Me:No. Just trust me.
Lucas:Fine. Care to clue me in?
I thought about texting or calling him, but heck, why not shock the hell out of them the same way I had been. It would be the only way to get the same effect.
Me:Believe me. You’ll figure it out as soon as you meet Charlie.
Lucas:OK. See you tomorrow.
Me:Later. Thanks, man.
“Wow, that shower is amazing. It was like standing under a waterfall. And you didn’t tell me that tub had jets. I’ll try that later or on a different day.”
Turning my head, I watched Charlie practically skip down the stairs. She had on baggy jeans that somehow looked sexy on her, a white sweatshirt with what seemed to be a picture of a Scrabble tile, and her damp hair pulled into a ponytail resting on top of her head. Her face was devoid of any makeup, and blue glasses framed her eyes, but the woman was an utter knockout.
I am completely screwed.
“I’m glad you liked it.” Her gaze went to the bottle in my hand. “Would you like a beer?”
“Oh, um… no, thank you.” She seemed to force down a swallow. “I just recently turned twenty-one, and I’m not a big fan of beer.”
All I could do was blink and wish away the pit that began to form in my stomach. Sally was almost twenty-three. My sister told me Charlie was smart, but then I remembered she was younger than her.
Still confused, I asked, “I thought you graduated from college?”
“Oh, I did. I only needed to go for three years because of all the advanced classes I took in high school. Plus, I completed summer classes.”
“How old were you when you started?”
“Five, but I tested out of the eighth grade. I had to change schools anyway.” She shrugged as though it wasn’t a huge deal.
“I meant college.”
“Oh.” She giggled. “Seventeen. I love school, though. I’ll be continuing as soon as I’m done being a kicker.”
The only thing I could do was nod. “Then what? Medical school?” She tilted her head. “Sally told me.”
“Right. Yes. If I get bored between now and then, I might take online courses.”Bored?She glanced toward the kitchen. “Can I grab a bottle of water?”
“Make yourself at home. You’re probably hungry. There are some things to make sandwiches, or we can go to the diner not far from here.”
“Oh, a greasy burger sounds great. I’ll go grab my jacket.”
She turned to head back upstairs just as I set down my half-full beer bottle and snatched the keys off the counter. When I didn’t hear her footsteps, I pivoted to look at her.
“I’m really sorry about all of this,” she said. “If there are other things you’d like to be doing, I can just find a nearby market and grab some things for myself. I’m supposed to meet with the team’s trainer next week to go over workouts and a diet plan.”
Diet plan.The woman’s athletic build didn’t need a diet. Granted, most kickers weren’t as big as linemen, but they weren’t waifs either. Although Charlie was tiny in comparison to my stature—I was only 193 pounds—I knew what it took to keep in shape.
“Let’s go, and we can talk.”
She nodded and hurried up the stairs while I grabbed my jacket. I had a feeling my roommate was full of surprises.
Chapter 6
Charlie
As soon as we stepped into the retro-style diner, all eyes landed on us. Well, mostly on Collin. I was just the nerdy girl next to him. Thanks to me tearing my left contact lens and not wanting to bother grabbing my backup one, I’d tossed on my blue-frame glasses instead. Naturally, Collin did a double take when I came down the stairs, but that was probably because I looked as though I’d just stepped out of a study session. If I were a betting woman, I’d wager most women who descended his staircase were sexier. Not that I cared, just stating a fact.