The Hardest Fall by Ella Maise

Chapter Six

Zoe

“Ithink at some point, I said skedaddle. Who says that?” I heaved a sigh and face-palmed myself for probably the hundredth time since meeting up with Jared and Kayla. I’d forced them out of bed at an ungodly hour for coffee and a rundown of the events of the day before. Because I had never mentioned meeting Dylan that first time two years ago, I spent a good thirty minutes telling them all about it. Sucky friend? I didn’t think so. I’d always been good at keeping secrets. When I was nine, I’d kept my first secret from my dad for an entire week before blurting out that Nathaniel from my class had kissed me at recess then told me to keep it a secret. Evidently, I had gotten better with time.

After Jared gave me hell for about five minutes as Kayla kept shaking her head at me as if she was disappointed, they finally gave me a break.

“This is just a thought, gorgeous—don’t give me that look—but I think saying skedaddle is the last thing you should worry about, here. You actually attacked him with a rolling pin? Why the hell were you hiding a rolling pin in the bathroom to begin with? I’m still stuck on that, and I wish you had taken a picture of the actual attack, or maybe a selfie while you were jumping him. Could’ve been pure art. I can already see it—vividly.” For good measure, he closed his eyes and hummed softly. “I’m gonna have to sketch that for you. You’re welcome, of course.”

I lightly smacked his shoulder with the back of my hand and shook my head. “Don’t you dare. I wasn’t hiding it in the bathroom, and that’s not even the worst part of the story here, so can we please focus?” I’d met Jared at the end of my freshman year after we kept bumping into each other in the same classes since we were both majoring in art. He always said it was fate that brought us together and that was that. I couldn’t imagine what I would’ve done if he hadn’t sat next to me in that Art History 201 class, and whenever I needed his friendship the most, he always came through.

He sat next to me, rubbing his shoulder and chuckling lightly. He had his black hair styled into a messy bedhead look that always worked wonders for him when he was in the mood for making new friends. I would’ve called them lovers, but he didn’t like the pressure of the word. Since he wasn’t interested in having a serious relationship in college, just friends worked fine. He was only slightly taller than me, probably around five foot nine, tops. The dark brown of his eyes and his plump lips only added to his bad boy rocker looks. If he had any interest in girls at all, I’m pretty sure I’d have been a blubbering mess around him just as much as I seemed to be around Dylan. The day the professor had kicked us out of class for talking too much had marked the first day of our friendship.

“I didn’t attack him just for fun. I thought he was a thief. What was I supposed to do, welcome him with open arms? While I was naked? I was trying to incapacitate him so I could get out. Anyway, I don’t even remember half the things I said later on, but I do remember skedaddle. Ask me how many times I’ve used that word in my life—zero. I don’t know if you guys understand the extent of how bad and painful the entire thing was.”

“I think we got it,” Jared deadpanned, bugging his eyes out to Kayla.

I ignored their looks and kept going. “Every time I opened my mouth, I dug a deeper hole for myself. From now on, I’m gonna need to keep my mouth shut when I’m around him. I’ll use nods and as few words as possible.”

“I don’t think that’s possible, but believing is half the battle, I guess,” Kayla said wryly.

I forced the fakest smile I could muster. “Har har. Aren’t you guys just rays of sunshine today? I can’t get enough of you two.”

Jared just smiled and kept breaking up pieces of his toast then popping them into his mouth. “As you shouldn’t. Plus, you know I’m always moody before the clock hits twelve, so feel free to ignore me and focus on your second best friend.”

I watched a piece of brownie fly toward Jared, which he caught in his mouth.

“You’re the actual worst,” muttered Kayla before fixing her gaze on me.

“So? Any advice? Real advice? The kind friends give each other?” I asked Kayla. “What the hell am I gonna do? How am I gonna go back there tonight?”

Her perfectly filled thick eyebrows rose higher on her forehead and she gave me an innocent look. “Walk, maybe?”

I returned her look with my most bored stare.

“Okay, okay. Sheesh. Save that face for someone else. I think trying to keep a bit more quiet instead of going off on an endless rant might be a better idea. I support you on that.”

While Jared was the most easygoing and confident one out of the three of us, Kayla—AKA KayKay, as Jared had dubbed her—was our mama bear. She was just the person you wanted to open up to, so nurturing, sweet, quiet, and everything I was not around guys. However, when it came to her actual relationships, her choices were a little skewed. Case in point, her on-again, off-again prick of a boyfriend Keith gave me the creepy chills almost every time he was around. I just wished—actually, both Jared and I wished—that one of the times when they broke up, it would actually be for good. There was always hope.

“Any other ideas? We’re going to be living in the same apartment and I’m quietly freaking out about it. It’s not like I can stay in my room and never come out, and trying to act all casual when he is around is a no-go because we all know how I get around guys I think are good-looking.”

“How about you go with being casual and normal instead of acting?”

“I’m too itchy and nervous around him, Kayla. If you’d seen me last night, you would’ve winced every time I opened my mouth. He was being so nice, and I think I’d love to be his friend. I think I could maybe handle that.”

“You can definitely do that. Just think of him as already taken. That should make it easier.”

“He actually just broke up with his girlfriend.”

“Dang it, you don’t say.” Jared whistled. “Maybe I should give you a visit one of these days, just to check things out, you know.”

Feeling like I had some kind of a game plan I could focus on when I went back to the apartment, I leaned back in my seat and let out a huge breath. I was thankful for having Kayla and Jared as friends, more than they could ever imagine. They made coming to L.A.—the biggest risk of my life—worth it for me. God knows nothing else had gone the way I’d hoped it would.

Kayla cleared her throat and fidgeted in her seat before glancing at me and then at Jared, all the while shredding her empty paper cup into small pieces. “So, I think in light of this new development, I have to tell you guys something.” Before either of us could open our mouths to say anything, she went ahead and continued, “I might have gone on a few dates with Dylan.”

“Dylan who?” Jared asked, still chewing on a piece of toast as he eyed the rest of Kayla’s brownie.

“My Dyl—ah, I mean the Dylan that’s staying in my apartment? The wide receiver? Dylan Reed?”

“Yeah. That one.”

Jared stopped eating.

Something weird settled in my stomach. “Huh?”

“Two dates, Zoe,” she rushed out, lifting two of her fingers to emphasize her words. “It was just two times.”

Some guy bumped my chair from behind, and I scooted myself a little forward as I took a few sips of my already cold coffee, my attention focused on the table. It was fine. It was a surprise, sure, but still completely fine. It wasn’t like I was interested in Dylan in that way or anything like that. It would’ve also been completely fine if they had gone out more than two times. He was off limits anyway, wasn’t he? Not just because he was my roommate and out of my league, but because he was one of Mark’s players.

“It was freshman year, before I met you guys. I think it was a few months before actually. I was having this two-month hiatus kind of thing with Keith”—which meant he had broken up with her for some stupid reason—“and my dorm roommate was going out with this football player. She kind of forced me to go out with them because I was upset about Keith, and the guy was gonna bring a friend, so I was supposed to keep him occupied while also occupying myself. You know I didn’t have any friends other than Keith my first year here, so I said fine.” She grimaced and went back to shredding pieces. “He was really sweet actually, but you know how I am. I love Keith, and I just wasn’t into getting to know anyone else. I barely talked the whole night, and the second time…my roommate happened again. That time I actually managed to chat with him for a little while. We talked about our families, how we both had big, loud ones and all that, but neither one of us was acting like it could turn into something more. It was just a friendly night out sort of thing. I think my roommate started seeing the other guy—his name was something weird like Rap or Rip or something—so she didn’t need me to hold her hand after that second time. I barely saw Dylan again. Also, it was only double dates, never just the two of us. Plus, a few weeks after that I was back with Keith anyway. He would always say hi those rare few times we ran into each other on campus, but I don’t think I’ve seen him in a year.”

Jared hummed and drew my gaze back to him. “Those don’t count as dates, KayKay, at least not in my book.”

“I agree, but at the time I might have described it as if I went out on these big dates with a football player to Keith, just to make him jealous. I just wanted to mention it now in case Dylan saw me with Zoe and actually remembered and said something. I didn’t want it to be a surprise.”

“I wish I had my own little interaction with this Dylan guy. You girls have both met him one way or another, one of you in a much weirder setting, of course.” He gave Kayla a wide-eyed look and gestured at me with his chin.

That earned him another smack on the shoulder, which he barely managed to escape. “Haha. So funny.”

“And here I am, the guy who only watches…oh, I don’t know, all his games, and I’ve never gotten the chance to meet him? You will fix this horrible wrong, Zoe.”

It was the wad of paper hitting me in the face that brought me out of silence. I flung it right back at Jared and turned my head to look at Kayla.

“Nothing will happen between us, Kay. He is way out of my league. Trust me. So, even if you had dated for real, that would’ve been okay.”

“Because you have Mark to think about, right? And of course you’re paper bag ugly, can’t forget about that,” Jared piped up, his tone flatter than it had been just a few seconds before.

Yes, there was always Mark.

“I’m not saying I’m ugly at all. I happen to find myself beautiful at times, but he is still way out of my league. You’d know what I mean if you saw him up close.”

Jared sighed and shook his head. “And Mark?”

“Yeah, there’s him, too,” I mumbled without looking either of them in the eye as I busied myself with finishing my coffee.

“And when are you gonna get shot of him, Zoe? I’d be lying if I said I’m exactly clear on what you’re expecting to happen here, but I can tell you it’s not gonna happen—I know that much. You need to get out of his apartment, too. He is treating you like a paid slut, only calling you when he wants to and only meeting you at that apartment or all the way across town in a random restaurant, never anywhere public.”

“Hey, take it down a notch, would you?” Kayla snarled at Jared as I swallowed my coffee down the wrong pipe. “That was a little harsh, don’t you think?”

“Geez,” I coughed out when I could breathe again, taking the half-full water bottle and napkins Kayla offered me. “Thanks for making it sound creepy. He is not as bad as you’re making him sound, and it’s not like we can walk around campus together, at least not yet. I wanted to move out, remember?” I wasn’t blaming Kayla for flaking on me in any way, but I was blaming Keith for being a needy bastard.

While my plan for my third year had been to move out of Mark’s apartment and move in with Kayla, it hadn’t exactly gone the way I wanted it to. We’d found the apartment and were days away from signing the lease when Keith had a fit about her moving in with me.

If she was moving out of the dorms, why wasn’t she moving in with him? Why would two college girls wanna live together? Was she seeing someone else? It went on and on and on and on. Kayla would’ve never gone back on her word, but when I saw the toll it was taking on her, how scathing Keith’s words were, I told her it wouldn’t be a problem if she chose to move in with Keith instead of me. As long as she was happy, I’d be fine, though after the whole deal, I wasn’t sure how anyone could be happy with Keith. But, that wasn’t for me to say, at least not then.

Jared’s home was close to campus, only a fifteen-minute walk, so he didn’t need a new place or a closer one to rent. Considering he needed to be home to help his single mom raise his five-year-old half-sister, he couldn’t afford to move out anyway. These little facts prevented me from moving in with either of my best friends. Unlike Kayla, who had enjoyed her two-year stint in the dorms, I hadn’t enjoyed dorm life all that much, so back to Mark’s apartment I’d gone. I’d thought maybe things would change, thought we’d get closer and he’d keep his promises for a change.

“I’m really sorry, Zoe,” Kayla said, breaking into my thoughts. “I was looking forw—”

I reached out and rested my hand on her arm. “Don’t apologize, please. You have nothing to apologize for anyway. I didn’t mean it to sound that way. I’ve been saving money, yes, but I can’t afford to move out on my own yet. I still need to save money for New York too, as lame as that sounds, and you know I went back because he kept promising me it would be different this year. If things don’t change and I can manage to stash away the amount I need, I’m getting out of there around April or May. Also…you know what I want from him, Jared. Don’t be like that.”

“That’s the time you’re giving him? Almost another full year?” Shaking his head, Jared reached out and covered my hand with his long, thin fingers, his features hard. “Look, I know this hurts you, but he’ll never tell them about you, Zoe, not his wife, and definitely not his son. He is a pig. You deserve better than that.”

But Mark had promised, and I wanted nothing more than to believe him.

When I didn’t say what I knew he was waiting to hear, what he wanted to hear, he sighed and drew his hand back. “If I can get that part-time job at that gallery next year, I’ll move in with you. You will get out of there, right?”

I gave him a silent nod.

“It’ll be great.”

“Even though I couldn’t leave the love of my life to come live with you guys, I’ll come visit so much that it’ll feel like I’m living there.”

She’d come only if Keith let her, but she wouldn’t say that. She’d been with Keith since she was sixteen and still loved him enough to believe he could and would change. I could see an intervention happening in our future.

I felt a little sick, both in my stomach and in my heart, as I did every time Mark was the subject of our conversation. Jared’s statements were not news to me, but unfortunately, that didn’t help lessen the pain. I managed to force a genuine smile on my face. “Thanks, guys.”

“You still want advice on what to do with the hunk in your apartment?” Jared asked after a few moments of heavy silence.

I huffed out a breath and fell back in my seat. “Yeah. Hit me. God knows I could use all the help I can get.”

His next question made me question that. “Are you attracted to him?”

“I mean…he is attractive, sure, and I have eyes. I like his smile too—I’ll give you that much—but I don’t know him well enough to say if I’m attracted to him. I don’t have a crush on him…let’s say that instead. I’m attracted to his looks, but I don’t have a crush on him. He seems nice, so I like him as a person—that sounds even better. Even if I did like him and by some dumb luck he was interested in me too, though I doubt that—”

“Of course you’d doubt it, because you’re paper bag ugly,” Jared repeated again, slowly shaking his head to emphasize his disappointment in me.

“Annnyway,” I drew out the word then, ignoring Jared, continued. “We’ll be staying in the same apartment for crying out loud, and there is no way Mark wouldn’t find out about it.”

“So it all comes back to Mark.”

Frowning, I lowered my voice and leaned forward. “No, it doesn’t, Jared. I said he is hot, and yeah, he does sound like a good person, but just because he is those two things doesn’t mean I’m gonna fall at his feet and confess my love—or lust, for that matter. I’m only acting all weird around him because of what happened freshman year and because…okay, yeah, I think he is good-looking, but that’s about it. You know that’s not a good combo for me. Don’t you remember how I was when you first talked to me in that art history class? Was I in love with you? No. That’s just who I am, how I am until I warm up to people, and what I also am is embarrassed around him. First I ask him if I can kiss him like some kindergarten kid, and then the next time he sees me, I knock over some guys’ model building and get yelled at right in front of him and his friends, including Chris, as if things couldn’t get any worse. If all that’s not enough, another year passes and here I am dropping my towel and showing my tits and plastering myself to him. I’m not mentioning the part where I attacked him because I was right to do so.”

“So, being his friend is the best idea here—we all agree on that, yes?” Kayla looked at Jared and then me. “You’ll get used to having him around. If I know you as well as I think I do, there’ll be a lot of nervous laughing and hiding out in your room in your future if you don’t do something about it. So, actually try to be his friend since you’re so adamant about not having a crush on him. Jared is good-looking and you’re not a blubbering mess around him anymore,” Kayla offered, gesturing at our friend.

“If I was interested in girls, this one would be all over me by now, so I’m not sure if I’m a good example in this situation, KayKay,” Jared chimed in.

I snorted. “Oh, please. As if. That’s all I’m saying to you: as if. Also, you wish…and last but not least, in your dreams.”

* * *

So,instead of acting casual—as Kayla had so nicely suggested—and hiding in my room whenever I could, I was going to become friends with Dylan Reed. Sounded easy enough.

It was around five in the evening when I managed to make it back to the apartment after spending several long hours in the photography lab. Before I got to turn my key and step inside, the door at the end of the hall opened and Ms. Hilda peeked out from behind the cracked door.

“Miss Clarke, is that you?”

She was eighty-five years old and her eyes worked better than mine—she knew perfectly well that it was me.

“Yes, Ms. Hilda, it’s just me,” I yelled over my shoulder, my movements urgent.

I turned the key and opened the door, hoping she wouldn’t ask me anything else and I would get to throw myself face first on the couch for a few minutes and then maybe force myself to get up and make a quick sandwich for dinner afterward before Dyl—

“Could you be a lamb and—”

Oh, not the lamb. I never wanted to be a lamb.

Please don’t say hang the curtains. Please don’t say hang the curtains.

“—hang the curtains back up?”

Hanging my head in despair, I closed the door, cursing myself for completely forgetting about her and making enough noise to wake up the dead while walking up the stairs. I walked back to stand in front of her now fully open door. “Did you wash your curtains again, Ms. Hilda?”

She grunted and raised a brow at me as if to say, What’s your point?

“I’m only asking because you’ve already washed them five times this month.” I had been chosen as the worker bee who hung the clean curtains back up because she just couldn’t manage to do it herself. It was fine, because she really couldn’t, and it only took me ten minutes to hang them all back up anyway, but I always wondered who else she cornered to take them down every other day.

“I like a clean house, Miss Clarke.”

Of course she liked a clean house. She roped me into vacuuming her apartment almost weekly, not to mention her never-ending list of other small tasks. If you weren’t quiet enough and that door of hers opened, she had chores she wanted you to handle. If she had been one of those sweet old grandmas who gave you warm chocolate chip cookies for helping her, or maybe sometimes offered you a home-cooked meal because you were a student who missed having home-cooked meals, she would be so lovable. But, no. She was…I had no idea how to be polite about my choice of word, but she was basically a witch. As I said, if she caught you, she always roped you into helping her out with something, and on top of that she basically sucked all the energy right out of you while she was at it. That was why I always tiptoed when I reached our floor.

“I’m really tired and I haven’t had anything to eat since this morning. I’ll come after—”

“You young people… You should never leave today’s work for tomorrow.” The door opened all the way and she stood back. I would’ve agreed with her if it had been my own work I had to handle without leaving it for tomorrow. I hadn’t even said I’d do it the next day. All I wanted to do was sit my ass down and eat something before I had to tackle her. Holding back a frustrated scream and gritting my teeth, I gave her a toothless smile and walked in.

Before I was even four steps into her apartment, she closed her door and started in on me. “Was that a young man I saw leaving the apartment this morning, Miss Clarke? Back in my time, we wouldn’t get near boys. These things were frowned upon, but I guess times have changed. At least this one is closer to your age. Did you know the girl in 5B cheated on her boyfriend? I heard them arguing just this afternoon—”

I wasn’t even sure who lived in 5B. Tuning her completely out, I did what she’d asked me to do and as soon as it was done, I almost ran back out before she could ask me to take Billy out for a walk. Billy was the cat from hell who hid every time someone other than Ms. Hilda was in the house, and when he was thrust into someone’s hands (i.e., mine), his go-to course of action was to scratch the hell out of your arms for even daring to touch him.

As I practically jogged toward the door that would take me to safety, I could hear Ms. Hilda’s quick footsteps following me. For an eighty-five-year-old woman, she moved surprisingly fast when she wanted to and caught up to me just as I opened her door.

“You have a nice evening now, Miss Clarke, and I’ll let you know if I learn more about the girl in 5B. I bet we’ll see her new boo—”

I took a step out and collided with the hard body of a wide receiver in my haste to escape. Dylan had apparently just walked up the last step of the stairs, and he grunted in surprise. I gasped and he went back down a step. Grabbing me right above the elbow, he steadied us both before I could fall on him and quite possibly break his neck on the way down the stairs.

“Zoe?”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” I apologized quickly as he let go of my arm.

This guy would forever remember me as ‘the klutz I had to live with that one year and had seen around campus twice before that’.

Before I could explain anything to Dylan or warn him telepathically, Ms. Hilda cleared her throat behind me and I barely held back a groan. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. If I didn’t wrap this up quickly, she would hold us hostage for who knew how long.

Here we go.

“Ah, Dylan, here you are,” I exclaimed a little louder than necessary so Ms. Hilda would have no trouble hearing—though when it came to the old woman’s hearing, it was always a crapshoot. I plastered the biggest smile on my face and tried to come up with something in the two seconds it took me to right myself and face my nosy neighbor. “We were just talking about you, weren’t we Ms. Hilda?” Before the poor guy could understand what was happening, I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him up to stand next to me—or more accurately, I urged him to stand next to me, because with the way those muscles felt under my hand, I couldn’t imagine anything my size could move him even an inch if he didn’t want to be moved.

My next brilliant move was to pat his arm and discreetly squeeze it as a warning, but then I felt his muscles flex under my touch and I forgot what I was going to say.

Holy shit…

I looked up at Dylan and our gazes met. I had no freaking idea what he was thinking, but I quickly looked away and pried my fingers off of his arm.

If we both wanted to get away from Ms. Hilda’s endless chatter, I had to focus on one thing at a time. I thought telling a little white lie wouldn’t hurt anybody if it meant we’d get back to the apartment and I’d get to my dinner sooner.

“This is who you must’ve seen leaving this morning, Ms. Hilda. His name is Dylan Reed and he’s my new roommate.”

Both Dylan and I watched Ms. Hilda take him in from head to toe. Shamelessly, I did the same. He was wearing black and gray Nike shoes, light gray sweatpants—which killed me, because gray sweatpants on a guy was heaven on earth, especially when they wore them in the morning—and a white t-shirt that stretched across his impressive chest, the sleeves hugging those arms I had touched only seconds before. He was also toting a big-ass bag that hung low on his hip, the strap crossed over his chest.

Ms. Hilda must not have been impressed because she released another grunt. Excluding our old Hilda, if any living, breathing female wasn’t impressed when they clapped eyes on Dylan Reed, I was ready to give up pizza—for a week—and that was the biggest commitment one could make.

“It’s nice to meet you, Ms…” Dylan trailed off.

“Hilda,” I jumped in before he got her started. “I forgot to mention her to you, didn’t I? This is Ms. Hilda. I was just helping her out with something and she mentioned how she had seen a young man leave the apartment and was confused about who you were.”

“Oh?” Dylan asked politely, glancing between me and our neighbor.

“I wasn’t confused, Miss Clarke. I gave you my exact thoughts on how I felt about another boy living with you. This one”—she turned to look at Dylan as she pointed her thumb at me—“should’ve been a juggler in a circus instead of fiddling away with that camera she can’t seem to part ways with.”

“Oh, but, Ms. Hilda, you didn’t hear the best part yet.” I put my arm through Dylan’s, stood a little bit closer to him, basically plastering my front to his side, and had to forcefully suppress the involuntary shiver caused by standing too close to him. I leaned toward Ms. Hilda as if I was about to give her the world’s biggest secret. She leaned forward too—she lived for gossip. “I’m afraid he’s not into us girls,” I whispered loud enough that she could hear, which meant Dylan could hear me perfectly clearly, too. Ms. Hilda’s eyebrows furrowed and she gave Dylan another long look.

“Uh, excuse me?” Dylan spoke up after a few seconds of silence.

I angled my body toward him and this time patted his chest area, completely ignoring his lined forehead and questioning gaze. I had no idea where I was going with the whole petting thing, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself.

“Nothing to be sorry about,” the old woman answered, mistaking Dylan’s question as an apology.

“Yes, nothing to be sorry about, Dylan,” I repeated.

Dylan’s eyes jumped from me to Ms. Hilda. “I don’t—”

Before Dylan could finish his sentence, I discreetly stepped on his foot with my heel and applied as much pressure as I could. Points to him for not even letting out a grunt. Slowly he turned his head toward me and raised an eyebrow. I gave him the sweetest smile I could come up with and pulled my foot away.

“Ms. Hilda is a very open-minded woman,” I explained, gesturing toward her with my head. “Nothing like her peers, right Ms. Hilda?”

She stood a little taller. “Yes, yes, that I am. Those old farts are nothing like me. Keep your head high, young man. There is nothing wrong about love. Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Uh…”

“You can tell me.”

“Come on, Dylan,” I urged, lightly shaking his arm. The sooner he went along with it and appeased her, the sooner we could get away. “Don’t be shy.”

He turned his head toward me yet again and gave me a long look that melted the smile right off my face, not because his expression promised a violent retribution, but the opposite, actually. He looked amused, a little confused maybe, but still amused, which was weird and unexpected. I frowned up at him and his lips twitched.

Still keeping his eyes on me, he finally said, “Actually, I do have a boyfriend.”

“Is he a nice boy?”

With an easy smile, he broke our eye contact and turned back to her. “He’s really nice. I’m lucky to have him.”

The old woman slightly tilted her head and gave him her signature narrow-eyed look, where one of her eyes always narrowed more than the other one, making her look anything but serious. “How long have you two been together?”

Dylan seemed to ignore the wonky-eyed expression; again, points for him. The first time I’d seen her do it, I’d barely kept in my snort.

“It’s been two years.”

“See, Miss Clarke. See? Maybe you can learn something from your roommate.”

I let out a long breath through my nose and managed to keep the smile on my face. “I know. I’ll make sure to ask him for tips. Have a good even—”

“Mr. Reed, your roommate has the worst taste in men. Please teach her a thing or two, ‘cause it looks like nothing I’m saying is getting through to her.”

You can’t close the door on her face, Zoe. You absolutely cannot close the door on an old lady’s face.

“Please call me Dylan, and I will definitely try my best to teach her a few things. I agree with you—she should be with someone better. I’ll make her see reason, don’t worry.”

“Good.” She gave me one last glance and started to close the door, only to stop halfway. “You know what Dylan? I like you. It’s a shame you like boys, as Miss Clarke could’ve used a nice strong boy like yourself.”

Anyone up there? God? You can kill me now.

Turning to me, she continued, “I like him. Be nice to this one.”

I gritted my teeth. “Okay then.” Remembering my arm was still wrapped up with Dylan’s, I untangled myself as we finally turned toward our own apartment.

“Mr. Reed?”

Ah…just when we were so close to freedom.

I felt Dylan pause and turn back, but I just kept going. I already knew she was gonna bestow a chore on him, and I had no interest whatsoever in letting her pull me into it, too.

Unlocking the door, I went inside. After making sure to leave it ajar for Dylan, I walked into the living room and just collapsed on the couch. Pulling my crossbody bag away, I flung it somewhere over my shoulder. The door closed with a quiet click in time with me covering my face with my hands.

There was a loud thud followed by footsteps and then nothing. I could already feel him standing over me so I shouldn’t have felt the urge to look up to see the expression on his face, but just to make sure, I peeked through my fingers and…yup, he was right there, those big strong arms crossed over his chest, an eyebrow raised…waiting. I should’ve gone straight to my room.

“Hello to you, too, Zoe,” he said when he realized nothing was coming out of my mouth.

I groaned and hid my face again.

“Care to tell me what just happened?”

I sort of snorted and then couldn’t keep it in any longer. First, my shoulders started shaking, then my quiet, private laughter grew louder. When I had it under control and my laughs had pretty much died down to snickers, I chanced another look at him.

Thank God he had a big grin on his face; it helped me feel like less of a fool.

I dropped my head back and stared at the ceiling. “You’re not angry at me, are you? I’m really hoping that smile on your face means you’re amused and not psychotic.”

Feeling big hands curl around my ankles made me sit straight up with the unexpectedness of it. Not affected by my little jump, Dylan gently set my feet down and sat right next to me, in the middle of the couch. I scooted back a few inches more until my back hit the armrest and there was a little more space between us, more room to breathe—hopefully.

“I’m not sure. I’ll decide after you tell me what happened back there.”

“I know you said you hate liars last night, but this doesn’t count, okay? You shouldn’t hate your roommate.” Clearing my throat, I gave him something between a smile and a grimace. “She is the landlord and the only person over twenty-five living in this building. She is nosy as hell. I swear to you she knows everything that goes on. She’d already talked my ear off before I bumped into you, which is why I bumped into you, really, because I was trying to get away, and she thought I was being a slut and was basically trying to save me from myself. It’s not that I care, but again, she is nosy as hell, and once she gets going, it turns into an interrogation, but what am I supposed to do? She’s old, so I can’t snap at her. I had to tell her something.”

Dylan stretched his arm across the back of the couch and leaned just a little bit forward, causing me to lean back—just in case.

“So the best thing you could come up with was telling her I was gay?”

Another snort escaped me and I blushed. “No harm, no foul, right? It seemed like the best idea at the time. At least this way she won’t camp out in front of our door.”

“You couldn’t tell her we were just friends?”

Right, I was gonna be friends with him.

“Her mind doesn’t work like that. Boys and girls can’t be friends. She thinks boys are after one thing and one thing only, and since you’re a boy…she’d think you’re after my…”

“After your…” He trailed off, waiting for me to fill the silence. I wasn’t going to do that.

“I think you get the picture.”

“Maybe I do get the picture.” His lips tipped up. “Thanks, Zoe. Looks like we’re gonna have a lot of fun.”

As his eyes bored into mine, we sat there like two idiots, smiling at each other.

“Why are you smiling like that?” he asked with a chin lift. I stopped smiling and touched my lips with my fingertips. Was something wrong with my smile?

“Why are you smiling like that?” I shot back.

An eyebrow went up, and the lone eyebrow lift combined with that damn smile…it was enough to make my heart skip a beat.

“This is how I smile,” Dylan answered.

“Well…it’s…too big.”

Zoe. Oh, Zoe. You poor poor child.

His dark blue eyes were sparkling with laughter and those lips tipped even higher. One second stretched into two, and then two seconds turned into a staring contest. What the hell was he thinking? I didn’t know him well enough to make a good guess, and it got harder to keep my eyes locked on his with each passing second. I was such a sore loser, so there was no way I’d be the first one to look away.

After what felt like an hour of the weirdest staring contest—which I won, thank you very much—he shook his head and rubbed his hand over his short hair.

“What?” I asked quietly, genuinely curious to hear what he was thinking.

He sighed and got up. “Nothing.”

“No, tell me. What?”

Dylan hesitated.

“You remember those people we talked about?” I prompted. “The ones we don’t like?” A quick nod. “I don’t like people who don’t finish their sentences either.”

“I didn’t start a sentence.”

I tapped a finger to my temple. “You started it in here.”

That earned me a warm chuckle. “You keep doing things I’m not expecting you to do. It throws me off, that’s all.”

“Is that a bad thing or a good thing?”

“Haven’t decided yet.”

“Let’s not waste your time—let’s agree that it’s a good thing.”

I caught the twitch of his lips as he leaned down to hook his bag over his shoulder. “You think so?”

“Oh yeah. I’ll keep you on your toes.” I pushed myself up from the couch to stand next to him. “So we’re good? Buddies? You don’t mind that I told her you’re gay?”

“Buddies?”

If he wanted to focus on that… “Sure, buddies—best friends, pals, mates…I’ll let you choose.” I lightly punched his arm, and then immediately hated myself for it.

I, Zoe Clarke, was officially the weirdest girl alive.

Why didn’t the ground open up and swallow me when I needed it the most? Couldn’t be that hard.

Looking down at where I’d punched his arm then back at me, he gave me another one of his infectious smiles that stopped me in my tracks every single time. “Buddies it is then.”