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Adam
Hold The Card
Both Piper and I said no at the exact same time and turned to look at each other. My no was slower than hers, but I said it for obvious reasons. One, Piper wasn’t my girlfriend. It was a fact. And two, Piper would rather have us ruin another RA conference than be my girlfriend.
But damn did she say it fast. With a little chuckle too.
I didn’t expect that.
“Alright, Adam. I agree to your terms,” Piper said with all the reluctance in the world. “And only those terms. If you tell me what you want too.”
“Oh, really?” I raised an eyebrow but followed her down to the chip aisle.
“I like to know what my residents enjoy.” She browsed among the selection, trying to dig behind the mismanaged shelves. “The RAs get budgets and I want to know what I can keep out when I work overnight shifts.”
“Those sound like a bitch,” I said, picking up a bag of black pepper jerky and flashing it for her to see. “Twenty-four hours of being stuck in the dorms. I don’t know how you’re going to do it. All those whiny freshmen, locking themselves out? I’d tell them to make a new key out of a coat hanger. Or I’d charge ten bucks a lockout. But if they got locked out for a stupid reason, I wouldn’t even let them back in—”
“You wouldn’t do that.”
With a frown, I glanced back at her while she was busy inspecting the gummy candy shelf. “Yeah, I would.”
“No, you wouldn’t.”
My frown deepened, and I scoffed. “Every noise complaint, I’d just shut off their power. Maybe I’d bring a water gun on my rounds. Any of them try to fuck around—bam—blasted with a water shooter.”
Piper snorted. “Sure.”
“You don’t believe me?” I challenged.
“Not even a little bit.”
“What part? I already have the water guns in my dorm.”
“I think you like to think you’re this big tough guy.” She deepened her voice. “Oh, I’m Adam and feelings are for losers.” With a slow shake of her head, Piper shrugged. “You’d yell but you’d still unlock their doors.”
“Bullshit,” I said but I shot another glance at her.
I didn’t like the way the conversation was heading. The truth was, I’d never felt exposed like how Piper casually operated on me. Back at the gum section, I’d been so convinced that I’d hang those kids out to dry. Now, the more I thought about it, the less sure I was.
“Whatever you tell yourself.” Piper reached for another bag and popped it on top of the other stuff I was carrying around. “I like the Wave Side gummies. They’re sea animals. They sell them at the aquarium that my mom researches with. It’s a big nostalgia thing for me. If you ever mess up a room inspection, this is what you bring.”
I stared at the spot Piper had been for a second too long after she walked to the next aisle. Shaking my head, I trailed behind her, struggling to come up with something to say as I grabbed another big bag of the sea animal gummies.
“You know what, Adam?” Piper asked.
No. And I don’t want to find out.
“The swim coaches at Marrs are pretty strict about the locker rooms,” I interjected, moving the conversation away from me.
Piper’s eyebrows furrowed. “What?”
“You said you wanted to know about your residents? This is you finding out about your residents.”
“Oh. Wait, can you repeat that?” She whipped out her phone. “What about the locker room?”
“The swim guys on your floor are put through a specific diet so they don’t shit themselves in the pool.”
“Too much information, Adam.”
