Sounds good. Luv u, Kid.

Mwah.

“Was that your boyfriend? He worried about you being out late with strange men? ” Hunter said, trying to read the messages over my shoulder

“Nope.” I wasn't going to satisfy his curiosity. I checked my phone. It was nearly midnight, and I was toasted from getting up early and driving from my mom's house in Waterville all the way to Orono and unpacking my stuff. And dealing with jerks.

“You guys ready to go? I have to be up early for macro tomorrow, ” Darah said, miming shooting herself in the head. She was an accounting major, but hated economics with the burning passion of a thousand suns.

“You with Wesley in DPC 100? ” Mase said.

“Yeah.”

“Me too. Guess I'll see you there, ” he said, stretching his arms over his head. It might have been my imagination, but I thought I saw her smile at the prospect of seeing him again so soon.

We all walked back to Mase's car and said goodnight to Sean and Dev. Mase said an extra goodnight to Darah. Oh, dear, there was definitely something there.

When we got back into the apartment I realized two things. One, I really needed a shower, and two, Hunter and I were going to be sleeping in the same room.

Darah and Renee said goodnight and shuffled off to their room.

“Well, here we are, ” Hunter said.

“I'm going to take a shower, ” I said and prepared for the comment I knew was coming.

“You know what they say, conserve water and shower with a friend.”

I walked past him to gather my pjs, not answering. I made sure to lock the door and made sure it was locked before I stripped and got in the shower. I wouldn't put it past him to try and get me naked. Guys like that were all the same. They took what they wanted and left you with nothing.

Four

When I came back from the shower, Hunter was in bed, shirtless and in just boxers, sitting with his back against the wall, guitar in his lap. It was a scene most girls would have swooned over. Between the dancing skills and the guitar, he could rack up plenty of attractiveness points. He plucked a few strings before realizing I was in the room. For a split second, I saw a dreamy look on his face. He quickly hid it behind a smirk.

“You're all wet.”

I didn't miss the double entendre. I tossed my balled-up clothes in the hamper and twisted my hair in my towel to squeeze some of the water out.

“Not the kind of nightwear I was picturing, but it'll do.”

I looked down at my oversized t-shirt and shorts. I'd thought twice about wearing a tank top and boy shorts, which normally I would have, given the temperature. I'd left my bra on so my nipples wouldn't show through the thin jersey material.

“Are you one of those douches with a guitar, or can you really play? ” I tried to keep my eyes on the guitar and not on his bare chest. There was another tattoo on his left pectoral. A four-leaf clover.

“I only play if you're a paying customer. Although I'd take a trade instead of money.”

Why had I even asked? I'd been trying to break the ice, but he didn't seem to want to. I went to my dresser and found a quarter that I chucked at him.

“There. Now play, music boy.” I sat down on my bed and faced him.

“What do you want? ”

I thought about it. I wanted to pick a song there was no way he would know. I threw out anything hard rockish or folky. He seemed like one of those guys who would be into Bob Dylan.

“ C'est la Mort by The Civil Wars.”

He gave me a look like that wasn't what he was expecting.

“What? Don't know it? Not hip enough for you? ” He looked away from me and down at the guitar. He plucked a few notes. I waited.

Then the song emerged from his fingers, slow and haunting. I sat back against my pillows, getting lost in the music. I hated to admit it; he played very well. He hadn't had just a few lessons last week. He'd been playing for years. He finished the song with a flourish and looked up at me. The dreamy look was there again, and it took longer for him to put it away.

“Singing is extra, ” he said.

“You can dance, you can play the guitar, Jesus Hunter, what can't you do? ”

“I’m very good at a lot of things. If you want to come over here, I can show you a few more, ” he said, laying the guitar back in the case. My throat suddenly went dry, and I had to swallow. His comments had been different when we were fully clothed and with a group of people. In this dark, quiet room they took on a heavier meaning, or at least they did to me. I was making too much of it.

I sat up. There was something about lying down that made me feel more vulnerable.

“I'm not sorry for punching you, ” I said for no reason in particular. My hand was still swollen and sore, and I hoped his face hurt for a long time.

“I know you're not. I'm not sorry you did either. Most girls bore me. You, Taylor, do not bore me.”

“Thank God, I can die a happy woman.”

“I'm not going to make a move on you, if that's what you're thinking.”

I had been but I didn't want him to know that.

“I never screw girls I like.”

“That doesn't make any sense.” Wait, he liked me?

“Of course it does. All relationships end eventually, right? So why not end it before it begins and save yourself the trouble? ”

“That's pretty fucked up thinking, Hunter. What did your parents do to you? ” In my experience, guys like Hunter usually had deep-rooted mommy issues. It was why they could never have close relationships with women.

“Wouldn't you like to know? ”

I got up and put my phone in the charger, mostly so I could stop making eye contact with him. Normally, my nightly routine would involve putting in my retainer, slathering my face with moisturizer and putting on an eye mask, but there was no way in hell I was letting Hunter see any of that.

It was too intimate, too personal. Maybe tomorrow housing would be open to finding him another place. I would simply tell them that I was uncomfortable living with Hunter. I wanted to believe that I would have the balls to tell him to get out. It would have been so much easier if we could have taken care of this hours ago. Also if he hadn't played that stupid song. Why had I picked that? I should have picked something stupid like I Am the Walrus.

He clicked his lamp off, and we were left in almost total darkness. The only light came from the small lamp on my dresser that I hadn’t turned off yet.

“Just to let you know, I talk in my sleep.” He shifted on his bed and chucked something on the floor. It could only be one thing. “Also, I sleep naked.”

I made a sound of disgust. I was definitely sleeping with my bra on, even though I'd have uncomfortable marks in the morning. I climbed into bed and pulled the comforter up. I was the one who felt naked. I swore I could hear his sheets rubbing against his skin. Damn, I should have gotten some earplugs.

I wasn't going to sleep at all.

I also talked in my sleep but I wasn't going to tell him that.

“Well, goodnight. Feel free to dream about me naked and scream all you want. I'll sleep right through it.”

I wished I had a pillow, or perhaps something heavier, to chuck at him. Instead I got into bed, quietly grabbing my retainer and putting it in, hiding the case under my mattress. I wanted to pretend like I didn't give a shit what he thought of me, but honestly, I did.

It felt rude not saying goodnight, so I did. I got a mumble in response. I lay on my back and looked at the ceiling. Even with the memory foam mattress pad, the dorm bed was as comfortable as a sack of hay.

Hunter was breathing quietly, but his disturbance in the room was unmistakable. I didn't know why, but guys breathed differently than girls. Deeper somehow. I heard every single time he shifted or moved or twitched at all. I knew the exact moment he was asleep when his breathing became slow and he stopped moving so much. I tried closing my eyes, but it didn't work.

I grabbed my mp3 player and put it on shuffle. I had tons of fast songs on there, so I had to keep skipping things. Usually, alcohol made me tired, but the soda had been a bad idea. It was too late to take my sleep medication, so I was stuck. I only had two classes the next day, and they didn't start until 11. I hoped Darah and Renee weren't too loud in the morning. I hoped Hunter wouldn't be too loud in the morning.

I hit repeat when C'est la Mort came on and I finally faded off.

*****

“Taylor, Taylor! ”

A hand grabbed my shoulder, shaking it.

“What the fuck? ” I said, flailing against it, trying to get it to let me go. “Don't touch me! ” I whipped my arms around and made contact with something warm and fleshy. A chest.

“Jesus Christ, stop it! ”

I finally opened my eyes and assessed the situation. I was in bed, and there was a shirtless boy holding my arm. I froze, and he let go of me.

“What are you doing? ” I snapped at him, but it came out slurred because of the retainer. I spit it out in my hand.

“You were screaming in your sleep and freaking out. It woke me up.” Shit. Usually when I took my sleep medication, I didn't have the night terrors, but I hadn't been able to tonight. Great, just great.

“I'm sorry. Go back to bed. I'm fine.”

“Do you, uh, need anything? ”

He stood there, as if he didn't know what to say. My eyes drifted down his chest and saw that he had a towel wrapped around his waist. At least it covered everything it needed to cover.

“No, I'm fine. Goodnight.” I flipped over, hoping that would be the end of it. He sighed, and I heard him crawl back into bed.

“Goodnight, ” he said and flipped over as well.

Five

Hunter was gone the next morning when I woke up at nine. So was Renee, but Darah was at the dining table eating a bowl of cereal.

“How was your night with the boy? ”

“Fantastic, ” I said, stretching my arms over my head and listening to my spine pop. I shuffled to the coffeepot and found that there was just enough for one more cup. I had no idea how long it had been sitting there, but I didn't care. Coffee only got really nasty if it was past four hours. I poured myself a cup and sat down with Darah. She looked about as bad as I felt.

“You're okay with him here, really? ” she said.

“No, I'm really not.” I sipped the sweet elixir, wrapping my hand around my cup. “But what can I do? ” I still hadn't told them about the bet, and Hunter hadn't either. I wasn't sure if I was going to go there. If housing could settle things, then they never had to know. I just hoped if housing found him another place, he would go quietly. I really had no idea what kind of a fight he would put up.

“Not much. Just give housing hell. I don't know what they were thinking.” She shook her head.

“And they didn't even notify us! It's just crazy. This damn school.” I got up and slammed two pieces of bread into the toaster. There was something else that was bothering me, but I wasn't going to tell Darah about it. Unless... maybe she had heard me last night. I glanced over my shoulder to find her watching me. Yup, she'd heard. “You probably heard me last night, didn't you? ”

“The walls are like, paper, so yeah. I didn't want to bring it up unless you were uncomfortable. Do you want to talk about it? ”

“Not really. I forgot to take my meds. Sorry if I kept you up.”

“It's no big deal; we were just worried about you. It’s been a while since you had one.”

“Renee woke up, too? ”

Darah nodded. Great, just great.

“I'm really sorry.” It had only been twenty-four hours and I was already a bad roommate.

“Don't worry about it. Did Hunter wake up? ”

“Yeah, he actually woke me up. He sleeps naked, by the way.”

She snorted milk through her nose and had a coughing fit before she could answer.

“You're kidding me, ” she said, her eyes the size of dinner plates.

“I didn't see Hunter Jr., if that's what you're thinking. He didn't take his shorts off until he was under the covers. What a gentleman, right? ”

“Listen, if he makes you uncomfortable, we can switch rooms. Although, we might have to pull Renee off him in the middle of the night.”

“He'd probably screw her. He seems like that kind of guy.” My toast popped up, and I spread some butter and drizzled some honey on it.

“Hey, I've gotta go to macro, but I'll see you later, okay? Let me know if you hear from housing.”

“Will do, ” I said, saluting her and munching on my toast.

She grabbed her bag and for the first time since moving in, I had the place to myself. I should spend that time on skimming the first chapter in my textbook, but I wasn't that ambitious. Instead I plunked down on the sofa with a crappy reality show marathon and dazed out. I was just about to start getting ready when the door opened.

“Hey, ” Hunter said, setting his messenger bag by the door. “You recovered from last night? ”

“Yeah, I'm fine.”

“Sure you are.”

I was not going to put up with him today, so I went to get dressed and brush my teeth. He grabbed the remote and changed the channel. Of course.

“Don't you have class? ” I asked.

“I don't have another until two fifteen. You? ” He didn't take his eyes from the television.

“I have feminism in cinema at 11: 15.”

“Sounds thrilling, ” he said, finally settling on The History Channel. Looked like a marathon about Hitler.

“See you later, ” I said and went to get ready. He didn't even say good-bye when I walked out the door a few minutes later. I'd never met someone who ran so hot and cold. He was worse than Maine weather, which changed with alarming frequency.

My walk down to class was relatively quiet. Our building was on the outer edge of campus, like a spoke on a wheel. UMaine centered on a grassy mall that had the library at one end and the memorial gym at the other. Most of the important buildings were near the mall, and the less important were behind them. The English building where I had my class was one of the less important and happened to be just down the hill from my dorm.

The class was relatively small, so it was easy to find Megan's flaming red hair. Women's studies was a small department, so everyone pretty much knew everyone else and took the same classes.

“Hey, ” I said, sliding in the seat next to her and pulling the retractable desk up with a horrible grinding noise.

“We meet again, ” she said. “How was move-in? ”

“You wouldn't believe me if I told you.” We had a few minutes before class started, so I gave her the quick and very dirty version of the previous day.

“You are kidding, ” she said, sitting back.

“I wish I were.”

“I didn't think housing could do that.”

“I know, right? No notice, nothing.”

We were interrupted by the arrival of our teacher, Jennie, who I'd had a previous class with. She was young, only about twenty-eight, and was so obsessed with movies, she made even the most boring topic interesting. She also wouldn't let us call her by her last name.

Class started with the usual handing out of syllabi and going over rules and policies. I tuned out most of it and let my mind wander. Of course it wandered to my most recent irritation. Hunter Zaccadelli.

There was something seriously wrong with Hunter. One minute he was talking about going to bed with me, the next he said he didn't want to have sex with me because he liked me, and then he was colder than a Maine winter. Maybe that was something I could bring up with housing. I'd had to turn my phone off during class, but couldn't wait to check it and see if I had a message. I also planned on stopping there after lunch, before my last class.

We finished early and Megan and I decided to get lunch at the Union. She went for a cheeseburger from the grill, and I got a tomato wrap filled with hummus and veggies. Somehow we found two empty seats and set everything down.

“So you need to give me some more details on this guy.”

“I don't really know much, actually. Except he's a douche and he's sleeping in my room.”

She covered her burger with ketchup and smashed the bun. “Is he cute? ”

I had to think about my answer. There was no denying that Hunter was gorgeous. He had everything the typical female would want. Good body, perfect teeth, great hair, and everything (that I could see) in proportion. Given a personality transplant, I would have been seriously crushing on him. He also had this fabulous jawline. Not that I’d noticed.

“Oh, he's a hottie all right, but it's his personality that could use some help.”

“Still, better a good-looking jerk than an ugly nice guy.”

“What category is Jake in? ”

“He's a little bit of both, ” she said, munching a fry. “I like to think he combines the right amount hotness and niceness.”

Megan's boyfriend was a nice guy. It was just his friends that needed some work. They weren't jerks; they were just gross. Megan often walked into her bathroom to find one of them had forgotten to flush, another had left hair and floss on the sink, and another left hair in the shower drain. She only stayed for love, she said. I would have been out of there faster than you could say Clorox.

“Well, Hunter is all asshat.”

“But a good-looking one. You can overlook a lot if he's hot.”

“Trust me; it's not going to happen.”

I finished my wrap, and we went to chuck our trays, saying good-bye to Megan, who had calculus.

I had some time to kill before I had my next class and didn't want to walk all the way up the hill to our apartment, so I went to one of the computers in the Union and checked the jobs board. Last year I'd worked at one of the dining commons. It hadn't been horrible, and I'd made some good friends, but I'd had more than enough of chopping salads and making endless grilled cheese sandwiches. I wanted something new that might offer some intellectual stimulation. The library was my first choice.

I scrolled through the listings for student workers. Most of them were in the dining commons, but there was one that caught my eye for a library aide in the government publications department, whatever that was.

I clicked on the link and filled out the application, trying to make myself sound as academic and smart as possible. I clicked send and hoped I'd get a return email for an interview. I scrolled through the rest of the jobs, but nothing jumped out at me. I quickly checked my email for anything from housing. I had nothing on my phone. I'd checked at least twelve times.

I decided that housing hadn't gotten back to me, so I was going to them. Their office was on the third floor of the Union, so I took the stairs, composing myself before I walked into the office. The receptionist looked up when I walked in. There were two other students, a guy and a girl, waiting already. They both looked surly and unhappy, and the girl had clearly been crying.

“Can I help you? ” the woman, said, looking up from her computer.

“Yeah, I'm having a housing issue and I really need to talk to someone right away. I called and left messages, but you weren't open yesterday.”

“Okay, let me check. You hold tight.”

She got to her feet and shuffled off to one of the offices, knocking softly on the door before going in. She closed the door so I couldn't hear what she said. Damn. I grabbed a hard candy from the jar and unwrapped it, earning glares from the other two people waiting. A few seconds later the secretary came back. I tried to judge from her face whether it was good or bad news.

“I've talked with Marissa, the head of housing, and she's aware of your situation. If you want to sit and wait, she'll be with you as soon as she can. These people were ahead of you, and it's first come, first served, ” she said with a tight smile.

“Do you know how long it's going to be? I have class soon.”

“Would you like to set up an appointment? ”

“When is the soonest you'd be able to do it? ”

“Let me check, ” she said with a barely audible sigh. I wasn't trying to be difficult. “This is a very busy week. Hmm...” She scrolled through her computer, her eyes looking for an empty space. “The earliest we can do it is Friday afternoon at two.”

“Friday? ” Seriously? “Isn't there anyone else I can talk to? ”

“Let me check Roger's schedule. He's the assistant director.” She scrolled again, and I crossed my fingers. Not that I believed in luck. “The earliest he can do is next Monday at four.”

Great, just great. I tried not to scream in frustration.

“Okay, I'll take Friday. What am I supposed to do before then? ”

“You should contact your resident director and he can help you work through any issues you may have, okay? ”

She wrote out my date on card and took my name, typing it slowly into the computer. Yeah, our resident director. I'd seen the guy all of once when I moved in. He'd introduced himself and gave some speech about how his door was always open. Yeah, I was going to go to some complete stranger with my problems. Not likely.

I thanked the woman and tried not to stomp out of the office. My phone buzzed, and I looked down to find a text from “Sexy Roommate.” I opened it, wondering what the hell.