No way.
There must be some mistake.
My mouth hangs open, making me look even crazier than I must already, lugging these bags in here, into what is clearly the wrong room.
“Sorry,” I stammer, looking back and forth from the occupied room to the key in my hand.
Because standing in the middle of this three-person room, the one the desk told me to go to, the one my key worked to open, are two half-naked guys.
Don’t get me wrong, they’re hot as hell, wearing sporty shorts, soccer cleats, and nothing else. Their sharply defined muscles glisten in the dim light of the dorm room. One is tan with dark hair and dark eyes. He’s halfway through chugging a bottle of Gatorade, but he freezes midway to sweep his eyes over me when I enter. The other is his polar opposite, blond and blue-eyed, your stereotypical white-bread American guy. From the bag slung over his shoulder, with its distinctive loop shape at the top, I guess they play for the lacrosse team. I’d heard the school has a really good team, top of the varsity leagues.
Finally, my face flushes as my brain kicks back into functioning. “There must be some mistake. I’ll just… Go… Ask the front desk…” I back out of the room, starting to ease the door shut behind me.
But one of them, the blond, launches across the room to catch it before I can shut it completely. “Cassidy?” he asks. “Cassidy Brown?”
If anything, my blush only worsens. Why does he know my name? “Yes?”
“Anthony,” he says, sticking out a hand. I accept it, if only because I don’t know what the hell else to do right now. His hand feels hot in mine, his skin flushed from exertion. They must have just finished practice—I can smell the sweat on Anthony, though it’s a good scent. Heady and masculine, all salt and pine and outdoors. I stare up into his deep blue eyes, unable to look away. That is, until he releases my hand, which feels suddenly cold without his touch, and points a thumb over his shoulder. “And that’s Vin.”
Vin, for his part, flashes me a cocky wink that does strange, twisty things to my stomach. I can feel a flutter behind my belly-button, and it makes me want to sprint out of here faster than ever. But I can’t because Vin is speaking now. Saying words that don’t make sense, not in English, not in a way I can comprehend. “We’re your roommates, Cassidy.”
Fuck.
I scowl. “Not possible,” I say, shaking my head.
“Here, let me take that for you,” Anthony offers, grabbing the bag from my shoulder before I can protest. Before I can even figure out what’s going on. He turns and tosses it onto my bed, across from their bunk beds on the far wall.
“We saved you the bigger bed since we’re used to sharing,” Vin adds, striding across the room to take my other bag.
“Stop, stop, stop,” I say, grabbing my stuff. They both look back at me, eyebrows raised, expectant. “This can’t be right. Aren’t we… I mean… Isn’t this… I didn’t think the rooms were coed.”
“You didn’t read the website?” Vin lifts an eyebrow. He’s still wearing an infuriating, cocky smirk. “It was right on the main page. A new change they’re trying this year. Progression, and all that.”
My face burns red-hot. Not only am I stuck rooming with two guys, but they somehow read something I missed? Even after all of my preparation… How could I have missed an update this big? “But…”
Anthony steps back over to me. He stands right in the doorway, just inches away from me, towering over me. And grinning down at me, his blue eyes infuriatingly clear and innocent-seeming. “This won’t be a problem for you, will it? After all, the administration said you put you were willing to share with anyone on your form…”
Shit. “I didn’t think—”
“Anyone didn’t include guys?” Anthony guesses, tilting his head as his blue eyes catch mine. “You don’t think we’ll get along?”
“It’s not… I mean. I don’t know you…” I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts. “It’s nothing personal. This is just…”
“Unexpected?” Vin asks, joining Anthony beside me. He smirks still, watching me carefully. “That’s kind of the point of this year, though, isn’t it? College changes everyone in unexpected ways.”
Between the two of them, my head starts to spin. They’re both gorgeous but in opposite ways. Vin is all dark, bad boy looks, the devil on one shoulder brought to life, while Anthony is the angel on the other. Except this time, the devil and the angel have ganged up against me.
I scowl, hoping they’ll misread the hot flush on my skin as anger instead of what I fear it really is…
Attraction.
“There’s unexpected, and then there’s crazy.”
“What’s the matter? Do you think something else unexpected might happen if you room with us?” Anthony doesn’t move, doesn’t touch me, but he doesn’t need to. His eyes feel like a touch, that’s how closely he’s staring at my body, studying my curves. Making me hot all over.
I snort. “Of course not.”
“Well then, what’s the harm in sharing a bedroom?” Vin’s smirk widens. “If you’re so sure nothing will happen…”