“Smart-ass,” he mutters under his breath. His grip tightens a little around my body. “He would want us to laugh. Fuck, he loved to laugh.”
Silence consumes the room as I wipe the tears away from my cheek.
Zach leans his head against mine. “You wanna go and get a pizza or something? Then we can come back and I can help you unpack. Not because anyone asked me, but because I want to, Hails. We’re friends—that’s what we do. We look out for each other. You’re kind of all I got.”
I don’t give myself time to overthink things. “You know what? I’d like that. I’m sorry for not letting you know I was here.”
Zach stands first and extends his hand to me. “Don’t worry about it. You can make it up to me by paying for the pizza.”
I take it, and he pulls me up to my feet with a little more force, causing me to fall into his arms. We are standing just a few feet away when the dorm room door swings open, revealing my roommate.
“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”
I let out a giggle. “Don’t worry, Cami; you weren’t. Zach Jacobs, meet Cameron Byram. Cameron, meet Zach Jacobs.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“You too. You can call me Cami. Only my parents call me Cameron, and it’s usually when I’ve pissed them off.” As Cami takes Zach’s hand, I see her eyeing him up and down.
Oh boy, here we go again. The last thing I need is him getting involved with my roommate.
Rolling my eyes, I turn to grab my bag. “We’re headed to get some pizza. We’ll be back later to finish unpacking.”
“See ya later. Nice to meet you, Zach.”
“You too. I’m sure I’ll see you around.”
As Zach and I walk out the door and it closes behind us, I turn to him. “Don’t even think about it, Jacobs!”
He smirks and lets out a loud laugh.
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about, Hanks.” He emphasizes my last name as he says it.
“I’m serious. Don’t try to sleep with Cami, okay? Don’t make this situation awkward for me. Just keep it in your pants!”
His face goes serious for a second as he wraps his arm around my shoulders. “I think I can keep it in my pants for you.”
He lets out another laugh as I push his arm off my shoulders and mutter “asshole” under my breath. I know he heard me; the sound of his laugh grows louder as we make our way down the hallway.
Zach: Ready for your first college party?
Me: You do realize I’ve been to a college party before, right?
Zach: Touché. Yeah but not as a college student. I’m gonna give you the full college experience.
Me: *eye roll emoji*
Zach: Whatever. Meet us at the apartment, and we can head over from there.
I stare at the last text message Zach sent, and my palms begin to sweat and my heart instantly beats harder. Meet at the apartment. Those four words flip my stomach. I knew attending college here, it was most likely that I wouldn’t be able to avoid the apartment the whole time, but I did well for at least the first week of college.
I think about canceling altogether or seeing if I can just meet him and Kyler at the party.
“You know, if you keep frowning like that, you’re just going to get premature wrinkles,” Cami instructs while browsing her closet for something to wear tonight.
I snicker. “Ha. I’m sure I have enough premature wrinkles without frowning.”
Since losing my brother, I feel like I’ve aged at least ten years if not more. What’s a few more wrinkles?