Page 15 of Trust Me

“For sure.”

I rushed to my car, but instead of getting in, I just stood there, then I dropped my book inside and closed the door. Without it, it was easier for me to run back across campus.

After I reached Marshall Hall, I leaned against a wall inside and tipped my head back to catch my breath. When I felt less at risk of cardiac arrest, I ran my fingers through my hair, then headed to the second floor. I knew that I must look like a wreck, but it didn’t really matter. I wasn’t out to impress. Despite that, I felt a little nervous as I knocked on Dean’s door.

A guy with angry eyes opened it. He’d barely been standing there for a second when he raised his brows in a ‘What the fuck do you want?’ kind of way.

“Is Dean here?” I asked, leaning my arm against the frame.

He rolled his eyes and turned around. I heard him say something, then Dean appeared at the door. He looked behind him before he slipped out and closed it. I remained where I was, partly because I was tired, but mostly because this damn man was shirtless.

“Hey,” I said, pinching the corner of my lip between my canines.

“What are you doing at my place?”

“Just checking in. I haven’t heard from you.”

“You see me in class, you know. Or you could text me.”

I shrugged. “I was giving you space. Call it boundaries.”

“Yeah, boundaries.” He looked at me like there was some joke I’d missed.

“I was on campus, so I decided to stop by.”

With a sigh, he matched my position on the opposite side of the door. My gaze traveled over his chest, then to his abs. Really, it was his own fault for coming out here like this. I knew Dean was a linebacker, but there were no rules stating he had to have the physical fitness of a gladiator.

“Well, Tilian told me I’d be dumb not to do it,” he said.

“Smart guy.”

“Yeah. Anyway, the school said I can move out of the dorm, but . . .”

I studied him blatantly, not caring if it made him uncomfortable this time. Dean was starting to seem like a careful person. It wasn’t the way I expected him to be, but he clearly thought things through before he did them.

“You know,” I drawled, “there’s this quote by Luffy.”

“Who the hell is that?”

“Ah, you uncultured man. If I tell you, you’ll probably just think I’m weird. The quote is, ‘If you don’t take risks, you can’t create a future.’”

“How’s that relevant?”

“I think you’re making excuses because you’re freaked out.”

“I’m not.”

“You’re comfortable here, and that’s cool. The dorm has been a constant for you. I don’t know if you don’t like change or if it’s something else, but personally, I wouldn’t want to room with that grumpy goblin. You wanted to move for a reason, so why not just do it?”

His lips were thin as he listened to me. After a moment, he relaxed. “If anything happens, I’ll be fucked. I don’t know if I can get back into a dorm, and I don’t like the idea of being uncertain about my housing situation.”

“What’s going to happen, big guy?”

“I don’t know, but my family has never had the luxury of bouncing back, so we stay where things are secure. I lived in the same house my entire life, my mom has had the same job, and she drives the same car.”

“Then stay.”

“But . . .”