by Mia Watts
Parker blinked, the dazed look clearing from her eyes replaced with shock.
“I thought you said we couldn’t keep her,” Dan whined.
“Bad move, Kei. What the fuck were you thinking?” Jaxon shook his head, delivering the admonishment with solemn concern.
“Unbelievable,” Henry was saying. “Unbelievable. I go my whole life without a kiss anywhere in there, but all he has to do is walk over and insult her and she gives him one. Why can’t I do that?” He stomped to his desk, flopped into the computer chair, and punched at the keyboard keys with jabbing fingers. “I’ve been going at it wrong the whole time.”
She laughed, stonily. It sounded forced and thick, but she’d looked away and Kei could no longer read the emotion in her eyes. She rubbed her mouth with the palm of her hand and pushed away from the wall.
Parker made a beeline for Henry, straddled him in his chair, threaded her hands through his shaggy hair and pulled his head back. Henry’s Adam’s apple bobbed comically. With a smirk sent to Kei, she lowered her head and kissed him.
Moisture from her wet hair, their combined heated breath, or maybe she’d just overloaded his circuits, but by the time she pulled off, had steamed over his glasses. Henry’s hands shook with indecision at his sides.
“Oh, God,” Henry groaned. His hips jerked up hard and Kei’s gut twisted with jealousy at the obvious indications that Henry had just spent a load.
Parker dragged stiff fingers down his chest. “Don’t worry, Henry. If there’s time, we’ll sort out that little problem, too.”
She got up as though nothing had happened. “I’m going to Housing. Don’t worry. You’ll all be rid of me soon.” She stormed out, leaving stunned silence in her wake.
* * * *
“I’m sorry, but the dorms are over capacity,” Lillian, the Housing clerk, told the girl in front of Parker.
Parker’s confirmation papers rattled as she dropped her hand to her side. This didn’t sound good at all. She tried for a bright smile when she took her turn and moved to the counter across from Lillian of the horned rimmed glasses and white bun society. A small hair pick decorated the mass of wiry strands, embellished with a small beaded dangler.
“Cute frog,” she said brightly, hoping to win the woman over by complementing the ornament.
“Thanks, sweetie, how can I help you?”
“I think I was put in the wrong room.”
“Did you sign the agreement paperwork?” Lillian asked, bored. She leaned on the counter, blinking at Parker behind magnified lenses.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You’ve had a week to report any mix ups in your assignment.”
“I’m a scholarship transfer student from—”
“We have two suites in each dorm for scholarship students. Being a transfer, I suspect you’re an upperclassman?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Then you’ll be given seniority over someone else if a scholarship student either loses their grant or transfers out. Until then, honey, there’s no room in the inn.”
“But I’m in a room with—”
“You can be in a room with flesh eating gerbils, and I still wouldn’t have a place to put you. Have you considered moving off campus?” Lillian asked. Her eyes flicked to the line behind Parker, probably prepared to give this same speech to someone else.
“I can’t afford housing. I’m on scholarship for a reason.”
Lillian frowned at her.
“I’m sorry, that sounded bad. I have to keep up the requirements to maintain the right to be here. It’s one of the reasons I transferred.”
Lillian’s frown softened. “It can’t be that bad, sweetie. We room the scholarship students together because you all have the same goal and study requirements. Surely you can stick it out until something frees up.”
“But,” Parker leaned forward to whisper. “I’m in Eckland Hall.”
Lillian’s eyes widened sharply. “That can’t be right.”
Parker handed her the paperwork. Lillian looked it over, her scowl deepening by the moment.
“Why did you approve this?” she asked.
“I got it via fax while I was studying abroad. I just flew in early this morning. I didn’t know until one of my roommates came back about three hours ago and I’ve been in this line ever since.”
Lillian looked up, apologetically.
“The approval form doesn’t say Eckland is a male dorm,” Parker pressed.
“Housing expects you to be fully informed. They won’t accept this as an error if you’ve approved it.” Lillian dropped a hand over Parker’s. “Honey, you seem like a sweet girl, but I really don’t have anything to move you into. All the female dorms are bursting at the seams.”
“My scholarship—”
“Will be revoked if you don’t find other arrangements,” Lillian finished for her. It was an annoying trait, but Parker could hardly feel irritated when Lillian clearly seemed to understand and sympathize with her dilemma.
“What do I do?”
“I’ll bump your priority to the top of the list. I think this qualifies as an emergency. I’ll warn you though, it was a full semester last year before scholarship housing opened up.”
“Until then?” Parker asked. Her palms had grown clammy. She couldn’t afford off campus housing. She already worked part time as an Internet personal assistant since it paid better than campus employment. Fullerton prided itself on its small college community. Sadly, that made what little available employment there was difficult to obtain. Especially since most positions were already filled this late into the year.
“Find a way to move off campus.” Lillian chuckled. “Or keep your head down until something comes along.”
“If I keep my head down and stay where I am, won’t I get kicked out of my program?”
“Oh, honey, I was only joking. Not only would you be kicked out of your program, but so would your roommates.” Lillian pursed her lips. “No, sweetie. You need to leave before it becomes an issue. Just keep your phone number and campus post office box current with Housing. We’ll let you know the minute something opens.”
Parker blew out a breath as she stood. “Thank you, Lillian.”
Lillian was already documenting Parker’s information in the computer. “You’re welcome. I’ve got you all set in our system. Hopefully, something will turn up soon.”
Parker trudged the short distance back to her dorm. “Room 109 or bust,” she murmured. Then glancing up at the two-story building, she absently flipped the room key between her fingers. Eckland Hall, in block letters, crossed the top of two widely spaced columns. Sweeping steps and French doors lent the building a regal, old world look.
She wasn’t looking forward to the conversation she needed to have with the boys. Kei would kick her to the curb. She could sweet talk Henry and maybe Jaxon. Dan was easy, but he’d want her to be easy in return.
But Kei…God, he made her wet just thinking about him. Bastard.
What she needed was leverage. Not willing to be their housekeeper or sex slave, that left a lot of study work. Well, she had a job. She also had the same credit load they did.
Parker flipped the key, staring at the flashing metal between her fingers without really seeing it. Actually, she liked sex. On her terms. The idea of having sex with Kei knotted her stomach pleasantly. She even liked the idea of showing Henry a few things. Jaxon was hot, and so was Dan, but Dan’s attitude turned her off.
She shook her head, clearing the image of having her own personal male harem. God, wouldn’t that be a stitch? It would make her degree in Business Organization and Personnel Management an interesting play on words.
For the thousandth time, she searched the Housing papers for any word that said Eckland was an all male dorm. She hadn’t missed it, it just wasn’t there. Like it or not, she had to go in and face them and plead with them to let her stay. There had to be a way to convince them to take the risk until Housing found an alternative solut
ion. But what? She didn’t have to call for her bank account balance to hear the chirping crickets.
She shivered, hunched her shoulders and stuffed the paper in her pocket before drawing the hoodie over her head. She tucked her chin against the autumn chill and climbed to the top of the steps, then wearily opened the door to the residence hall and went inside.
Someone banged around in the kitchen at the other end of a large sitting area to her right. The communal bathrooms, used by the students who hadn’t been assigned to one of the suites, were located around the corner from the first floor receiving area. Two guys, towels wrapped loosely around their narrow hips, laughed as heavy doors swung closed through escaping steam. The guys came toward her and Parker lowered her head and kept walking, sure they would stop her, relieved when they didn’t seem to notice.
Practically running the last steps to her shared room, her fingers shook with the key in the lock until she stepped through. Even if her roommates let her stay, it would be like running the booty call gauntlet every time she had to come back. A daily walk of shame. A daily risk for five people to keep the secret. How long would it be? A semester? Holy hell, she might as well invest in some Depends for every anxiety-laden moment that would entail.
“Hey! It’s Parker!” Dan said, spinning around in his desk chair. The chair continued to turn another two full circles before he put his feet down and blasted her with a boyish grin. “So? What’d they say?”
Kei, propped up on his bed, the only non-bunked bed, she noticed. He barely flicked her a glance before he resumed reading his textbook. Jaxon sauntered out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. Parker’s gaze dipped low. God! Was there a rule against stealing towels? With the expanse of chocolate flesh moistly glistening and barely concealed, it was an effort not to whimper.
Henry kept face forward to his computer monitor.
“They can’t get me out of here.”
This time Kei put his book down. “What do you mean they can’t get you out of here?”
“Lillian, at Housing, was really nice, but she said they over loaded all the dorms this year with the housing shortage, and there’s no room left. Not even for misapplied scholarship students like me,” she answered crisply.
“Sucks to be you, I guess,” Kei answered.
“No, not really. I’m the only girl on campus with her own posse.”
“Posse,” Dan snickered.
Jaxon rolled his eyes. “Do you even own a dictionary, meathead?”
“Don’t have to as long as my football stats are high. They provide me with a tutor to help me with all those tough words.”
“And do your papers for you,” Henry muttered.
“I do papers,” Dan protested. He whipped a football at Henry, pegging him in the side.
Henry grunted and shot him a glare. “When will you grow up?”
“When will your balls drop?” Dan countered.
“Sure you won’t reconsider staying with us?” Jaxon asked her.
Parker sighed, flopped down on the bottom bunk she’d claimed, and noticed that her sheets had already been folded and packed up for her. So had her clothes. “Nice, guys.”
“Don’t worry. We made sure your clean clothes weren’t put in with the dirty stuff,” Jaxon said.
“Yeah,” Dan snorted. “I did a sniff test. I haven’t decided if the panties in your laundry bag were dirty or not. I’ll hang on to them until I’m sure.”
Kei stifled a laugh, seeming to enjoy himself at her expense.
If she didn’t already know what guys could be like—didn’t already have brothers to lead the way—this might have broken her. “Keep ’em,” she told Dan nonchalantly.
She flopped, stomach first, onto her mattress. Jet lag caught up with her. Parker yawned, tugged her hoodie tighter against her head and face, trying to block out the light spilling across her eyes.
She needed sleep. Even more important than dealing with the wise-crackery going on, panty theft, slick chocolate abs, and brooding Asian eyes, she needed a clear mind. She could deal with all of it when she woke up. Until then, they’d have to put up with her being there for a few more hours. Then they could talk. She could unpack. Then she could think about how she’d catch up on all the class work she’d missed by getting here a week into the semester, and where on God’s green earth she’d find a place to lay her head the next time.
Later.
Chapter Two
Kei looked over at her, his eyes traveling the rumpled contour of her oversized sweatshirt to where it lifted to reveal the small of her back. Pale skin dipped low and rose toward her buttocks. She had two small depressions just above her jean line, and nothing but sculpted ass, trim thighs slightly parted and long legs.
She still wore her shoes, white Ked things that pointed downward against the mattress. One flattened, the other propped over her packed duffels. He felt a little guilty about that, but he’d been sure Housing would move her. They should have moved her.
Kei had been roommates with Jaxon, Dan and Henry for the past two years. Last year, their fifth, Luke, had graduated. Maybe that’s why he wasn’t taking to having a new fifth so soon. They’d been like family, each with their faults and foibles, and all of them requiring the continuity of their scholarships to keep them in school.
Losing Luke had been hard. Kei had been especially close to him, and Kei admitted that he’d predetermined to be rough on the new guy. Except there wasn’t a new guy. There was a new girl.
After skimming the line on his GPAs last year, Kei couldn’t afford to risk his college career on a Housing screw up. Not even a cute one.
“Poor kid,” Jaxon said. He dropped his towel where he stood and sauntered to his dresser in the buff. “We’ll have to make room for her.”
“We don’t have to do anything for her,” Kei said.
Jaxon snorted. “You have guilt written all over you. Face it. You feel bad for her like the rest of us.”
“C’mon, Kei, you can tell us,” Dan taunted. He got up, retrieved his football and tossed it in the air a few times as he came back to his bunk. He swung easily up to the top bunk and propped himself against the corner of the wall. Dan resumed tossing the ball up and catching it. “It’s kinda cool having a chick in here. She’s a lot easier to look at than the rest of you.”
“Do us all a favor, Dan. Lay off on the macho talk,” Henry said.
“Chicks love bad boys,” he argued.
“They hate chauvinists,” Jaxon countered.
“I’m not a chauvinist,” Dan said.
“No, but you’re doing a great imitation of one.” Kei picked up his notebook and pen. He looked at Parker’s sleeping form. She snuffled softly in her sleep, lips parted, hair falling from the hoodie like a blonde waterfall over her cheek, across her nose, and fluttering with each deep breath. Fucking adorable.
“So. Henry. How was your first kiss?” Dan teased.
Kei could only see the side of his head, but Henry’s ears turned beet-red. Kei chuckled. He could sympathize. Impossibly soft lips and sweet sighs filled that girl’s arsenal of talents. It was enough to liquefy a man’s senses into one primal thought that had nothing to do with studying and everything to do with seeing that mouth on other body parts.
“Wouldn’t stop her if she wanted to kiss me,” Jaxon said. “So far, she’s batting fifty percent. You think she’ll go seventy-five?”
“Or a hundred?” Dan asked hopefully.
“Damn!” Henry said, whipping his glasses off and staring wide-eyed at Dan.
“What?” Dan said.
“You do math?” Henry shook his head wonderingly. “That’s it. She has to stay. She’s made Dan more intelligent in the span of half a day.”
“Fuck you, nerd.”
“Geek.”
“Same difference.” Dan shrugged.
“What the fuck does that mean, anyway?”
Kei tuned them out, listening to the quiet, satisfied sighs of restfulness. He liked the way
she sounded, but could he sleep two feet from her every night without wanting her in his bed? Who was he kidding? He already wanted her in his bed.
If she stayed, he’d be visiting the library a whole lot more.
“Seriously, man,” Jaxon said, coming to sit on Kei’s bed. He still only wore boxers, but he was watching Parker. “We all know there aren’t any options out there for her. We’re in the same place. If it were your sister, would you make her leave without a backup plan?”
“If it were my sister, I’d haul her ass home and make her do distance studies. Then I’d superglue her roommates’ dicks to their balls for looking at her the way we are.”
Jaxon laughed, hit Kei’s knee good-naturedly. “So you gonna make her go?”
“Why are you all asking me?”
“Because the rest of us like her,” Henry said.
“Yeah. You’re the whiny fuck who wants to kick a girl out and make her homeless,” Dan chimed in.
“You, too?” Kei asked Jaxon.
“We all got the same stakes in this. We also all know what it’s like to be at the mercy of our scholarships. She can’t help this, and they won’t help her. If she were my girl, I’d want to know someone had her back.”
Kei closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the wall. “Think about what you’re saying. Our futures at this university—or any other university for that matter—are at risk because of this one decision.” He sat up again, hoping to convey the seriousness of the situation with his eyes. “Forget about what would happen if the university figured out she never left Eckland, what happens when Leo figures it out?”
The former Resident Assistant had taken an immediate dislike to their foursome when Leo lost his scholarship and had to take out new federal loans to pick up the balance. But he hadn’t just lost the scholarship, he’d lost the RA position because someone had ratted him out about paying an underclassman to take notes for his classes while he’d fucked everything that moved. It hadn’t been enough to suspend him, but he’d lost his privileges and the scholarship grant had been awarded to Henry in Leo’s place.
It was the perfect setup for payback. Leo had dropped most of his class load to coast out two years what should have taken him one. Now in his last two semesters, he had nothing but time and bitterness built up.
