You need sleep.
Being near that man made me feel as if I were standing on the edge of a cliff, ready to fall off at a moment’s notice. And yet, there was something about him that made me think he’d be the one to catch me instead of push me. How could a man so intimidating and so angry-looking also be the man to save someone? He didn’t look like a hero at all, with his leather jacket and his cigarette breath and his predatory grin.
Still, it didn’t stop me from seeing him that way.
I sighed as I forced myself to move. I took one step. Then another. Soon I was in the stairwell, overwhelmed by the scent of cigarettes, leather, and cologne. Yes, that smell was definitely cologne. What kind of man who rode a bike and chain-smoked also wore cologne? The dichotomy was overwhelming. It grew hard to walk up the steps. All the way back to the top floor.
But it was better than taking the chance that someone was screwing around in the elevator.
The thudding of music as I made my way back to my dorm room made me long for the silence of the third floor. Part of me wanted to go back down there and sit, just enjoy it. But the rest of me wanted to get some sleep. I found my way back to the top floor of the dorm building, with Hannah nowhere in sight. And while I had half a mind to go find her, I also knew she was a big girl.
She could take care of herself.
Sleep. Sleep is good.
I refused the drinks people tried to hand me. I held my arms up as I slipped between people so my hands didn’t get misplaced. I did everything I could to keep myself as innocent as possible. Even though hands kept falling on my hips. My thighs. My butt cheeks. Boys wanted to dance. Girls wanted to do shots. The music became more intense, until the thudding of the bass matched the strobing of the lights. It was darn near disorienting. I hated the sensation. And as I teetered my way into my dorm room, I closed the door behind me, breathing a sigh of relief as I shut the chaos out.
Even though my mind still spun on its axis.
Why did those girls make me so upset?
I sat down at my desk and pulled off my heels. I massaged my feet before ripping that stupid white shirt off my body. I changed from my party clothes into my pajamas and eased myself into bed. Tomorrow was another day, and I’d try again. I’d try to be a good student. I’d try to get the rest of my summer reading done. And I’d try to avoid, at all costs, anything that could get me in trouble.
Especially Benji and those lumbering brutes.
8
Max
I lay there for an hour with a girl sleeping on each side of me. A typical Sunday morning for a man like myself. But neither of them were my cup of tea. I drew in a deep breath as the need for a cigarette nagged at me. The girl to my left, with the thick brown hair, kept snoring in my damn ear all night. And the redhead to my right kept moving her knee a bit too close to the boys. One wrong move and I’d be out of the game for at least a week. Because a woman’s legs were never to be messed with in bed.
That much I’d learned the hard way.
“All right. That’s enough,” I groaned.
I sat up in bed and the girls shifted around. One of them yawned while the other whimpered. I didn’t know who did what, and I didn’t care. I slid down to the edge of the bed and slipped my feet into my slippers. I stood, stretching my arms over my head and cracking my back from my tailbone all the way up to my shoulders.
“Oh, yeah. That’s the stuff,” I grunted.
“Hush,” one of the girls mumbled.
“Coffee?” another asked.
I ignored them.
I had to check on my brother first.
I picked my shirt off the floor and slipped it on, then shuffled my way out of my bedroom. I knew the girls would go back to sleep. They always did. I invested a hell of a lot of money in a prime place to sleep, especially after moving in with my older brother. I made my way down the hallway, all the way to the back of the house. When I saw his bedroom door hanging wide open, I sighed.
“How’s the coffee?” I called out.
“Better hush. You’ll wake your company.”
I grinned. “Hope we didn’t wake you.”
“Hope you weren’t trying. Because if you were, you lost.”
I chuckled as I made my way back down the hallway. I peeked my head back into my bedroom and, sure enough, the girls were already fast asleep again. I closed my door to let them sleep and cleared my throat. The smell of coffee finally penetrated my senses, leading me to the kitchen, where my brother sat, his cane between his legs, nursing a mug.