Page 25 of Hell House
“Ow. Motherfucker. What was that for?”
I bite into my own burger. “I haven’t had to hide porn since we were kids, moron. It’s all on the internet now.”
He chuckles, an evil glint in his eyes makes me wonder if he knows I’ve been obsessively drawing her. There’s no way she hasn’t found those already since Pierce let her into my fucking room. I feel panic clawing at me. How do I play this off like I’m not some crazy stalker?
“You like her.”
“What? No.” I shove down the pull of Lust that’s trying to fight its way up at the hint of my straying thoughts. Just one mention of her name seems to have it rearing to go. Not that I blame it. I don’t even seem to need it’s influence when it comes to my attraction to her.
“Ohhh. Protesting too much brother?”
“Brother, why would I saddle myself with liking just one person. You know I could get anyone I wanted.”
That’s what I need to do. Focus on getting with someone else and hope she had some ridiculous flaw that would make her immediately undesirable. That kind of shit had to show up while being forced to share a room with her.
“So, you don’t mind if I ask her out then?” Garrison says having listened to our whole conversation, quietly eating.
I regard him for a moment before grinning like I don’t give a shit- a look I’ve perfected growing up the way Pierce and I did. “Why would I mind?” I ignore the squeeze of jealousy that instantly settles in my stomach.
“I don’t mind at all.” I’ll make that my truth even it I don’t feel it right now. Skye Dannon won’t control me like this. I’ve had enough of people and things trying to control me and some hot girl that managed to snare my attention momentarily won’t be one of them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Skye
Okay. I’m not going to panic. I’m going to be a mature adult about rooming with arguably the hottest guy I’ve ever seen. Oh god, what if he masturbates while I’m in here? What if he has a girl in here at some point? How am I supposed to get dressed? My thoughts spiral, each one more anxious than the next. I feel a stab of regret at not choosing the servant’s room, but it wouldn’t be fair to Salem. She’d lost almost everything in that fire, whereas my things remained mostly unscathed. I’m exhausted, but I feel a nervous energy coursing beneath my skin that won’t let me rest just yet. I take in my new accommodations, putting my things where I want them. I clutch my photo album of my mom to my chest, inhaling the scent of smoke and thumb through the pictures. I wish I could reach through the photo and curl up on her lap, telling her everything that she’s missed. I heave out a sigh and place it under my new bed. I’m so exhausted that I feel sleep clawing at me. I go to turn off the light, and my vision snags on Lukas’s desk. I glance around wondering when he’ll get here and decide to take a peek while the room is still vacated. I tentatively pick up a crumbled paper that sits on the corner of his desk, unfolding the edges of the paper, when my breath catches in my throat making me let out a strangled gasp. I take in the picture in front of me, the dark sweeping lines that make up the art and my hand shakes, my heart hammering as I stare in disbelief.
It’s me.
I’m looking at a detailed up-close portrait of myself. He’s captured even the most minute parts of myself down to the small bump on my nose. In the picture, I’m mid laugh, eyes dancing with joy, tiny freckles dotting the sides of my nose. My hair is swept up into two messy space buns, and I have one earbud hanging down onto my shoulder. I’m lost in examining the picture that I almost don’t hear an exaggerated cough from behind me. I quickly drop the paper and turn around, a fierce blush creeping up my neck at being caught.
“Already making yourself at home I see.” Lukas says in almost a drawl that sends my already hammering pulse skyrocketing. Jesus, did he get better looking every time I laid my eyes on him? I feel my legs clench together and I silently chide myself. He’s going to be my roommate.
“Sorry.” I manage to say, slinking back over to my side of the room. I sit tentatively on the edge of the bed, aware that Javelynn’s skirt they’d leant me was a smidge too small and showed off a ridiculous amount of my legs. Lukas doesn’t seem to notice though and strides over to the piece of paper that I’d dropped. My stomach knots up when I see him give the paper that same scowl he’d had when I showed him my artwork the other day.
He crumples the paper up without a word, kicking off his shoes and laying down on top of his covers. I feel awkward wondering if we’re going to talk about roommate rules and expectations. My leg starts bouncing of its own volition while I churn over my thoughts. My mind fills with all different scenarios until I’m practically sending myself into a panic attack.
“Spit it out already, I can practically hear your anxiety from here.” He says, his arm slung across his eyes blocking out the light.
“Well... I … what…” I bite my bottom lip then steady myself before I ask, “What are you expecting?” He dips his arm down, arching his eyebrow piercing in a question.
“With this roommate situation.” I clarify. “I’ve never shared a room before Salem, and well especially never shared one with a guy. I’m not sure what the rules are. Are you going to change in here? Have girls in here?” I swallow nervously.
His mouth quirks up, “Well it’s my room Tails, so I’ll be changing in here. And I tend to bring all kinds of people up.”
“Oh.” I say before my mind snags on that word he just called me. “Tails?” I ask confused.
He gestures at my hair, “Pigtails.”
“Oh. My space buns?” I touch my hair self consciously.
“Whatever. I’ll leave a sock or something on the door handle. Feel free to do the same.” I feel my eyebrows shoot up. I had absolutely no intention of using that, but good to know where Lukas stood. It didn’t escape my attention that he’d said he brought all kinds of people up here. A image of him with another guy flashes in my mind and fuck me why did he have to be so hot. I shove the thought out no matter how tempting it was and gather my clothes from my bag.
“Is there a bathroom I could use?”
He crooks a finger up to the right, “Four doors down on the left.”
I scurry out to follow his directions and try to calm myself down. When I enter the bathroom, my stomach plummets. Oh god. We were sharing a bathroom too? Oh God, oh God. I feel like I’d just stepped into the set ofNew Girl, only larger and with more urinals. Thankfully I clock two stalls and several showers that I’m glad have a modicum of privacy to them. I was half tempted to turn around and ask Lukas if there was another bathroom I could use. Pierce hadn’t given us much of a tour, only dropping us at our rooms before he disappeared. I’m sure Salem’s fast asleep by now. She looked dead on her feet and I wasn’t far behind truth be told. I decide to woman up and head into an empty stall, peeling off my borrowed clothes and putting on my cherry pajamas. Dean Camden had taken pity on us and helped me clean what clothes I could salvage from my room over in the campus laundromat. Thankfully they didn’t reek of smoke anymore. I was grateful for something familiar and comforting. Being apart from my dad for the first time was hard enough, but throw in a roommate, then a fire, and a new hot distracting roommate? I knew dad would freak out about the fire and the roommate switch, but I just wasn’t in the headspace to deal with that right now. I resolve to call him tomorrow. I’m sure he’s going to be more than thrilled about my change in living situation. I wince inwardly wondering if I should keep that part out. I didn’t need him causing a fuss and have him jeopardize my scholarship. I was determined to keep my spot here whatever it took. Even if it took rooming with the world’s hottest, most distracting man alive.
