“No way,” Auden said, backing out of the parking spot. “You don’t need her number.”
“What?” Lennox asked, tone full of wide-eyed innocence. “Too soon for dick pics?”
The deadly glare Auden sent him made Lennox laugh. This was going to be a blast.
CHAPTERFOUR
O’Neal pulled up short when she swung open the door to her dorm room and found a girl with pink-streaked black hair and clear-framed glasses sitting on the other bed. She had earbuds in her ears and a hardcover book open in her lap.
The girl looked up, apparently sensing a disturbance in the force, and smiled. “Oh. Hey.” She tugged the earbuds out. “O’Neal?”
“Uh, yeah,” she said, shutting the door behind her. “I’m guessing you’re Quyen?”
“Yep. Yay, you’re here!” She tossed her book to the side and stood. “Welcome, fellow inmate.”
O’Neal smiled at the girl’s genuine enthusiasm and set her keys on the desk. “Thanks.”
“I’m so glad you’re here.” She tightened her spiky ponytail and rocked to the balls of her feet like she was a moment away from literally hopping with excitement. “I tried to go out to the lounge to meet people, but everyone is paired up with their roommate already like they’ve exchanged vows or blood oaths or something. I felt like the girl without a prom date. And I’vebeenthe girl without a prom date, and I definitely am not ready to repeat that experience.”
O’Neal laughed lightly. “Sorry about that. I didn’t see you around when I moved in so I left to grab some lunch.” She put out her hand. “You’re officially paired off, roomie. But maybe let’s wait on the blood oath.”
“Sweet.” Quyen shook her hand like they were making a business deal. “But no blood oath? Man, I can’t believe I spent that money on the upgraded ceremonial knife.” She put her hands on her hips. “I always do that, you know? Go just a little too far, put in a little too much effort. I guess I should probably cancel our appointment for matching tattoos as well.”
O’Neal snorted, a little nervous and overwhelmed, but glad she at least had a roommate who wanted to be friendly and who had a sense of humor. “We’ll work up to that.”
“Hashtag roommate goals,” Quyen said with a wink and then grabbed her phone from her bed. “I know this is going to sound weird, but can we take a selfie?”
“Uh…sure?”
“Awesome, thanks.” She stepped next to O’Neal and lifted her phone. “Smile and look responsible!”
Look responsible?The phone clicked before O’Neal could puzzle that one out.
“Perfect,” Quyen said as she analyzed the photo. “I can now text this to my parents and reassure them that I am not rooming with a boy. They saw your name and thought there’d been a mix-up.”
“Ah. Gotcha. I get that a lot. Did your parents move you in today?”
Quyen plopped back down on her bed, sitting cross-legged, and brushed her bangs away from her face. “Yeah, bright and early. They like to be first for everything. Told me if we didn’t get here by seven sharp, I’d get the bad side of the room.” She gave her a droll look. “It’s a dorm room. There are no good sides of the room, but at least we beat the crowd.”
“You could’ve had whatever side you wanted anyway. I’m not picky.” O’Neal sat on her bed, trying not to marvel at the bright pink streaks in Quyen’s hair. Her grandmother would’ve had a heart attack if O’Neal had even put in highlights.
“I totally cared what side, but I would’ve pretended not to while coercing you into letting me have it,” she said brightly. “I’m both nice and crafty. You’ve been warned.”
“Noted.”
“And I saw you earlier, I just didn’t realize you belonged to this room or I would’ve said hi. You were with two guys.” She glanced toward the door. “Were they your brothers or something?”
“Brothers?” O’Neal shook her head. “No, just a family friend who’s a senior here and his roommate. My grandparents couldn’t make it up here so Auden and Lennox were helping me out.”
Quyen gave her a conspiratorial look. “Well, you definitely had the hottest help. I mean, wow. Glad they’re not your brothers.”
O’Neal’s face warmed. This was new territory—openly talking about how hot some guy was. She’d rarely talked about boys with Maya. It was like an unwritten rule that since O’Neal couldn’t date, Maya wouldn’t regale her with stories of the dating life. Not that Maya had dated all that much anyway. “Yeah, they’re…nice.”
“Nice?Girl.The guy with the ink?” She fanned herself. “Yes, please.”
O’Neal rolled her lips together, remembering the focused way Lennox had looked at her over lunch, like he could see right into her head. He was equal parts fascinating and terrifying. When he’d asked how old she was, her mind had gone to places it shouldn’t have. She’d felt like a mouse being teased by a very clever cat, but of course, he’d only been asking to see if she’d be able to go places with them. He was only being friendly.
O’Neal cleared her throat. “Lennox is…scary hot.”