Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 138775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
“God, no.”
“Exactly. You trusted someone, and he didn’t live up to that trust. That speaks to what kind of person he is, not you.”
I wanted to believe his kind words, but it was hard to let myself off the hook. I still felt that I should’ve figured out that Todd wasn’t my friend sooner than I had.
“Things are headed in the right direction for you. You’re well on your way to becoming a teacher. You have a place to stay. And you have an amazingly charming roommate,” Jayden added.
“Just one?” He’d made me smile, and I was grateful for that.
“Yes. One amazingly charming roommate, and two moderately charming ones. When they aren’t at each other’s throats.”
I laughed. “I agree with your assessment.”
“Good.” He downed the last of his drink and set the bottle down on the tray. “Come on, I want you to meet Mia.”
“She’s here?”
“Yeah, her shift started a few minutes ago, but I didn’t want to interrupt you while you were talking about your mom.”
Wow. He hadn’t so much as glanced away when I was talking. Maybe I didn’t need to be jealous of this Mia after all. Wait a second. Had I really been jealous?
Maybe.
I took care of the tray and the trash. It was only fitting, since he’d bought our meal.
Then I followed him somewhat shyly up to the counter.
“Hi Jayden.” A young woman about my age gave him a friendly smile. She was pretty. Her hair was red, obviously dyed, since there were dark streaks in it, too. Wavy strands fell past her shoulders, and the overall effect was striking. Uneasily, I wondered if Jayden liked her hair as much as mine.
“Mia, this is Tori, the friend I told you about.” Wait, what had he told her? “Tori, this is Mia.” He leaned over the counter, checking the back room before telling me, “She keeps things going around here much better than her colleague.”
“You’ve got that right.” Mia turned friendly blue eyes to me. “It’s nice to meet you, Tori.”
“You too. I like this café—I didn’t even know it was here.”
“Few people do. There’s a proper lunch place up on the second floor, so usually students just grab something between classes if at all. That’s why I like it when someone comes round who will stay and talk. Especially if it’s about something other than social sciences.”
“That definition applies to both Tori and me. But we should be going… it’s study group night.”
Mia raised an eyebrow. “You know, no one else sticks with their study cohort for more than one semester.”
“What can I say? We’ve got a good group.”
I certainly agreed with that, given that I was living with two of them. “It was nice to meet you, Mia.”
“Likewise. Feel free to stop by anytime, whether Jayden’s with you or not.”
“Thank you.” My smile was genuine because hers had been.
“Told you you’d like her,” Jayden said a minute later as we walked across the quad. He checked something on his phone and then put it back in his pocket.
“Yeah, I think I did. Is she looking for a roommate?” I laughed as he raised a questioning eyebrow at me. “Just kidding! Honestly, I don’t try to move in with everyone I meet.”
“Good to know. Besides, Mia’s got a bit of an unusual living situation herself.” He gave me a sideways glance. “There seems to be a lot of that going around.”
The library wasn’t far, but when we got there, Jayden led me upstairs instead of down. “I have one more friend I want you to meet,” he said at my questioning glance.
“But we have study group soon.”
“This won’t take long.”
I followed him as he wove his way past the tables and chairs lined the wall of windows. As he approached one of the last tables, I saw a familiar face. Lucas.
He had his head down as he jotted something in a notebook. Jayden kicked the leg of the table, and he looked up. And smiled. “Hi.”
“Hi. Are you headed down to the basement?”
“In a few.”
Jayden took a step back. “I have to stop by the reference desk. I’ll see you two downstairs.”
I watched him leave, feeling like I was missing something, but I didn’t know what.
“Will you sit with me for a minute?” Lucas asked. “There's something I’d like to talk to you about.”
"Of course.” That’s when I realized that this had been planned. Jayden had brought me up here because Lucas wanted to talk to me. That made me curious, and a little apprehensive. Was he going to kick me out? I should’ve insisted that he take back his bedroom.
My breath hitched as I sat down across from him. “What's going on?
“I wanted to apologize.”
“Apologize?”
“For the way I've been acting.”
That made me smile. “Are you referring to how you stopped me from sleeping in my car? Or for inviting me into your home? Or for giving up your room for me?”