Jude was saying something, but most of my attention was still on the majestic mountains in front of me. I did catch the tail end of it, however. “We’d better see about finding you a place to stay tonight.”
“I’m staying here,” I said absently, barely loud enough for anyone else to hear.
“What?” Jude said. “Well… I guess we could make the couch up for you and then tomorrow you could go to the housing office.”
“No.” With a great effort, I turned away from the amazing view and faced the three men. “Not just for the night. I was assigned to this suite, and I’m going to live in this suite.”
Three shocked faces stared at me. I’d even broken through Parker’s daze.
“Guess that makes us roommates,” I said.
4
Jude
Kylie’s pronouncement left us speechless, though she’d succeeded in getting our attention. Even Parker looked astonished. Then Mason responded with his usual empathy and charm.
“Not going to happen,” he said flatly.
“Why not?” Kylie demanded. “This a four-person suite. You were going to be assigned another roommate anyway. Why not me?”
“Because you’re a girl.”
“Woman,” I corrected, but Mason ignored me. “So? I’m Kylie instead of Kyle. It’s just one letter’s difference.”
“You know what else is one letter’s difference?” Mason asked. His posture was rigid, showcasing his six-foot height. Kylie, who couldn’t have been more than 5’ 4”, looked ridiculously small as she glared up at him. “Two X chromosomes versus XY. To stay on this side of the building, you need the Y.”
“Why?” she echoed, and I had to bite back a chuckle.
Mason tried for an easy-going grin. “You don’t want to stay here with strangers.”
“I’ll be doing that anyway,” Kylie fired back. “My scholarship won’t cover a single room.”
Unfortunately, she’d just handed Mason his next tactic on a platter. “We’ve all got one kind of scholarship or another. We can’t risk it by breaking the rules.”
I nearly snorted. As if Mason had ever cared about the rules.
“This is graduate school, not a private prep school. There’s no curfew. No rule against having girls in your room,” she stood up straighter, but she still looked like a mouse confronting a cat. “If you have girlfriends, you’d let them stay the night, right?”
I winced and glanced over at Parker, but it wasn’t clear if he was listening. “Yes,” I said, before Mason could. “But sleeping over isn’t the same as moving in.”
“It kind of is.” Kylie turned her attention to me. “What if I were your girlfriend and I slept here with you most nights?”
That was an intriguing thought. She was a real spitfire. “For one thing, I’m not sure we’d both fit in the top bunk.”
Kylie ignored that. Though one eye was blue and one was green, both seemed to be filled with fire at the moment. “This is graduate school. No one cares if members of the opposite sex sleep together. Hell, for all the housing office knows, you all could be gay and having sex together every night.”
Her logic seemed to have derailed a bit, but I went with it. “Thanks, we’ll keep that in mind.”
Mason tried a new approach. “If you’re seen coming in and out of here a dozen times a day, people on the floor are going to catch on. Someone will turn you in.”
“Are you going to turn me in?” she looked from Mason to me and back again.
“No,” I said.
“Yes,” Mason said.
Kylie turned her furious gaze on him. “Why?”
“Not to get you in trouble,” he said, holding up his hands in defense. “But because this is a men’s dorm room. It’s where we can relax and be ourselves.”
“And how would my presence stop you from relaxing or being yourselves?”
“This conversation isn’t very relaxing,” Mason pointed out.
“If you can’t be yourself around a woman, that’s on you, not her.” It was highly entertaining to see someone hold her own against Mason. It wasn’t something I’d witnessed much, and he and I had been friends for nearly a decade.
Mason shook his head. “At the end of the day, I just want to chill. To de-stress without worrying about offending anyone.”
Kylie’s dark lashes flashed as she rolled her eyes. “You have no idea who’d they assign to this room if I give up the spot. The new guy might hate your music. Or constantly shush you when he’s studying. Or get night terrors and wake up screaming. Why do you assume it’s automatically preferable to room with a man rather than a woman?”
“Because this is a men’s dorm.” Kylie’s persistence was exasperating him.
“That’s not it,” she said. “It’s because of your assumptions about women. We’re all delicate creatures that’ll take offense if you cuss. Or leave a towel on the floor. Or scratch your balls while you’re lounging around, watching TV.” I couldn’t help laughing at her interesting list of male behavior, and Kylie shot me a quick smile.