Room Mated: Standalone Reverse Harem Romance

I looked up at Parker, reluctant to move away from his touch. “Thank you,” I said, my voice almost a whisper.

The smile he gave me wasn’t as bright as the fake one he’d used on Rita, but it was genuine. “Any time.”

On Thursday, I spent the afternoon studying for the first test in my finance class the following day. Or, rather, I spent the afternoon panicking. For hours, I poured over the books and notes spread out on the table in front of me, but it was like I couldn’t take any of it in.

The weather wasn’t helping. The sky was cloudy and gray, and every half hour or so, it would start raining. It felt like the storm clouds started a few feet beyond the balcony, and it wasn’t helping my mood.

“Will you stop fidgeting?” Mason was at the other end of the table. Unlike me, he seemed to have no problem studying. Every time I looked over, his expression was intent and focused.

“I’ve got a big test coming up.”

Mason cocked an eyebrow at me. “And fidgeting helps you prepare?”

A sarcastic comment rose to my lips but didn’t make it any further. “No,” I said in a quiet voice. “I can’t seem to concentrate today.” All day, something had felt off. I had everything I needed, including an energy drink—but nothing was going well.

Mason frowned at me, and for the first time, I noticed that he was shirtless. What the hell was wrong with me that it took me this long to notice his gorgeous, chiseled chest? That meant I could’ve been surreptitiously watching him instead of staring at the same passages over and over without taking anything in.

He closed the book he was reading. “I know what your problem is.”

I braced myself for his assessment. Was he going to be sarcastic? Or possibly even quasi-sympathetic when he voiced what I feared—that I wasn’t going to pass my classes?

But instead, he smiled. “It’s the mountains, dummy. It’s bothering you that you can’t see them.”

I rolled my eyes. I’d gotten through all my other schooling without a mountain view. But then I thought about it. I’d positioned myself in my favorite spot to study—the one with the best view of the Rockies. Today, it was like sitting in front of a gray wall. Could that really be what was throwing me off?

Mason looked smug, as if he’d known I’d eventually agree with him. “C’mon,” he said. “Pack up your stuff.”

It was a measure of my desperation that I immediately did as he said. “Where are we going?”

“To a place where you won’t expect to see the mountains so you won’t miss them.”

Fifteen minutes later, I shook off my umbrella as I followed Mason into a massive lobby. Ornate structures lined the wide-open space that was at least four stories tall. “I feel like a stranger in a strange land,” I whispered.

He turned to me and grinned. “No, just a business major in the engineering library.” He hadn’t bothered with an umbrella, but at least he’d put a shirt on. He brushed the rain off it, which didn’t seem like it should work, but it didn’t matter. Wet or dry, he looked hot. “Come on, I want you to meet a friend of mine.”

I followed him through a series of rooms and hallways, half wondering if I should’ve left breadcrumbs to find the exit again. Finally, he stopped in front of a stone bust at the end of a row of bookcases.

“This is Henderson.”

“The guy the dormitory is named after?” I said, studying the severe-looking stone face. He had curly hair and a short beard.

“Yeah. He was basically an aerospace engineer before that was a thing. I wrote a paper on him last year.”

“Is that insider knowledge how you secured the best suite in the building?”

“In part,” Mason said mysteriously. Then, when he thought I’d had enough time to appreciate his muse, we moved on. We settled in a large room on the third floor with tables almost as big as the one in the suite.

Mason chose one far away from the windows, and once I set up my stuff, I did feel better. Not that the material was easier, but I was doing better with focusing and retaining what I’d read. Mason must’ve been right—I was subconsciously bothered by the lack of mountains. It bemused the hell out of me that he’d been the one to figure that out about me, however.

There were a couple dozen other students scattered throughout the room. Some hitting the books, and some typing on laptops. I wondered if I was the only non-engineer in the place. All in all, it wasn’t a bad spot for studying. It felt like we all had a common goal unlike back in the suite where Jude might be playing the guitar while I was studying or Mason and Parker might be watching TV.