2. Jake
CHAPTER TWO
jake
ELEVEN YEARS AGO
Agroup of voices outside my dorm room caught my attention before the lock clicked and the door opened to a boy around my age.
He took a few steps into the room and extended his hand out to me. “Hi, I’m Colter. I guess I’m your roommate.”
I stood, scootching back my desk chair before meeting him in the center of the room. My palm grasped his in a firm handshake. “Jake.”
Not wanting to just stand there awkwardly, I sat back down at my desk.
A man and woman, who I assumed were Colter’s parents, walked through the door with a big wagon full of stuff.
“Hi there,” the woman greeted me, a bright smile spreading across her cheeks. “I’m Maggie, Colter’s mom. That’s his dad, Chip. You must be his roommate.”
“Yep, that’s me. I’m Jake.”
“Nice to meet you.” She turned to Colter, who had started throwing sheets on top of the bunk across from mine. “Are you sure you don’t want to move it down a little? I worry you might roll off in the middle of the night.”
Instinctually, I looked around at my own setup. My bed was on the highest rung it could go, and I set up my desk underneath it. I also had a mini fridge and a small lounge chair.
The room was small, but I didn’t plan to spend too much time in here.
On the far wall opposite the door was a window, and there were two identical closets on the left- and right-side walls near the entrance.
If we moved the bunks back, there would be just enough room to put our desks by the window.
Maybe we could set up a couch underneath one of the beds and a TV beneath the other if Colter had those things.
He shook his head, rolling his eyes a little. “Nah, I want to put a futon or something underneath it. Besides, I’ll be fine. There’s a guardrail to prevent me from falling off.”
“Okay, if you’re sure.”
Chip cleared his throat then gestured to the door. “Everything’s out of the car, so I’m going to move it before we get yelled at. Caitlin is standing by it right now, so I’ll send her up to help.”
“Do you have a TV?” Colter asked, as though he was reading my thoughts.
I shook my head. I pretty much had the bare minimum of things, besides the mini fridge. I’d used basically all of what was left of my summer money to buy it. My parents sure as hell weren’t going to give me money for college. Not when they spent it on other things.
“That’s okay. I have one if you want to share it. Do you play video games at all?”
I shrugged. “Kind of, but not really.” I’d played a couple of games on one of my friend’s Xbox when I was in high school, but I didn’t have a fancy gaming console of my own.
“That’s all right. I have an Xbox, but I’m not a hardcore gamer or anything like that.” Colter laughed. “You’re on the rodeo team, too, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. Sure am.”
“Cool.”
A soft knock on the wall outside the room diverted my attention, and my jaw went slack when I took in the girl standing in the doorway. Her brunette hair fell just below her elbows, and she was fairly tall, maybe five-foot-ten.
“Dad sent me up here to help Colter get settled in.” She spoke softly, and her amber-brown eyes locked on me for a split second before averting back to Maggie.
She’s so pretty, I thought. Pretty like the sun shining through the pines.
“Jake?”
I snapped back to reality to find Maggie, Colter, and his sister all staring at me.
“Hmm?” Heat flooded into my face.
“I said, ‘This is my older sister, Caitlin,’” Colter repeated himself. “She’s a senior here at SGU.”
“S-sorry.” My chair scraped against the floor with a painful screech as I stumbled over my feet to get closer to the door. “I’m Jake.”
Her lips quirked up into a soft smile. “I’m Caitlin, but you already knew that. Hopefully my brother doesn’t annoy you too much as your roommate.”
“Hey!” Colter protested.
“N-no, he’s cool. Er… so far.” My tongue twisted with every word, mouth drying like a cotton ball had been stuffed into it. “I kind of just met him.”
She laughed, and the corners of her eyes crinkled. “I’m sure you’ll get along just fine.”
“Caitlin, would you help me get some of these things hung up in the closet?” Maggie pulled her away from the conversation, and I took it as my cue to go back to my own business.
Even so, I couldn’t help but steal a few glances at Caitlin as they continued to unpack Colter’s belongings, or at least get them in a position where they weren’t in the way.
School had been in session for almost a month, and I finally felt like I had a grasp on a daily routine. Enough that I could relax and actually have some fun.
Colter mentioned a house party as he was on his way out the door for class this morning. From the moment he brought it up, I was planning to say yes, but then he mentioned that Caitlin would be there, which solidified my decision to go.
Warm bodies were packed into the small house off campus like sardines. The scent of booze and sweat mingled in the air, and I had to strain my ears to hear Colter as we pushed through the crowds.
“Cait told me she’s around here somewhere,” he said when we finally got to the kitchen.
An assortment of liquor bottles covered the kitchen island, and stacks of Solo cups were scattered around them.
Colter gave me a healthy pour of vodka, and my face wrinkled when I lifted it to my nose, getting a good whiff.
I wasn’t a stranger to alcohol. In a small town where my family’s reputation—particularly my father’s—preceded me, I didn’t have much to lose as it was, so I partook in pretty much everything except hard drugs.
Drugs were one thing I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole.
Not after witnessing the consequences they had on a person’s life.
Getting the rodeo scholarship at SGU made me realize I could actually make something of myself, though, so I did my best to stay out of trouble. Still, it didn’t stop rumors from floating around about Denny Flynn’s delinquent son.
I’d heard it all over the last four years.
The family is all peddling drugs together.
Denny’s making drugs in his basement.
That Flynn boy will probably be in jail by the time he turns eighteen.
My drink sloshed around in my cup as Colter elbowed me, pointing toward the hallway. “There she is.”
My eyes snapped up as Caitlin walked straight toward us.
“You guys made it!” She had a rosy flush to her cheeks, and she flashed a beaming smile before pulling both of us into tight hugs, catching me off guard. “Are you having fun so far?”
“We just got here, but yeah, it’s cool.” Colter shrugged, like he was trying to seem nonchalant and not like a new freshman on campus.
“What do you think of it here so far?” She glanced over at me.
“Who, me?” I pointed to myself.
Caitlin laughed, the sound tickling my eardrums in the best way. “Yeah, silly. Do you like it here? Is it what you expected, or better?”
“I do. Like it here, that is. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but yeah, it’s good. I didn’t walk into the wrong room on the first day of classes, so I’ll consider that a win.”
Some of my peers weren’t so lucky and didn’t realize they sat in the wrong class until it was too late, subjected to the “walk of shame” and having to a hasty retreat once the professor started talking about the syllabus.
A laugh slipped from my lips, but I wasn’t alone, because Caitlin joined in.
“Well, that’s good. Hopefully Colter hasn’t been a horrible roommate.” She reached over to ruffle the hair on top of Colter’s head.
He swatted her hand away in protest with a, “Hey!”
I shook my head, swallowing my laughter. “He’s all right, I guess,” I joked, earning myself an elbow to the ribs.
“Colter, hey!” an unfamiliar voice, belonging to a guy with auburn hair around our age, called from the doorway to the kitchen.
“Hey, Zach!” Colter pushed off the counter, pulling the guy into a big bear hug. They exchanged pleasantries, and eventually Colter told me that they were going to catch up but he’d be right back.
I waved him off, not worried about being abandoned at this party. Besides, I still had Caitlin for company.
“Did you do any of the welcome week stuff when classes started?” she asked as she poured the contents of some bottle with a pink label into her cup.
“We walked around the club and involvement fair a bit,” I replied before moving so I was leaning against the countertop. My shoulder brushed hers, but she didn’t move away.
“I love the club fair. You wouldn’t believe the crazy things people come up with.”
“Oh, believe me, I know now. I was half tempted to sign up for the sandwich club.” A huff of laughter tore its way out of me. “That seemed like it might be right up my alley. Are you part of any?”
She nodded. “I’m not in as many as I was my freshman year, but I’m in the country dance club, and I volunteer with the campus food pantry a lot.”
“Country dancing, eh?” I winked. “You’ll have to teach me some new moves.” Normally, I wouldn’t flirt so openly with a girl, but there was something about Caitlin that pulled me in, made me comfortable to be myself around her.
“You know how to dance?”
“I grew up in a small town in Montana, Caitlin,” I pointed out. “Of course, I know how to dance.”
“Cait,” she blurted.
One eyebrow raised, I waited for her to continue.
“You can call me that. My friends…they all call me Cait. But not Caity. I hate being called that.”
I hummed in understanding. “Noted.”
“What are you studying?”
“Construction engineering technology,” I recited, having gotten this question about a billion times already, though I couldn’t say I minded it too much coming from her.
“Whoa.” Her eyes widened.
I cocked my head, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth to suppress a grin. “What? Are you impressed?”
Pink streaked across her cheeks, and her eyes flicked to the floor for a moment before they returned to mine with a deviance in them. “Um, yeah, who wouldn’t be?”
I shrugged, offering up a lame response. “I don’t know. It’s just construction.”
Her nostrils flared, and she shook her head, a sudden sternness coming through her voice when she said, “No, don’t say that. Don’t reduce yourself to ‘just construction’ when mistakes in that field can cost people their lives.”
My chin dipped toward the floor, embarrassment flowing over me for a moment. When I lifted my head again, her eyes softened.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
I stopped her before she could say anything else.
“No, you’re right. I guess I’m just used to people not expecting much from me…
” My voice trailed off, ending in an exhaled breath.
I could tell she wanted to ask questions, the curiosity and maybe a bit of concern shining in her eyes, but I quickly changed the subject. “Anyway, could I get your num—”
My sentence was cut short by a man’s arm draping around her shoulders.
“Who’s this, Caity?”
She’d just told me she hated when people called her that. Who the hell was this guy, and why was he using that name?
A pink tint spread across her cheeks as she subtly brushed his hand away. “This is Colter’s roommate, Jake.”
Colter’s roommate? Is that all I am?
I didn’t have time to say anything before she continued. “Jake, this is my boyfriend, Adam.”
Boyfriend?
My heart suddenly felt like a thousand pounds in my chest, weighing me down. I did my best to wipe the disappointment off my face, but I wasn’t sure I succeeded.
“Good to meet you, man.” His eyes flicked up and down my frame. He was shorter than me, but somehow his presence made me feel inferior. Small.
Of course, she had a boyfriend. She was a senior, and I was just a freshman. I never stood a chance.
“Yeah. You, too,” I grumbled.