Room Mated: Standalone Reverse Harem Romance

“But you’re here now, at the same time and place. So it seems like a good opportunity to spend more time with her.”

“Who has time? Not her. She’s in her final semester. And not me, either. Do you business majors have a lot of time to spare?”

“Not hardly. But in a few more months she could be across the country. Wouldn’t it be better to spend some time with her now?” She’d mentioned that she was job hunting in addition to all her final projects.

He sighed. “Can you just drop it, please?”

I sighed but nodded. “All right, but as your girlfriend, I just want what’s best for you.”

Mason rolled his eyes. “If you were my girlfriend, I’d have better ways to distract you when you get on a topic like this.”

That thought was definitely intriguing, but later, when he held the door open as we entered Henderson, I thought of something unsettling. Parker had introduced me as his girlfriend, and now Mason had done the same thing. It wasn’t that I thought the whole campus would soon be gossiping about my relationship status, or lack thereof, but now there were more stories to keep straight. That didn’t seem particularly wise.

Oh well. Maybe I should just be prepared to elbow Jude if it ever looked like he was going to introduce me as his girlfriend.

15

Jude

On Saturday, I returned to the suite around noon. Mason and Parker were nowhere to be found, but Kylie was perched at her usual spot at the table, books spread in front of her, her gaze elsewhere.

“If I could only find a woman who looks at me the way you look at those mountains,” I said when she finally looked away from them.

Kylie grinned. “Something tells me that you wouldn’t have much trouble finding female company if you wanted to.”

I shrugged. “I have my moments, but I’m no match for a mountain range. Have you had lunch yet?”

“No.” She uncurled her legs from her chair and stood up, stretching as she did so. She had on what I was beginning to think of as her usual outfit—shorts, a tank top, and an oversized sweatshirt on top of it. It suited her. Casual but also kind of sexy. She had amazing legs, and her collection of short shorts showcased them quite well. I wondered what she’d wear when the weather got colder. Hopefully she’d still wear shorts around the suite. I wasn’t the only one who would be disappointed if she didn’t.

Kylie slipped her feet into her sandals and then grinned. “I still can’t believe this place has a dining room where you actually want to eat the food.”

“It’s much better here than where we were last year.” I couldn’t help smiling at her enthusiasm for the food. She didn’t eat out often—I got the impression that she didn’t have much extra cash for that, so it was perfect that her scholarship covered her room and board. My assistantship did too, in exchange for giving lessons and teaching the occasional class.

We got our food and then settled at a table for two by the edge of the large dining room. It wasn’t too crowded. Some students were probably sleeping in. Others might’ve taken advantage of the nice weather and gone somewhere off campus.

“I forgot to ask you how your test was yesterday,” I said.

Kylie had just taken a bite of her BLT, so I waited until she finished. “Not too bad.” She wiped her cute pink lips with a napkin. “At least I didn’t end up curled in a ball, rocking back and forth in a corner afterwards.”

“That’s always a good thing.”

“Did you teach lessons this morning?”

I nodded. “Two.”

“How’d they go?”

Hmm… I never liked speaking badly of my students. “One guy shows promise on the guitar. The other… let’s just assume that he has many talents in other fields.” Kylie grinned. “Oh, but yesterday afternoon I worked with one of my best piano students. She’s getting really good—she’ll be the one giving me lessons soon.”

“I’d like to hear you play piano sometime.”

That reminded me of something. “I’m playing with my band tonight. Do you want to come?”

Her eyes widened. “You play in a band?”

I laughed. “I’m a musician. Is that so surprising?”

“Yeah, kind of. I thought you studied music theory and classical stuff.”

“Sometimes. But playing in a band’s the fun part.”

Kylie swiped open her phone. “Where are you playing?”

“At a bar called the Dancing Horse. Don’t expect much from it,” I warned. Kylie started to look up the address, but I told her not to bother. “Mason’s going, he can drive you.”

She closed her phone. “That’s good. I don’t really know my way around yet. What’s he up to today?”

“Probably playing tennis.”

“Mason plays tennis?”

“Yeah, why?”

Kylie’s face scrunched up in a cute as hell way while she thought about it. “I don’t know, it just seems like… too conventional for him.”