2. Hudson
I’d just found a nice, peaceful spot to eat my lunch in the corner of the Student Union’s main cafeteria, where the back wall met the windows overlooking the quad, when I heard a female voice call my name.
Instantly tightening in the hopes that Genesis hadn’t found me, I paused with my mouth open and my sub sandwich inches from that first taste.
But instead of catching sight of my girlfriend, I found the lady love of one of my best friends and roommates instead, dodging around all the tables to reach me.
“Hey, hey,” I greeted with a genuine smile as relief flooded my veins. “There’s a sight for sore eyes.”
“You’re telling me,” Oaklynn agreed as she dropped her tray next to mine on the table and sat beside me. “I can’t believe we were lucky enough to actually catch a meal with you for once.”
We meant Damien must not be far behind, and when I glanced toward the buffet, I spotted her boyfriend over by the drink fountains, filling a cup.
“It’s definitely a treat,” I agreed, looping an arm over her shoulders and pulling her in closer. “Happy birthday to me, huh?”
She grinned and rolled her eyes. “Literally.” Then she plucked at my shirt. “So question. Why’re you wearing Damien’s clothes?”
I glanced down in surprise. “Is this his? Huh. Sorry about that. It’s been a while since I had time to do laundry, and this was the next thing in my drawer. Must’ve gotten switched at some point.” Reaching for the hem, I started to pull it up my chest. “But no worries, I’ll give it back right now.”
“Good Lord, stop,” she cried, shoving my hand down so I’d cease undressing for her. “We’d have a whole swarm of horny coeds mobbing the table if you went shirtless, and I’d never get my lunch eaten.”
Laughing outright, I kissed her hair and praised, “God, you’re good for my ego. I’ve missed hanging with y’all between classes.”
I actually wasn’t sure how I was lucky enough to get a free hour. Gen typically had me doing some errand or another for her during my lunch breaks.
It really must be my birthday.
“I know,” Oaklynn was saying as she picked up a French fry and dunked it into her ketchup. “Feels like we never get to see you anymore. You’ve been working so much at the restaurant in the evenings and spending the rest of your time with what’s her face that I’m beginning to wonder if you’re still our roommate or not.”
I sent her a smoky look and lift of my brows. “Missing me that much, are you?” With a smile, because it was sweet that she cared, I sighed and began to wind a lock of her dark hair around my finger. “I’ll tell you what, darlin’. If you give that loser boyfriend of yours the boot, I’ll toss ol’ what’s her face over for you this minute.”
Smirking challengingly in Damien’s direction, only to realize he still wasn’t close enough to hear me, my smile fell because it was really only fun to tease his girl like that when he was within earshot.
Next to me, Oaklynn muffled, “Mmph,” from a mouthful and rolled her eyes, not at all swayed by my flirting. Then she caught sight of Damien approaching, and she sat straighter, her eyes going soft with attraction while her shoulders lifted as she drew in a deep breath.
Gah, the girl had it bad for him; it was fucking adorable.
Before he could sit at her other side on the bench with us, however, another guy darted forward in front of him and plopped down beside her, stealing his spot.
“So I’ve been researching,” Keene announced, dropping his tray so negligently on the table that it skidded into Oaklynn’s, which in turn bumped into mine.
“Hey!” I warned, reaching out to catch my cup just in time to keep it from spilling when it started to tip.
In front of us, Damien jarred to a halt and scowled at our other roommate, who completely ignored him as he continued to focus all his attention on Oaklynn.
“And I think I found something useful,” he babbled.
Oaklynn sent her boyfriend a rueful, apologetic smile before turning to Keene. “What are you even talking about?”
“I’m talking about you!” Keene cried as if he thought that should be obvious. Then, he stole three of her fries since he’d opted to get pizza for himself, and he added from a full mouth, “About your abilities.”
“What? Shh.” Eyes going wide, she shoved at his arm while glancing around to make sure no one was paying us any attention. But I’d parked myself so far into the corner that we basically had the entire area to ourselves.
On the other side of the table, Damien heaved out a depressed breath since he wasn’t going to get to sit by his girlfriend, and he slumped down into one of the chairs across from us.
“We agreed not to talk about that on campus,” Oaklynn reminded Keene from between clenched teeth. “Remember?”
“Yeah, but you’re gonna want to hear this,” he started adamantly, ignoring her wishes. “Because I was just at the library, browsing through some supernatural books?—”
“Oh my God,” Oaklynn groaned in embarrassment as she ducked her face and pressed a hand to her brow.
“And—”
“Wait!” a new voice demanded as yet another member joined our party.
At six feet and six inches with two hundred pounds of weight under his belt—or nearly the same weight and height as the singer Hozier, as he liked to boast—Alec, my fourth and final roommate, lumbered toward us.
“I want to see her reaction when you tell her,” he said to Keene as he snagged the chair beside Damien’s, which I’d been propping my feet on.
“Really?” I complained when he pulled the seat out abruptly from under me and sent my shoes tumbling to the ground, which seemed to reverberate up into my skull with a painful echo. Gritting my teeth, I gripped the side of my head and slid upright on the bench as I sent him a harassed glance.
“Oops, sorry.” He didn’t give me the chair back, though, but plopped down into it giddily, his attention on Keene as he rolled out his hand. “Okay. Continue.”
Wound up even more by Alec’s excitement, Keene seemed to vibrate with his exuberance as he turned fully toward Oaklynn and lifted both hands in building anticipation before the word, “Orbs,” exploded from his lungs.
She blinked at him before echoing, “Orbs?” Then she glanced across the table toward Damien, mouthing the word in question.
All he did was shrug.
So I leaned past her to scowl at Keene. “Yeah, what about them, dumbass?”
He glanced at me, his smile slipping, before he returned his attention to Oaklynn. “I think they can help you tell whether a person is a ghost or not, since, you know, you can’t seem to tell otherwise.”
“Oh my God! Keene,” she hissed, glancing out conspicuously before mean-mugging him. “You promised you weren’t going to use that word on campus.”
Since it had only been about two months since Oaklynn had learned she had psychic abilities and could communicate with the dead, this was all new to her. To be honest, it was new to all of us, but I think it freaked her out the most. So we really weren’t allowed to talk about it with her outside the house we all rented together.
But when Keene learned something new that excited him, there was no shutting him up.
“Sorry,” he hissed, not really sorry at all. “But this is big. Besides, you’re the one who said you wanted to be able to tell whether the person you were talking to was?—”
“Okay, okay, you’re right,” she cut in with lifted hands to keep him from finishing his sentence and uttering the dreaded G word again. Lowering her voice, she admitted, “I do want to know. So what do orbs have to do with it? They’re those light flare thingies in photos where spirits are supposed to be, right? Are you saying you think I should just take a picture of everyone I talk to and see if they turn into an orb on camera or not?”
“Nope. No camera needed,” he announced proudly. “Because I just read about someone with clairvoyance who could see orbs with the naked eye, and she could see them in every color.”
“Clairvoyance?” Oaklynn wrinkled her nose. “But I don’t see into the future. I don’t perceive things happening far away. I just…see dead people.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s all psychic power, extrasensory perception, a sixth sense. And that’s what you have.”
“So did you ever see any orbs around Thalia?” Alec asked.
Oaklynn bit her lip. “No. I don’t think so. Nothing that stood out and was super noticeable, anyway. But she did like to stay away from natural light.” With a thoughtful squint, she admitted, “Huh. Maybe that was why.”
“Ooh, good thinking,” Keene said, not wanting to give up on his theory. “And it makes sense that she’d avoid it for that reason too, since she didn’t want you to realize she was a ghost. How about you look around the room now and see if anyone here has any kind of orb hanging around them.”
“You mean, other than you?” she teased, making a ghostly oohing sound as she wiggled her fingers at him.
Keene scowled, growing a little too serious about his theory. “Just look,” he begged.
“Okay, alright.” Oaklynn dropped her hands, heaved out a breath, and scanned the room, murmuring under her breath. “No lights, no lights, and…no light.” Then she glanced out the windows past my shoulder and straightened. “Oh! You think it’s like the strange reflection of light off that old lady sitting on the bench out there, feeding the birds?”
The rest of us turned and looked out the window in unison.
Alec was the first to react, shooting to his feet and lifting his hands in surrender. “Yep, I’m out,” he said as he waved farewell and then grabbed his food. “This is just too eerie for me.”
I snickered as he fled and couldn’t keep from calling, “Wuss.”
“What?” Oaklynn asked in confusion, her gaze immediately seeking Damien’s.
He shook his head with a wince. “No one’s sitting on that bench.”
Her eyes widened. “You mean…?” She whirled to gape at the bench again. Then she pointed. “So she’s…?”
“This is great,” Keene announced, clearly excited. “What’s the orb look like? What color is it?”
“It isn’t a color,” Oaklynn explained, furrowing her brow thoughtfully. “It’s just…light reflecting off her as if she’s a mirror.” She whirled back to Damien. “Are you sure no one’s there?”
I snorted. “Dimples, there aren’t even birds over there.”
“Oh joy,” she whimpered, throwing up her hands in defeat. “Now I see dead birds too?”
“It’s okay.” Damien immediately reached across the table for her. “This just makes you more special.”
As the two of them locked hands, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I barely refrained from whining pathetically, not really wanting to see who was trying to reach me. I suppose it could be one of my parents, calling to wish me a happy birthday.
But—yeah, right—I highly doubted that. They’d barely remembered my birthday when I’d been living with them.
I knew it couldn’t be Thane’s parents. They’d already called from whatever cruise they were currently on to wish me a good day.
More than likely, if anyone was going to send me birthday wishes, it’d be one of the other guys—Thane, Parker, or Foster.
So, thinking of them, I pulled the phone from my pocket and checked the screen.
But it was Genesis.
Dammit.
Whatcha doing?
I sighed, trying to think up a non-truthful answer she’d like.
Just sitting here, thinking about you.
But as soon as I sent that, I knew I’d gone too far. She was going to want to see me again. And I’d already seen her once this morning, meeting her in front of her Statistics class, where she always wanted me to camp out and wait for her.
So I already took my Marketing final on Wednesday and am now officially done with that class, meaning I have the rest of this afternoon free. Want to come over and chill?
Answering her honestly wouldn’t do me any favors because I’d rather stick needles in my eyeballs than spend the rest of the afternoon with her. But thankfully, I did have two more classes on my schedule today.
I mean, both professors had said they weren’t required, since we were only reviewing for the final, but it suddenly felt very imperative for me to attend. And review.
I have classes until four, sorry.
After that?” she asked. “You don’t have to be at that little thing with your friends until seven, right?
Ugh. She wasn’t going to let this go, was she?
Hissing out my reluctant compliance, I rubbed my forehead, which was beginning to pound, and I wrote,
Sounds great. See you just after four. Your place.
On the other side of Oaklynn, Keene suddenly exclaimed, “Dude, there she is again.”
“What? Who?” Oaklynn asked, actually sounding interested in whatever he was talking about. “The bird lady?”
“No. That chick right there,” Keene said. “Please tell me you’ve slept with her?”
“Me?” Oaklynn asked, clearly startled. “No. Never.”
“Not you.” Keene sent her an irritated sniff, only to pause and hum thoughtfully over the idea. “Though, it would’ve been totally awesome if you had.”
“Then who the heck are you talking to?” Oaklynn demanded. “There’s three of us here.”
“Well, I’m obviously not referring to either you or Arch,” Keene argued. “You two only sleep with each other.”
Which left me up at bat.
Lifting my face from the screen of my phone where Genesis had sent me a kissing emoji, I asked, “Who’re we talking about?”
“The girl at the taco bar who’s putting her order in right now,” Keene said.
Two seconds later, I locked my gaze on the target and immediately lifted my brows. Her back was to us, so there was no way I could see her face, but tilting my head to the side, I said, “Well, I don’t recognize the ass.”
And it was a fine ass; I think I’d remember the face that went with it.
“Just wait until she turns,” Keene instructed solemnly.
I nodded and waited. Six seconds later, she turned with a tray in hand, and I could make out enough of her face to see her clearly. It was a pretty face. Dark, exotic eyes, dark, smooth skin, lovely, elegant features. And her body was nice: slim and tall with just enough curves in her hips, ass, and breasts to make her bewitchingly comely.
But…
“Nope,” I said and immediately returned my attention to my phone, but Genesis was done talking to me, thank goodness. “Never had the pleasure.”
“You sure?”
I glanced up in surprise and cocked Keene a dismayed glance. “Dude, really? Yes, I’m sure.”
“Or maybe you have,” Keene persisted. “And you just don’t want to say.”
“No,” I countered. “I haven’t. And I’d definitely say.” Glancing back at her, where she’d paused at the cash register to pay for her food, I lifted my eyebrows. “I’d tell everyone about that.”
“Why does it matter so much if he’s slept with her or not?” Oaklynn asked.
“Because…” Keene whined. “I can’t figure her out. I think maybe she has a serious thing for Ivey. But I want her. I’ve seen her two other times around campus, and she always—always, without fail—completely ignores my existence so she can check him out.”
I grinned. “Bro, do I really need to explain to you why that is?”
He sent me a dry glower.
So I proceeded to humiliate him to the best of my ability.
“You see, when a completely hot person, like me, is standing next to a completely average person, like you, others walking by tend to gravitate their attention to the hot one…and not even realize the average fucker is even present.”
“Fuck you, man.” He flipped me off. “I’m not average.”
“Oh my God,” Oaklynn gasped between us, her attention elsewhere. “She really is checking you out, Hudson. She didn’t even glance at Damien. She’s locked in so hard I bet she has no idea there are other people even sitting with you right now.” Glancing at me with lifted eyebrows, she claimed, “You have a serious admirer.”
“An admirer, huh?” I once again glanced toward the girl we were discussing, but she’d already turned her attention away from us to find a table for herself.
“Come on, Ivey,” Keene encouraged. “Fess up already. You’ve fucked her, haven’t you?”
“Dumbass,” I countered, reaching past Oaklynn to flick him in the head. “No. I have a girlfriend now.”
“Yeah, but you don’t like the worm queen.”
“Doesn’t matter,” I countered, sending him a dismayed glance. “I don’t cheat.”
“The worm queen?” Oaklynn wrinkled her nose. “Is that really what we’re going to call her?”
“Hell, yes,” Keene insisted. “You’re the one who told us her daddy’s restaurant means Worm Village in Spanish. It’s, like, required now.”
“Oh brother,” she mumbled, rolling her eyes. “You’re so hopeless.”
Keene ignored her as he returned his attention to me. “Maybe you had her in the past. Like last year or something. You’ve only been with the worm queen for—what?—two months, max.”
“Genesis,” Oaklynn whispered. “Her name is Genesis.”
I sniffed and shook my head sadly. “I’m telling you, Duggie, I’ve never seen that girl before in my life.”
“So maybe it was a drunk hookup you don’t remember.”
Except that made me shake my head too. “Nope. I haven’t had a substance abuse blackout since high school, sorry.”
“Then—”
“Dude. I’m looking right at her,” I insisted. “And I don’t know her.”
I pointedly returned my attention to the girl in question to make Keene happy just as she glanced back.
From that point on, the breath stalled in my lungs.