed.
She even tried to go to her own room last night, but I convinced her I could make her relax and forget everything, so Charlie followed me and I kept my word by giving her several orgasms before we both passed out.
I'd love to wake her up and have another round, but I'm already cutting it close, so I grab my backpack and get out of the room.
I run into Logan in the hallway and he mumbles a "morning" at me, kind of groggy with sleep. We eat breakfast really fast and, since we don't have class, we decide to go to practice in one car.
Logan drinks the day's second coffee from his thermos and seems fifty percent more awake.
"What happened, didn't you sleep well?" I break the silence, and my friend lets out a grumpy groan.
"Not much."
"Insomnia?"
"Not exactly. Loud roommates," he fires off, and I suffer a sudden coughing fit. Lucky I'm stopped at the light or I could have caused some damage.
When I finally recover, Logan is laughing.
"Now you get embarrassed? Seriously?" he accuses, and I focus on the road so I don't have to look at him.
"My bad, I didn't think you could hear that much."
"We share a wall, sweetheart. When your bed starts banging..."
The image of him being besieged by a sequence of knocks against the wall ends up turning my mild embarrassment into something really funny, and I'm forced to press my lips together to keep from cracking up.
"Got it. I'm sorry," I say, but then I think better of it and add. "Actually, I'm not that sorry, because I've suffered through your banging way more than you've suffered through mine." This time I can't resist laughing, and Logan joins me.
"Fair. But it doesn't mean I won't complain every time you two rob me of sleep, especially now with your girlfriend living with us," he accuses, and I park in front of the college gym before shooting him a big smile.
"Try not to die of envy in the meantime," I fire off, and Logan tries to elbow me in the stomach, but I escape out of the car just in time.
We go around trading punches and knuckle-raps like a couple of idiots until the entrance of the building, where the coach looks at us with so much judgment that we stop instantly.
"Great. For a second there I thought I'd become an elementary school teacher," he sneers, and I fix my hair in a hurry.
"No, sir. Good morning," I greet, and he just nods, his lips pressed together in the usual bad mood.
We secretly bet on how long it had been since he last smiled. Logan's guess was that he'd been born without that function.
"Morning, coach," Logan greets him too and earns only a dismissive wave of the hand.
"Get inside already. I want you both on the treadmill running," he demands, and I avoid making a face because I know from experience that it would only make him increase our torture for today.
"Twenty minutes. And I don't want to hear a single complaint," he adds, and we run to obey before it actually gets worse.
Damn. Today was going to be quite a day.
An hour of weights and two of tactical, technical, and physical training later, I'm exhausted and thanking the heavens we don't have class.
I let Logan drive us home, but first we stop at the market to buy what the team nutritionist recommended for the week.
When we get to the apartment and unload the groceries, I look for Charlie.
It doesn't take long to find her in the bedroom, lying down and messing with her phone.
I knock lightly on the doorframe to announce myself, and the beautiful woman with the colored hair lifts her eyes and smiles at me.
Damn. It would be so much easier not to get attached if she weren't so pretty.
"Hi, kitten, how are you?" I ask, and she pats the mattress, signaling for me to come closer, and I do, sitting on the bed beside her.
"I'm good, all things considered. I talked to my mom and she's going to be able to help me pay for the things I need to buy, especially a new computer. She's going to send some of my clothes that are back home too."
"Good."
"I talked to Maddie too. We're going to look for an apartment near the university to share.
Something small and not too expensive. I might have to give up the statistics assistant job and look for something that pays better, same as her, but it'll work out," she explains in a voice that tries to be upbeat but sounds more resigned.
I frown immediately.
"Why would you do that? I already said you can stay here," I reiterate, and Charlie reaches out a hand to stroke my arm.
"Yes, and I'm so grateful. But I can't stay here forever, right? Neither can Maddie at the Gamma," she says, laughing lightly, and I shake my head.
"Of course you can. And you should. You and Maddie, if she wants to. Stay here until the dorm is livable again, or the university manages to relocate you two to another building."
"No, this is your space! You never wanted to add a third person, it's not right for me to just barge in like this."
"Because nobody this pretty had shown up," I shoot back, and she gives me a little smack on the shoulder.
"I'm being serious!"
"So am I!"
"You're being thoughtful and sweet, but you're going to regret it real fast when you realize you won't be able to bring your other little hookups over here."
"I'm not hooking up with anyone besides you and I'm not interested in changing that anytime soon." That seems to surprise her, because her eyes widen a little.
"Okay, but you're not the only one who lives here. What does Logan think about this?" she fires off, and I smile before shouting my friend's name. The blond mane appears in the doorway seconds later.
"Was I summoned?"
"Yes. Charlie wants to leave," I say, and he frowns, coming closer quickly and sitting on the other side of the bed.
"And why would she do something that dumb? You're going to stay at the Gamma with your cousin and that pile of stinky males?"
Charlie sighs before answering him.
"I'm not leaving today. And definitely not to the fraternity. I was just telling Ethan that Maddie and I are going to start looking for a cheap apartment to share," she explains again, and Logan makes a dismissive gesture.
"And why not stay here and save up to get your stuff back?"
"That's what I told her!" I back him up, and Charlie laughs in disbelief.
"This is ridiculous. I'm not going to stay here getting in your way, and definitely not without paying anything."
"Do you drag furniture around in the middle of the night?" Logan fires off, and she looks at him, confused.
"Of course not, why would I do that?"
"Are you a hoarder who's going to turn our place into a public calamity?"
"What? No!"
"Are you crazy and going to try to steal my hookups from me the next morning?"
"No? Unfortunately I'm not attracted to women, I've tried. My toxic trait is liking men, honestly."
"Do you have a bad-boy lover you're going to bring over at night who'll steal even our boxers?"
"No, you idiot," she answers, and by this point she's already got her arms crossed and a fixed little wrinkle between her eyebrows. My friend isn't fazed one bit.
On the contrary, he grabs her foot and breaks into a big smile.
"Then you're not going to get in our way at all.
And we don't need help with the rent, we've covered it on our own for a while.
Your dear Ethan here's dad owns a textile factory, did you know?
Has a ton of money," he says, and she darts her eyes to me for a second, asking for confirmation, and I shrug in a "yeah, that's right.
" "And my mom is a renowned artist. Each of her sculptures pays for a year of rent. "
"Oh my God, am I surrounded by spoiled rich kids?" she exclaims, alternating between looking at the two of us.
"Just about. But to sum up: we don't need you to pay anything. And you won't be in the way. Same goes for Maddie," I insist, and Logan nods, agreeing.
"No. That wouldn't be fair! I can't accept it."
"But we're not going to take no for an answer, kitten," I assure, and she rubs her face again.
"That's right. Your options are: stay or stay."
"Ugh! You two are terrible!" she complains and gives each of us a smack on the shoulder.
"Never said otherwise," the other player reinforces, and I laugh.
"I'll think about it. And talk to Maddie again, but I doubt she'll go for it!"
"Fine. But let her know we can be pretty persuasive," I say, and Charlie rolls her eyes.
"Okay, okay. Enough of this craziness for today! The college let us know we'll be able to get into Lovelace today to grab some things. Can you two come with me?"
"Of course," I answer right away. "But let's eat lunch first. Do you eat grilled chicken and green salad? Because that's what's on our diet today. And apparently for a while," I ask, making a face.
"I do."
"Great. Make it for us? Consider it your share of the rent," I say, already getting up to avoid another of her little smacks, but this time the girl just laughs and gets up from the bed too.
"Okay, you pains, cooking is one of the things I do really well," she assures and dashes off to the kitchen. I trade a knowing smile with Logan, followed by a high five, and only then do we go after our roommate.