I opened the door. He looked up from his desk with a textbook open in front of him.
“You made it back early,” he said. “Did you screw Brooke?”
“Nah,” I said, playing it off. “She’s not my type.”
“Gotcha,” he said. “I was going to give you her phone number. She gave it to me this summer when I was in the Med-Center.”
“You want her?”
He shook his head.
“Hell no, but you never know, right? I thought she might be a nerd, but it didn’t turn out that way.”
“You’re a dog, bro,” I said, causing him to smile proudly. “It’s the quiet ones that always seem to surprise. I bet she’s got some untapped potential. Just needs the right guy to bring it out.”
“So? Do you want her number?”
“Yeah, sure. Maybe one night I’ll want to see what she’s got.”
“You got it.”
“Alright man, see you tomorrow.”
“‘Night.”
We nodded at each other before I closed the door and walked across the hall to my room. Inside, I turned on the light and wandered straight to my bed. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw Brooke’s number in a text from Trey.
Replaying the night and why she had gotten angry with me, I instinctively pressed call and then put the phone to my ear as I laid down on my King Size bed.
What are the odds she would pick up a call from an unknown number? This was probably...
“Hello?”
The sound of her voice captivated me as I laid back with one hand behind my head and the other holding the phone.
“Hey, it’s me. I wanted to check in to see you got back okay?”
“Who is this?”
“Me. Austin. Your white knight.”
“I was practically on my lawn when you left. Of course I’m fine.?”
“Good to know you appreciate the gesture.”
“How did you get my number?”
“Does it matter?” I asked. “You
doing okay? Those fucks better not try anything else.”
“I’m fine. A little busy though. I’m knee deep studying for a pop quiz tomorrow.”
“How is it a pop quiz if you know about it?”
“Well, it wasn’t officially announced, but I’ve caught on to the professor’s patterns.”
“Ah, smart woman.”