I’ve been at it for an hour when a knock against the door startles me from my intense focus, causing me to jump in my chair and whip my head around in a panic. My first thought is that it’s one of the Kings, here to nab me again. Then I remember,Kings don’t knock.
It’s probably just one of Richelle’s friends.
She pushes up from her desk chair with a sigh, padding over to the door to answer it while I turn back to the book in front of me and try to calm my racing heart.
“Is Ava here?” a male voice asks, and I cringe, glancing over my shoulder warily.
Richelle steps back, not even looking my way as she throws a thumb over her shoulder. “Aves, some hippie is here to see you,” she mumbles, heading back to her desk.
“Ouch, Rish, that hurts,” Bryce chuckles as he steps inside, clutching a hand to his chest and feigning injury. “We’ve known each other since we were kids, you attended my bar mitzvah!”
“Did I?” she asks boredly, flipping her shiny black hair over her shoulders as she sinks down into her chair. “Guess the party must’ve sucked if I don’t remember it.”
“Is that it, or were you just too coked out of your mind?”
I gasp at that, but Bryce just laughs, sauntering over to my desk and setting his hands on my shoulders. “Relax, new girl, we’re just playing around,” he chuckles, kneading my shoulders gently. “Rish knows she’s a bitch. This is our love language, isn’t it, babe?”
He glances her way, making a kissy face, but she just flips him the bird over her shoulder and goes on ignoring him.
“What’s up?” I ask, swiveling around in my chair to face Bryce.
He grins back at me, stuffing his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie. Reaching around for something inside, he pulls his hands back out, brandishing a lighter in one and a joint in the other. “Up for a study break?” he asks with a wag of his brows.
“Oh, I don’t know,” I mumble, chewing on my lower lip as I eye the joint pinched between his fingers. I know I need to get on top of my coursework, but with so much on my mind, the temptation to chill out and lose myself for a little while is certainly enticing.
“C’mon, Aves,” he urges, nudging the toe of my shoe with a sneaker. “I promise I’m better company than the ice queen over there.”
“Ugh, can both of you just leave so I can focus on this assignment?” Richelle groans, digging her hands into her hair and hanging her head over the book spread open on the desk in front of her.
Rolling my eyes, I push up out of my chair, smoothing down the back of my skirt. “Alright, let’s go,” I agree.
Bryce grins broadly, linking his arm through mine and leading me toward the door. “Later, bestie!” he calls over his shoulder, and I stifle a giggle at the glare Richelle shoots him on our way out.
I figure we’ll head outside to light up, but Bryce throws me for a loop when he stops off at the second floor of Sutton Hall, leading me to his dorm room instead. When we step inside, I find that the layout is identical to my own room– except here, there’s no angry Asian girl seated at a desk, huffing at our interruption. In fact, there’s nothing at all on one of the desks, or the bed beside it, for that matter. It’s decked out in the standard issue bedding branded with the Corvus College logo, but any personal effects are conspicuously absent.
“Where’s your roommate?” I wonder aloud, stepping further into the room.
“Ugh, long story,” Bryce groans as he passes by me to head for the window.
“I’ve got time,” I say, sinking onto the edge of the vacant bed. I watch as he fiddles with the latch, then pushes the window up a few inches, the cool night breeze trickling into the room.
Bryce spins back around, coming over to sit beside me on the bed and pulling out the joint and lighter again. “He was a jock, and he wasn’t thrilled about having me as a roommate,” Bryce mumbles, pinching the joint between his lips and sparking thelighter. The paper smolders as the tip catches and burns, the pungent smell of marijuana permeating the air.
After taking a long toke and blowing out the smoke, Bryce passes the joint over to me, continuing. “And by not thrilled, I mean he freaked out, like he thought I’d try to touch his dick in his sleep or something. He bitched to his daddy about it and got moved, so I lucked out and got a single.” He turns toward me as I puff on the joint, narrowing his eyes. “Seriously, why do straight men always just assume that everyone wants their dick?”
“I don’t know,” I chuckle, expelling the smoke from my lungs with a throaty cough. “Because they’re entitled assholes? They think they own the world, that they can do or say ortouchanything they want…” I trail off, realizing I’m getting too far into my own drama.
Bryce cocks a brow as he plucks the joint from my fingers, bringing it to his own lips again and inhaling deeply. A long pause settles between us as he holds in the smoke, then blows it out, giving me a pointed look as he hands it back over.
“I’m not gonna pry, because we don’t even really know each other and that’s just not my style. But I also don’t live under a rock, so I know you’ve gotten yourself mixed up with the Kings.”
“And you still want to be around me?” I mutter wryly, accepting the joint from him and daring to take a second hit.
“Psh, I’m not scared of them,” Bryce scoffs. “I’m an open book, so those assholes can’t get anything on me to hold over my head. You know what people here don’t realize? There’s a lot more ofusthan there are ofthem. Someone just needs to stand up and start a revolution.”
I launch into a coughing fit, thrusting the burning joint back in his direction as I struggle to catch my breath.
“Easy there, princess,” he laughs, clapping me hard on the back.
