Page 21
If you only knew.
“I don’t mean to upset you or anything, but I think I’ve gotten to know you well enough to at least see the difference in how you were before you left here and now. You seem stressed out lately, and we don’t even play games anymore.” He reached up and scratched his face where black stubble ghosted across his skin. He usually remained clean shaven, but the light dusting of stubble peppering his sharp jawline suited him. “For a bit there, I wondered if you were getting sick of me or something.” He laughed, but concern filled his sheepish expression, and his laugh lacked his usual humor.
“Oh no, not at all.” She let out a heavy exhale. “This project has been rough on me, but we just wrapped up the major stuff, so all that’s left is presenting it.” She sat on the edge of her bed. “I miss playing games. I haven’t even had time to play by myself.”
Charlotte grew up playing different types of games, but her favorite was indie horror. When Blaire told her that Aiden was a huge gaming nerd, she felt so giddy. They bonded over their mutual love of video games, and she missed the times they played together.
Gaming was common among the guys she knew but making friends with them proved difficult. Whenever she joined a public lobby and spoke in voice chat, the mood shifted, and the jokes and comments escalated from misogynistic to sexual in the blink of an eye. If she had a dollar for every time someone said girls don’t play “real games” or requested an OnlyFans link… They didn’t even know what she looked like.
“What if I came up this weekend? I could bring my laptop. I wanna show you this co-op horror game.”
“What’s it called?”
“Lethal Company.”
“I heard about that one. I watched some YouTube videos of people playing it. It looks fun.”
“Then why don’t I come up?”
Charlotte looked at her bed and then around the room. There wasn’t a place for him to sleep. Had he forgotten? He helped move her in.
As if reading her mind, he said, “I could come up for the day Saturday or Sunday and leave that night. It’s only a few hours away.”
His shoulder lifted in a casual shrug like it wasn’t a big deal, but she hated the idea of him driving four hours to only stay for a little while and then drive back. Hanging out with her wasn’t worth all that, and she said as much.
“Look, I’d rather spend the day running away from monsters with you than shopping with my sister.” He smiled when she laughed in response. “Seriously. If I don’t get out of here, I’m going to go mad. It’s too hot to stay outside long. Lukas is up Blaire’s ass, and ever since Seth and Riley got together and he changed dorms—”
“He moved out? Why? Did you two have a fight?”
Aiden pulled air through his teeth, grimacing. “Not exactly. I wasn’t supposed to mention that last part.” He exhaled. “He’s sharing a dorm room with Riley.”
Charlotte’s face screwed up in confusion. “Come again? Administration is okay with that?”
“Things are different here at Blackthorn,” he said then fell silent.
She fell back onto her bed with a loud huff. Once again, they iced her out of knowing anything. She closed her eyes.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” She opened her eyes. As much as she tried, she couldn’t mask the flat sound to her tone.
“Look,” he said, a tightness in his voice. “the admins here don’t care about students sharing dorm rooms. Their gender doesn’t matter.” He rubbed a hand over his face and then lifted his head to meet her eyes. “Things aren’t exactly conventional around here.”
She studied him. He looked tense with his drawn brow and the constant rubbing at the side of his neck. She cut him a break.
“It would be nice if more schools were so lax.”
His hand dropped. “What?”
“You know, the loose rules about roommates.”
Lines formed between his brows as they pulled together. “You have someone you want to room with?”
“Well, no. Besides, I have an apartment. I can let whoever I want live with me. Though I only have the one bed, and the entire place is basically open concept besides the bathroom, which, you know. It wouldn’t work.”
Aiden’s shoulders lowered, and his expression softened.
“Anyway, what were you saying about him and Riley getting together?”
