Blake
She'd been avoiding me for over a week now. It was actually quite impressive how much I've seen her. Or haven't seen her. Seemed like she'd been busy between classes going to job interviews. But none were willing to work with her school schedule. I've never seen someone look as stressed out as her.
I opened the door to my room and caught her inside right as she was making her way out. I held the piece of paper towards her, trying my best to make my smile look friendly, so she wouldn't run out like she usually did.
She glanced down at the paper between us before meeting my eyes. "What's this?"
"A job application," I told her.
She raised a brow and plucked the paper from my grip before reading it. "Job application?"
"Yeah," I cleared my throat. "I saw how much you were struggling, so I put in a word. The job is basically yours already. You just have to go to this address and fill out a bit of paperwork once you arrive." I pointed to the address at the bottom of the paper and she nodded. "It's a fairly good pay, if you're interested. They'll work around your schedule, too."
She was silent for a moment, reading everything on the paper. I pulled my hand away and tucked it into my pocket when I realized I was still pointing at the address. After waiting a few moments, I started glancing awkwardly around the room. It gave me enough time to think about how weird and random this truly was.
I was about to apologize for bothering her when she finally looked up and smiled at me. Dimples made their adorable appearance and I had to catch my breath. It was the first time I've seen her smile. "Thank you. I'll go right after my next class."
I nodded, reaching a hand up to comb my hair back. "Sounds good. Just tell them you're Nicole, the girl Blake was talking about, and they'll take you from there," I informed.
She suddenly froze, and I pressed my lips into a tight line. Shit. She still hadn't told me her name. Now she probably thought I stalked her to find out everything about her. I mean, I've been considering it, but she didn't need to know that.
Instead of questioning how I knew her name, though, she thanked me again and walked right out the door without another word.
I let out the breath I was holding for the past minute. Not because I was nervous around her, but because I found myself wanting to make her smile again. She couldn't be the reason I thought what creeps normally thought. You should smile more. I hated guys that said that to my sister, and I was definitely not going to say it to Nicole. Hell, no. I didn't care how beautiful her smile was. I would never stoop to that level.
I rubbed a frustrated hand down my face.
I need to get laid.
• • •
"Do I look like your pimp?" Patricia scrunched her nose as she scoffed. "No, I don't have any friends you can take to your room. And no, I'm not putting my roomie through the pain of dealing with you. I'm not a bitch."
I rolled my eyes and tipped the last of my soda into my mouth before throwing the empty can into the recycling bin. "First off, debatable. And I wasn't asking you. I was asking Justus."
"Sorry, man," he chuckled, wrapping an arm around Patricia. I eyed his hand, the one that was now dangling over her right shoulder. Then, I glanced at Patricia's blushing cheeks and her shy smile. With a tight jaw, my eyes locked on his.
"Get your hand off her," I warned, narrowing my eyes. Best friend or not, no one with a past like mine would get a chance with her. And Justus was and still is a hell of a lot worse than me.
