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My stuff was packed from the night before. I threw my dish in the dishwasher, ripped open the fridge’s door, and grimaced at the sight of Kassie’s drinks in the back.
Those peach lemonades might’ve looked innocent, but their alcohol content put me on my ass more than once. I shook my head and grabbed my water bottle, heading back to rest my forehead against the front door, listening for her keys.
“Come on, Piper.” I tapped my forehead against the wood. “Get it moving.”
There it was - the jingle of the keys.
I practically tore my door off its hinges two seconds before Piper had time to touch hers, and she raised her eyebrows at me, her blonde hair up in a bun, a Marrs hoodie on, and a tube of lip-gloss out.
“You’re…up?” Piper asked slowly, lowering the lip gloss.
“And you’re…?” I snapped my fingers, pretending to think of the word. “Slow? Let’s get that speed up, ice princess. I want my coffee in the morning.”
I strode over to push the elevator button and had to hide my smile when I heard Piper’s stifled chuckle behind me. She didn’t want to laugh at my jokes. Fine. But she couldn’t help but laugh at them. And that was all that mattered.
The week was a long one of back-to-back practices, achingly long classes, and hitting the sack at a decent hour to get up early the next morning and beat Piper to the elevator.
Then there was taking the shortcut between Pérez Hall and the law school library to grab burritos from the Nacho Average Truck with Piper after her morning classes, going the long way around the school gardens so we could both hit our afternoon classes and every week, Coach Lawson required us to clock in some hours at our tutoring hall.
“You got your nerd gear ready to go?” I asked her, walking down the halls in the training center.
Piper raised her eyebrows. “Do you have your work ready to go?”
“I don’t need to do anything. I’m golden, ice princess.”
“You’re a golden ice princess?”
“This is why I call you a nerd. You’re too literal. I meant don’t worry about me, I’m good.” I turned around to walk backward in front of her, taking up all her space and attention. “You wouldn’t understand. Because you’re a nerd.”
“Yet…I don’t see you doing any homework.”
“You need glasses.”
With a glance to my left, I pushed the double doors open, letting Piper get the full view of something there was no way she had ever seen at KYU.
The tutoring hall was a huge study room with towering ceilings, bookshelves that stretched to the ceiling, tutors and paid teachers’ assistants lounging everywhere, just waiting to be called, and more than forty round tables with comfortable chairs and tablets to check up on your grades. It was Friday, the last day you could get your hours counted for Coach Lawson. The place was packed.
The nearest football player looked up and stared at me. “Uh…Adam?”
“Hey, dude.” I nodded at him but saw four other guys glancing up in surprise. What are they staring at? I frowned at them. “What?”
Suddenly, everyone was busy with their work.
“This…place…is…beautiful,” Piper whispered, spinning around to give the hall a proper view. “Oh my god. I could live here.”
“Knew you’d say that. Nerd.”
Piper rolled her eyes, but she pulled up a chair next to me when I sat down at a table. On the tablet, I typed in my school number and pressed the button to start up the clock, counting my time.
“Mr. Russell?” One of the tutors inched along the outskirts like a hyena. “It’s wonderful to see you. As always, I am here to help. Can I—?”
“Nope.” I shook my head. “Hang ten, bud. Just get your money and play a phone game or something.”
The tutor grimaced at me. “Please. Is there anything I could do—”
“Not a thing,” I said firmly.
Begone, dude. I’m in the middle of something.
