Page 14 of Obsessions of the Heart

I immediately felt inferior once I drove my car into the lot. Every car parked here was over a hundred thousand dollars. When I slid into the empty forty-seven slot, I was sandwiched between a black Maserati and a white BMW, further proof that I was out of my league. Slamming my head against the steering wheel, I exhaled. How the fuck am I supposed to chum it up with these mucky mucks? I bet they had private tutors and high scores.

What the dean had said rang loud and clear in my head, reminding me that I could be phased out of here, so I needed to prepare myself for that possibility. It wouldn't be the end of the world. I knew how to land on my feet. Maybe I could take a spin off campus and see what the job market looked like?

With a back-up plan in place, I got out of my car and picked up the box with all my clothes. If I wasn't going to stay here long, then I didn't need to bring the second box up with me.

I found my way into the building, and it was eerie how quiet it was. No one was out and about, and no one had a door open. Everything seemed very closed off. Wasting no time, I went into the elevator and pressed the button for the ninth floor.

The doors soon dinged, opening to a hallway with placards reading ninety and ninety two, which meant I was going to be at the other end of the hallway. I pushed myself forward, hoping to god that I might, just might, be able to have a dorm to myself.

Once I was at my door, I grabbed the handle to open it, but it was locked. Oh fuck, what was I going to do? I looked around at all the closed doors. They screamed at me to figure it out on my own instead of bothering them. “Shit.” I was going to need to head back to the main hall, and that was going to suck.

I set my box down and had turned to go back the way I’d come when the door opened. “Oh, you must be my roommate. I’m Cinzia Ricci. Nice to meet you.” The girl currently leaning against the door frame was the gorgeous girl I’d pretty much shut down at orientation.

Fuck.

Chapter 6

“Um, are you going to leave me hangin’?”

I blinked a few times, still in a stunned daze, then glanced down to see her hand reaching out for a handshake. Oh shit.

My neck got hot, and I shoved my hand out to clasp hers. I didn't want to be rude to my roommate at our first official meeting. “Oh! Sorry. I didn’t mean to. I’m Layrin Smith, and I was just not…” I didn't want to admit that I was hoping I didn't have a roommate.

She flipped her shiny, long locks over her shoulder before she cracked a smile and kicked the door open. “Don’t worry about it. I think we all hoped that we would be the lucky ones without a roommate.”

Her penetrating gaze stayed on me while I grabbed my box off the floor and crossed the threshold. “I got the left side.” She pointed to the side of the room that featured hard rock posters, a skull lamp on the desk, and fluffy pink bedding.

A shadow appeared behind me, then I felt a cool breath along my neck. “Plus, I knew that side was yours when I looked at the desk. Pretty nice donor you have there.” I jumped and looked back to see her, but she was so close behind me there wasn’t even an inch of space. I eyed her smiling, tilted face and couldn't shake the feeling that something was off with her. She seemed nice and friendly on the surface, but I swore I felt like I’d walked into a viper’s den.

She flicked her teeth with her tongue before skipping over to the desk that was supposed to be mine. “I hope you don’t mind.” She fingered a large flat gift box with a ruby red bow. Slowly, she turned toward me, flicking a card up between her fingers. “I took a peek. Sorry, not sorry.”

The way her eyes tracked me was how I envisioned a lioness and her prey, but then her eyes softened and she stuck out her lip in a pout. She was an odd one, so I was going to play nice until she really crossed a line. I didn't want to wake up one night to her hovering over me with a knife.

“Oh, that's fine. I don't even know who would send me something, let alone what it is.” I shrugged and set my box next to the closet then stepped over to meet her. She crossed her ankles and leaned against my desk with a large, almost manic smile, tapping the box like she wanted me to open it right now.

Just from looking at the box, I could tell it was expensive. The material the box was made out of was silky, it’s sheen obvious under the light. Yanking on the larger crimson satin ribbon until the bow untied, I lifted the top. Inside was a fancy new laptop, the latest cellphone model, and an envelope.

“Wow!” Cinzia exhaled over my shoulder. “All the best and newest tech money could buy.” A bit of bitterness crept into her tone. “Who the hell did you fuck?” I had swiveled around, about to adamantly tell her I hadn’t fucked anyone, when she added, the sides of her mouth tipped up, “And does he have a brother?”

The argument I had queued up melted, my whole body relaxing as I puffed out a laugh at her joke.

She elbowed me. “I’m serious. If he doesn't have a brother… maybe a cousin?”

I shook my head and reached for the envelope. She gave an exaggerated gasp. “Is it a her?!” I rolled my eyes as I took out the card and opened it. “I mean, just give me a second to adjust, but I can get down with that.” It took only a few seconds before she cocked her head to the side. “Aaaaannnnddd I’m over it. Sign me up for vagina village!”

“No…” I continued reading the note card. “It's from the scholarship committee.” Cinzia’s brows furrowed, so I explained. “I'm here on a scholarship, so they sent me these things to probably keep track of my school progress and stay in communication with me.” The envelope still felt like it had something in it, and when I reached in, I pulled out a black American Express credit card.

Cinzia whistled. “Damn, girl, what scholarship did you apply for, and are they still taking applications?”

I was struck dumb, forgetting the name of the scholarship like an idiot. This was a fucking black card, a card with unlimited funds. It was like petting a unicorn.

She bumped me with her hip, breaking my concentration on the onyx rectangle I was holding. “I'm just kidding. The school year has already started. Of course they don’t have any more, plus…” She did a little twirl before blowing a kiss and winking at me. “My family is rich. I'm more interested in any hot dick that might be on this committee. I just want a guy that can wine me and dine me before I fuck his brains out and leave ‘em like Sunday’s trash.”

I didn't know what to say to something like that, so I just shrugged. For some reason, I didn't want to tell her that I'd never seen anyone on the scholarship committee. I mean, that wasn't odd, right? A lot of people received scholarships through the internet and via mail.

Yeah, sure, but no phone call? Shoving that familiar skeptical voice out of my mind, I lifted the card and raised my eyebrow at her, realizing what this all was. “Oh! I'm sure this is just their way of easily keeping track of expenses. I’ll make sure to keep all my receipts, so I don’t get in trouble.”

“Really? I was going to tell you we should head off to Mexico, buy all the blow and male strippers we can find, eat some bomb tacos, then surf our problems away.” She bounced on her bed and crossed her legs.

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